When David Beckham got his first chance to watch Lionel Messi train at Inter Miami, he was giddy with excitement. The club co-owner was then duly amazed, although for one reason he didn’t expect. Messi didn’t seem to move outside a 10m square radius. And yet even within that he was still doing things that would fill most players’ career highlights. Beckham, perhaps the most famous person in the world, was blown away by the precision alone.
Messi is going to have to move a bit more for the Club World Cup’s opening match against Egypt’s Al Ahly on Sunday, given that the Hard Rock Stadium is 16 miles outside Miami and takes a bit to get to. The cavalcade ferrying him to the game will at least herald his grandeur, even if the distance appears to reflect a certain disconnect with this tournament on the ground. Many of the stadiums are far outside urban centres, and not exactly serviced by much public transport for the fans that managed to travel. At least it’s not at Inter Miami’s own Chase Stadium, which is 30 miles away from the city.
