Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez’s Inter Miami traveled to the Cotton Bowl Stadium for their pre-season friendly against FC Dallas on Monday night (January 22). Having played out a goalless draw with El Salvador in their first friendly of the year, the Herons were eager to pull one over their Major League Soccer (MLS) rivals. Unfortunately for the traveling fans, the story did not pan out as expected, with Miami falling to their first defeat of the pre-season campaign instead.

Jesus Ferreira Outshines Lionel Messi At Cotton Bowl

Inter Miami manager Gerardo Martino fielded a strong XI, featuring not only Messi and Suarez but also the likes of Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and new signing Julian Gressel, who won the 2023 MLS Cup with Columbus Crew. Despite having many gifted players at their disposal, Miami failed to get into a groove and surrendered to Jesus Ferreira’s early strike.

After withstanding some early pressure from Miami, FC Dallas put their noses in front, courtesy of Ferreira’s stellar strike in the third minute. Paul Arriola released Ferreira down the inside-right channel with a perfectly weighted through ball. The 23-year-old controlled the ball superbly, vied off challenges from Noah Allen, and applied a thumping finish to find the bottom-left corner of Miami’s goal.

Messi, meanwhile, endured a quiet night by his lofty standards. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had no trouble combining with his former Barcelona teammate Suarez, but neither superstar put pressure on Dallas in the final third. While Messi had three off-target attempts, Suarez failed to convert despite getting three very presentable opportunities.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner’s best attempt came in the 55th minute, as he went for goal with a venomous half-volley from outside the box. He caught it well from the inside-right channel, but Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes had a clear view of it and parried it away.

Messi came off the field in the 64th minute and went down the tunnel minutes before full-time. However, he did not leave without applauding Inter Miami fans who withstood the unforgiving wet and cold weather to watch him and his teammates in action.

Inter Miami To Travel To Saudi Arabia For Riyadh Season Cup

The Vice City are going international for the first time this year. Having played a couple of matches in the United States, Inter Miami will jet off to Saudi Arabia for the Riyadh Season Cup in the coming week. They will then go to Hong Kong and Tokyo to take on a couple more local teams.

Miami will first take on Al-Hilal in the Riyadh Season Cup on January 29th. On February 1, Messi and Co. will go head-to-head with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. Considering both superstars are firmly on the wrong side of 30, this game could be their final on-pitch meeting. And knowing how competitive the two legends are, we are expecting fireworks at the Kingdom Arena.