In their first tour of Peru, Inter Miami brought the full quartet of Messi, Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. This created a fever among the fans here, with thousands of people warmly welcoming these top players since they first arrived in the capital Lima (Peru) on January 28.
Many young fans came to the stadium to witness their idol Messi play.
Tickets for the match were put on sale by Universitario Club just a few days before the match, but were quickly sold out. The 80,000-seat Estadio Monumental was completely full, including many young Messi fans who came to the stadium to witness their idol in action.
Coach Javier Mascherano fielded Inter Miami's strongest lineup, with Messi, Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba all starting. New signing Tadeo Allende from Spanish club Celta Vigo, who had just completed the process of applying for a work visa in the US, arrived in Peru in time to play in the official lineup.
Messi became the center of attention for Peruvian fans in the stands. But on the pitch, the 37-year-old Argentinean did not play as well as usual. He was still the one who sparked every attack of Inter Miami. But the Universitario players showed that they were not an easy opponent. Peru's most successful team proved that they were worthy opponents for Inter Miami, which had top stars, when they played evenly and gave and took.
Messi is always closely followed by opponents
Inter Miami dominated the first half, creating many chances, but Messi was always closely marked by his opponents, making it difficult to score dangerous goals. Meanwhile, Suarez once scored against Universitario, but the referee disallowed it because of offside.
In the second half, Messi, Suarez, Jordi Alba, Busquets and even new signing Allende were taken off by coach Javier Mascherano in the 72nd minute to put in young players. Star Benjamin Cremaschi, who had just returned from the US team, was also brought on to play.
The reason is that this is only the second pre-season friendly, while Inter Miami still has many more matches ahead. Maintaining strength and gradually helping these famous players achieve their best physical condition and form before entering the official matches is the priority of coach Javier Mascherano.
Suarez had a chance to score, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
With a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes of play, Inter Miami entered a penalty shootout with Universitario Club to determine the winner. On the 11m mark, coach Javier Mascherano's team won with a score of 5-4.
This is the second consecutive match that Inter Miami has won on penalties in pre-season training, after a 3-2 win over Club America (2-2 draw in regulation time) on January 19. In this match, Messi scored the equalizer in the first half to make it 1-1.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/messi-va-dong-doi-gay-sot-tai-peru-80000-khan-gia-xem-man-nhan-18525013010264249.htm
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