Revealing Miami International: What kind of team did Xiao Bei ask Messi to join

With the arrival of Messi, MLS's Miami International also became a search hotspot around the world on Wednesday. The current vacant head coach position, temporarily ranked first in the East of North America, became the "top" of world football overnight.

Miami International's social media accounts skyrocketed 2 million followers overnight after Messi joined.

Miami International officially joined MLS in 2020, when the expectation was that they would quickly complete their rise in the league like Atlanta United in 2017 and Los Angeles in 2018. However, due to the epidemic, it was difficult for the team's many plans, whether on or off the field, to proceed as planned. The team hopes to attract attention with big-name stars, but there is only one Pizarro who was brought in for $12 million in the early squad, which is far from the expectations of the outside world.

Finally, in the 2020 season, Miami struggled to bring in Higuain and Matuidi from Serie A. As a result, the two belated stars failed to have an immediate positive impact on the team's competitive strength on the field, but attracted an investigation by the MLS for violations of the transfer and registration procedures, and were eventually fined $2 million, and the club's sporting director Paul McDonald was also banned from the industry.

Higuain, who is a few months younger than Messi, officially hung up his boots after last season

Previously, the impression of Miami International was generally stuck in "David Beckham's team", in fact, Beckham was only one of the co-owners of the club. His partners also include Jorge Maas, the current CEO of the club, and José Maas, brother of the latter. Jorge Mas is also president of La Liga club Real Zaragoza. The Maas brothers both grew up in Miami, where their family worked in construction.

In addition to being sanctioned by the alliance in the previous section, the recent record of Miami International is also worrying. The club just sacked their own manager, Phil Neville, who spent two and a half years in the post last week. Before joining the MLS, Phil Neville had a good record in charge of the England women's team, and David Beckham was invited to the national team during the 2019 Women's World Cup to help old friends boost morale in the dressing room. At that time, Xiaobei recognized Phil Neville's achievements in the women's football team, which also allowed Phil Neville to successfully take over the Miami International coach seal in January 2021.

As a result, Phil Neville has won just two of his first 12 games in charge of Miami, setting the worst record in the MLS for the same period. In October of that year, he was fined by the MLS for calling for an investigation into the penalties against Miami International, and Miami finished fourth (11th) in the East Division in his first season under Phil. The following season, Phil led the team to the 6th in the East Division to the playoffs for the first time in history. After being eliminated 3-0 by New York City, Phil successfully renewed his contract in early November.

With the team at the bottom of the East this season, the club had to announce the sack of Phil Neville on June 1. David Beckham was rather troubled in his dismissal statement: "Sometimes we have to make the hardest choices, and sadly, we feel we have to make a change at this stage. At the time of Messi's announcement, the team was still vacant and is now temporarily taken over by Phil Neville's assistant coach Moraris. Although Moralis is also Argentinian, Internacional Miami clearly does not want him to serve as a caretaker coach for a long time. Atletico.com believes Miami is in contact with another Argentinean, Martino, who has worked with Messi at Barca and the Argentine national team. Now with the arrival of Messi, Miami's position is also considered to be becoming more and more sought-after.

The biggest concern is when Messi will make his Miami debut. The MLS regular season consists of 34 rounds, and even if Messi finishes the official announcement early, he will not be able to make an immediate appearance for Internacional Miami this month, all until the MLS transfer window officially opens on July 5, and by then, Miami has played 20 games. Atletico.com predicted on June 7 that Messi's MLS debut would likely be delayed until July 21, Miami's 23rd round of the regular season this season.

Also notable are Miami's plans for a new stadium. The team now plays their home games at the DRV PNK stadium with a capacity of just 18,000 people, which is also the home of the club's reserve team. Interestingly, the course is not in Miami, but in Fort Lauderdale, North Florida. Miami International is working on a new 25,000-seat stadium at Miami Liberty Park, but at current pace, the stadium may not be completed until 2025 at the earliest.