The Messi incident has affected the Argentine team in March, and the battle for the Gongti in China has become a swan song
On February 8, Beijing time, Xu Zexin, a well-known football media person, broke the news that 99% of the Argentine team's trip to China originally scheduled for March has been canceled, and related brands will also terminate their contracts one after another. It is estimated that Messi did not expect that his failure to play in the Miami International and Hong Kong Stars United would trigger a series of chain reactions.
In fact, everyone knows that no one will spend thousands of dollars to buy tickets to see a team at the bottom of Major League Soccer, and the reason why they are willing to pay is because there is Messi in this team. Therefore, if Messi is unable to play, he should communicate well in advance. Prior to this, Cristiano Ronaldo and his Riyadh victory had handled it very well. Injured and unable to play, the game was cancelled, the apology and ticket refund, things were done brightly, and the fans were very understanding. The next time Riyadh Victory and Ronaldo come to China again, there will still be a large number of fans who will actively pay for it.
However, for such a simple thing, Messi and Inter Miami screwed up. At the last moment, he decided not to play, refused to show up after the game, and even the opposing players came to take a group photo. In addition, the organizers also refused to refund the tickets, and the entire Miami International team had already arrived in Japan to make an understatement response. Although Messi's official Weibo explained, the IP address exposed the truth, which is actually his operation team trying to wash the floor, and it has nothing to do with Messi himself.
What makes Chinese fans even more angry is that Messi, who was injured in Hong Kong and had a grudge on his face, came back to life in Japan, not only dating the cowherd with great interest, but also attending the press conference to talk and laugh with the media, and playing in the match with the Kobe victory ship. Even though he was only a substitute, it was amazing how quickly he recovered in two days. This also has to make people suspect that Miami International and Messi's trip to Hong Kong is seriously insincere. And his image of being painstakingly managed in the hearts of Chinese fans for more than 20 years was almost ruined.
With credibility seriously overdrawn, it is not surprising that Argentina's match in China in March was affected. After all, these two matches are too close to each other, and the unpleasant memories of Chinese fans are not so quickly diluted. Even if Messi comes, he is likely to be booed. Rather than embarrassing yourself, it's better not to come.
In this sense, last June's trip to Gongti may be Messi's swan song in China. In that game, he scored in the opening 81 seconds and played the whole game, and Gongti even sold the turf where he had left his footprints after the game. At that time, Messi left Chinese fans undoubtedly good memories. Now that it has come to this point, it is even more suffocating.