A massive crowd at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale welcomed Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets to Inter Miami on Sunday night with bumping music, an impressive light display, pyrotechnics and a collection of hype videos setting the tone.
Soak it in, Leo Messi.
The warmest of welcomes to @InterMiamiCF. pic.twitter.com/STzKSDrBGh— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 17, 2023
It seemed like nothing could diminish the frenzied energy of Inter Miami supporters — not the weather delay, not the driving rain that continued once the show actually got started and not the myriad of sound/staging issues that occur at live events like this one, no — the only point of the evening that sucked the life out of the stadium was a surprise appearance from USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter on the video board.
After Messi had been introduced to the crowd and given a short speech, a montage was played with various athletes, celebrities and local legends welcoming Messi to Miami and Major League Soccer.
There were some world-renowned faces on the screen, and then GGG (fresh off abandoning the Gold Cup in favor of creating PowerPoint slides about the "big picture") showed up.
"This is Gregg Berhalter. I want to welcome you to Inter Miami and the United STATES," is all he said, but it still felt like comedy gold in the circumstances.
USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter was included in the video welcoming Lionel Messi to Miami.
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) July 17, 2023
GREGG BERHALTER ON THE WELCOME TO MLS VIDEO FOR MESSI AND GOT BOO’D
— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) July 17, 2023
On the one hand, this definitely plays into Christian Pulisic's statement about Berhalter criticism being "a bit crazy" — somehow managing to boo Berhalter at Messi's presentation is wild — but it was also the funniest thing I've seen all day.
It also brought some entertainment to an event that went in circles for an hour. If I have to listen to one more explanation about what makes Messi great or one more hypothetical response about what sort of impact he'll have on the league over 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, ad infinitum, I'm going to lose it.
The unfortunate news is that Messi's still over a month away from his debut in MLS, so we're definitely going to have these discussions again and again throughout the Leagues Cup.
Pure joy.
Welcome, Leo Messi. #InterMiamiCF pic.twitter.com/3smtpPcJ4L— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 17, 2023
But Messi and Busquets are both slated to make their debuts in that competition on Friday against Cruz Azul. You can watch on MLS Season Pass (Apple TV) or TUDN.
