The most popular event in the Chinese football circle in the past few days is not the Italian national derby Inter Milan's victory over Juventus, nor the Premier League Arsenal's fat beating of Liverpool, nor Atletico Madrid's whistle draw in the Madrid derby, but the incident of Miami International's warm-up match in Hong Kong. To put it simply, Miami International went to Hong Kong to participate in an exhibition game, with an appearance fee of 10 million US dollars, but Messi, who originally promised to play, did not play for a second, and did not issue any apology or explanation, which made many fans present very dissatisfied, so after the game, more than 40,000 fans refunded their tickets resounded throughout the stadium.
I watched the media's interviews with the fans after the game, and one of the fans took 12 hours to get to Hong Kong from Karamay, Xinjiang, just to watch Messi play on the spot, but it was unsuccessful. I estimate that his air tickets, tickets, and accommodation for this trip add up to at least 20,000 yuan, and if you are an office worker, you may still need to ask for leave, but after spending so much money and so much time, you haven't even seen your idol in person! Although Miami International claims that Messi can't play because of injury, who knows that Messi scored in the pre-match training on the second day in Japan, this contradictory explanation is unconvincing!
Therefore, many people think that this is Messi's lack of attention to this game and disrespect for the fans present, and in the next few days, various news media have condemned Messi, and many Messi fans have also expressed their disappointment and even despair and even loss of fans.
As a non-human fan, I don't comment on this, and I'm not interested in this matter myself. First of all, Huo Qigang was visiting Europe on behalf of Hong Kong, and after hearing about Messi's incident, he posted a 3,000-word article through Weibo, thinking that the other party lacked basic respect and demanded that Messi apologize. However, he was invited to Inter's headquarters for an exchange visit during his visit to Italy, so he invited Inter to Hong Kong in his post.
This is not over, Inter Chairman Zhang Kangyang then forwarded Inter's official blog and said, "Inter China Tour! Arrangement!", which ignited the enthusiasm of the domestic Inter fan circle, so the 1st, 7th and 11th Weibo hot searches on the day are all related to Inter!
Many Inter fans have called for everyone to watch Inter's China trip in the summer, after all, Miami has LM10 (Leo Messi), we also have LM10 (Lautaro Martinez), and even we have an upgraded version of Messi (Mkhitaryan)! In 1978, in this year just after the reform and opening up, Inter director Mazzola sent three requests to the Chinese Embassy in Italy, wanting to lead Inter to China to participate in warm-up matches. Two days after beating Napoli to win the Coppa Italia that season, Inter embarked on the journey, arriving in China after a 29-hour flight through several countries, and playing four games in three places in nine days!
And they didn't come to make money at all, the ticket at that time was only 1 cent, it was more for exchange visits, spreading football culture, and truly interpreting the meaning of "international team"!
Now, Inter still values their Chinese fans. This weekend's match against Roma coincides with the Chinese New Year, and Inter will wear a special edition away shirt for the Year of the Dragon, with player names changed to Chinese and the team emblem incorporating elements of the dragon. Fans may prefer to see a good win over that, though. Because, Inter Milan has added a lot of trouble to Chinese fans during the Spring Festival in recent years!
Far from it, let's just say that after Suning became the owner, Inter Milan had 7 games during the Spring Festival, only 3:0 Pescara in 2017 and 3:1 Lazio in 2021 won twice, and in 2020 it drew 1:1 with Cagliari, and the other 4 times all lost the game without exception! Among them, it lost to Genoa 0:3 in 2018, lost to Bologna 0:1 in 2019, was reversed 1:2 in the Milan derby in 2022, and lost 0:1 to the weak team Empoli in 2023! Inter Milan has been blocking domestic fans during the Spring Festival for two consecutive years, and I hope this year can make us have a comfortable year!
Inter are currently preparing for the game in an orderly manner, but there is one player who has already been confirmed to miss this game, and that is Frattesi, who did not play in the last game. I thought it was just simple muscle fatigue, but after an instrument examination, it was confirmed that it was a tendon strain in the rectus femoris muscle in the right thigh, and his injury will continue to be monitored in the future, but he will definitely not be able to play in Roma, and he may not be able to return against Salernitana on February 17. Inter hope he can play in the Champions League match against Atletico Madrid on February 21, after all, as a substitute midfielder, he can bring strong attacking firepower and impact to the team, and is a player who can change the tide of the game!
Frattesi has already played a key role twice as a substitute this season, coming on in the 55th minute of the second half in the first round of the Champions League group stage against Real Sociedad, and in the 87th minute, he sent a diagonal cross from the edge of the box to assist Lautaro to follow up and shoot into the net to help his team equalise. In the 19th round of Serie A against Verona, he only came on in the 83rd minute, and helped the team score the decisive goal in the 93rd minute to grab the precious three points!
In addition, the team's coach Inzaghi Jr. is suspended due to a total of 5 yellow cards, and will not be able to command on the spot in the match against Roma, and I don't know whether he will use the phone to command remotely in the stands or in front of the screen. But it shouldn't be a big problem, especially when you are condescending from the stands, you can see the situation more clearly and make more targeted tactical arrangements.
Of course, there is good news, and that is that Dumfries has recovered in form. In the last game, he came off the bench in 73 minutes, and there were 2 aerial duels and 1 clearance in defense, which is considered decent. However, in attack, he had a brilliant performance, sending a key pass that created a goalscoring opportunity, and it was the perfect chance that Arnautovic's shot was saved by Szczesny in the 88th minute, once again showing his ability to create a goal threat.
Dumfries contributed two goals and four assists in 20 appearances this season, making 25 key passes. Although the recent injuries and contract extensions have affected the state, after all, the ability is still online, so the gradual recovery of his form is a major positive for the team's right-wing attack.
His resurgence is also good news for Darmian, as the 34-year-old has played a number of games in a row and has been playing at wing-back in a high-speed run over long distances, with the huge physical exertion taking a heavy toll on his body. After stretching his thigh in the Italian Super Cup final, in the last match against Juventus, Darmian once faced an empty position on the right side but did not run, and he was seen bending over in the camera at that time, I don't know if it was caused by physical fatigue.
Regardless, the veteran has a lot of physical exertion at right wing-back, but he is still with zero goals and zero assists in 29 appearances, with only 14 key passes to prove his attacking contribution at right wing-back. Hopefully, Dumfries will recover sooner and allow Damian to rest and regain his fitness and condition.
Finally, I hope that Inter can use the victory to give Neira a gift for the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, and come to China to play with two stars after the season!⚫️