Tickets to see Lionel Messi in a Hong Kong friendly were snapped up in under an hour on Friday after nearly two million people queued online, organizers said.The Argentine great and his Inter Miami side will face a Hong Kong XI at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium on February 4.Football fans in the finance hub of 7.5 million logging in to the ticketing app on Friday morning faced a mammoth queue for tickets, which cost from HK$880 to HK4,880 ($110-$625).”We are absolutely thrilled with the response from the fans,” said Michel Lamuniere, chairman and CEO of Tatler Asia, which is helping to stage the game.Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will be playing in Hong Kong on February 4 against Hong Kong. pic.twitter.com/jbEXrI8hIG— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) December 8, 2023 Some social media users posted screenshots of the app showing an error message which cited “traffic overload”.Messi last played in Hong Kong in 2014, also for a friendly game.Miami co-owner David Beckham, who played in Hong Kong in 2003 soon after joining Real Madrid, previously said the MLS club was looking forward to playing in a “beautiful city with a great sports scene”.Miami’s line-up in Hong Kong will also include Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, according to organisers.The Hong Kong XI will be made up of players from the Chinese territory’s top division.##NAJAVA_MECA_7747295##Messi’s world tour with Inter Miami next year also added Tokyo as a stop, with the Major League Soccer club announcing plans to face Japan League champion Vissel Kobe.The Argentine superstar will lead Inter Miami into the match at 60,000-seat Japan National Stadium on February 7 as part of an MLS pre-season tour that also features a match in Riyadh.”Tokyo is an inspiring destination with a fervent football community that we’re looking forward to getting acquainted with,” Inter Miami chief business officer Xavier Asensi said.”We’re thrilled to visit Japan as one of our stops as we continue to bring joy to our global fan base.”Vissel Kobe is the former club of iconic Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta, who will attend the match and reunite with long-time Barcelona teammates Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba of Inter Miami.The players won a UEFA Champions League crown and four La Liga titles while together for the Spanish giants while Iniesta won the World Cup with Busquets, and the European Championship with both Busquets and Alba for Spain.It’s not over – Messi vs Ronaldo is back on!”Vissel Kobe is a powerhouse club in Asia coming off of a historic season after winning the J1 League, so we’re thrilled about this opportunity to sharpen our team in a match like this one,” Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson said.”We continue to look for the best ways to prepare for 2024 and feel confident this match and this tour will help us do that.”Inter Miami will launch its 2024 journey with a match at El Salvador on January 19, then travel to Saudi Arabia for matches on January 29 against Al-Hilal and February 1 against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr before playing in Hong Kong on February 4.© Agence France-Presse
