The world-famous soccer player Lionel Messi of Argentina came in Beijing on Saturday for a friendly match before concluding his illustrious career in Europe and signing as a free agent with the Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.
His arrival was announced in a post on the official Weibo social media site of the organizer, International Football Invitation, along with a video of players coming off an aircraft. This was done in advance of Thursday’s match between Argentina and Australia, which will take place in the freshly constructed Workers’ Stadium in the Chinese capital.
Messi, who won the World Cup in Qatar in December and is widely regarded as one of the sport’s all-time greats, said this week that he will be leaving the French champions Paris Saint-Germain for the American league. Messi won the World Cup in Qatar in December.
This is the third time that the Argentina captain has traveled to China, but it is his first trip there since 2017.
Despite the difficulties of the men’s national team, which has participated in the World Cup just once, China is home to a massive soccer fan base, and each of his prior excursions to the country were met with an enthusiastic reception from the Chinese people.
Messi was one of Argentina’s goal scorers in their most recent match against Australia, which took place in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Argentina emerged victorious, 2-1.