Home Football Lionel Messi will play at least part of Friday night’s ‘Noche d’Or’ friendly against NYCFC

Lionel Messi will play at least part of Friday night’s ‘Noche d’Or’ friendly against NYCFC

Football — 11/09/2023

Lionel Messi will play in Inter Miami’s friendly versus New York City FC on Friday night, but he might not play the entire 90 minutes.

The “Noche d’Or” game at DRV PNK Stadium was organized to commemorate Messi’s record eighth Ballon d’Or trophy. It will involve a pre-game ceremony in which the Argentine superstar will address the crowd and display the trophy. Don Garber, MLS commissioner, and Jorge Mas, co-owner of Inter Miami, will also speak.

Lionel Messi will play at least part of `Noche d'Or' friendly vs. NYCFC Friday night

There will be specialty food and beverage options, including $8.88 Ballon d’Or Margaritas. The show will also include gold fireworks and a post-game celebration.

“Of course, (Leo) will play because he is the star of this match,” Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino remarked. “We want to be with him to celebrate his Ballon d’Or, but also it is an opportunity to return to competition, even though it’s a friendly, so people can see Leo and his teammates on the field one more time and bid farewell to this season.”

Inter Miami won the inaugural Leagues Cup event following Messi’s debut, as well as reaching the final of the US Open Cup but failed to qualify for the MLS playoffs.

The team was supposed to fly to China this month for a pair of exhibition matches, but the trip was canceled, so the club organized this match and celebration as an alternative.

The 2024 preseason will begin on January 10. Martino stated that the club is looking into playing preseason friendlies abroad.

“Over the past few days we have been having conversations between the sporting side and the business side about all our needs, obviously with the sporting side as the priority,” Martino said in a statement. “We considered having some of the preseason in Florida and some abroad, but nothing has been confirmed.” We’d want to have a preseason of about 40 days.”

A friendly versus Argentine team Newell’s Old Boys, Messi and Martino’s boyhood club, is scheduled for mid-February at home.

Messi's Ballon d'Or will be celebrated by Inter Miami in exhibition vs. NYCFC on Nov. 10 - The Washington Post

The club will take a break after the Friday night friendly versus NYCFC until preseason training commences. Some players will report to their national teams for the FIFA international window, which opens next week.

Messi will travel to Argentina for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay on November 16 and Brazil on November 21. Paraguay has called up midfielder Diego Gomez for World Cup qualifiers against Chile on November 16 and Colombia on November 21.

Kamal Miller, a defender, has been called up to the Canadian national team for the upcoming Nations League quarterfinals. Canada will face Jamaica on November 17 in Kingston and on November 21 in Toronto. Honduras called up midfielder David Ruiz for the Nations League quarterfinals against Mexico on November 17 and 21.

Tickets for the Noche d’Or ceremony and friendly match begin at $85 and are on sale now through TicketMaster and at intermiamicf.com. The game will be broadcast on Apple TV via MLS Season Pass.