By detecting our French accent, Jaime Lopez can't help but tease us. "Sorry about Messi! Luckily, you have plenty of other good players left at PSG," said the Colombian, sitting next to a five-a-side football pitch on Calle Ocho, a legendary street in Miami's 'Little Havana'.
A few hours earlier, this Wednesday, June 7, the Argentine world champion announced his arrival at Inter Miami, the MLS (Major League Soccer) team founded by David Beckham and associates. Upon hearing the news, the town exploded with joy. Like its mayor, the Republican Francis Suarez. "Miami has won the greatest trophy: Lionel Messi," the chosen one said in a video posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
Local sports figures have also rolled out the red carpet for him, such as basketball player Jimmy Butler. "I'm so excited for the city," he said Thursday. He is currently engaged with the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, another current sporting event for the Miamians.
Lionel Messi is a regular in South Florida, where he has acquired several properties – including a five million dollar apartment in the luxurious Porsche Design Tower, equipped with a car lift. His arrival nevertheless has a very special flavor for the "Magic City", a real bridge between the United States and South America. With more than 70% of Hispanic inhabitants - Cubans, Venezuelans, Brazilians... - it is considered "the capital of Latin America".
“He is the hero of an entire continent. The local South American community will find themselves in him,” said Ravy Truchot, the French businessman who owns FC Miami City, a team that plays in a lower division, as well as the PSG academies in South America. North. "Unlike Europe, where the French supporters won't support the Germans and the English for example if their team is eliminated, the South Americans in Miami encourage each other. »
The upcoming installation of Lionel Messi also feeds the "story telling" around the attractiveness of Miami. In addition to being a mecca for "bling", with its trendy evenings under the palm trees, it has experienced a demographic and economic boom since the pandemic, marked in particular by the rise of the cryptocurrency sector. Advantageous taxation is not there for nothing.
Since the announcement of the football icon, the enthusiasm of the fans has far from waned. Inter Miami's Instagram account gained more than 4 million subscribers in twenty-four hours and ticket prices skyrocketed nearly 1400% (from $15 to $230) for home games, after the Logitix ticketing platform. The clash against Mexican club Cruz Azul on July 21, the player's possible first appearance in his new colors, could be the most expensive in MLS history.
Ravy Truchot, however, wonders if Inter Miami is ready to "receive a tsunami like Messi". "It's a relatively young formation. Their stadium is not very big and they don't really have the staff to accommodate it, he believes. Admittedly, the public will pay a lot of money to see the first matches, but on the pitch, he will have to create the show, because that's what everyone expects of him. However, the game is not the same as in Europe. He could disappoint, like other players who came from Europe before him. In any case, if he misses Paris too much, he can always go to the PSG store which has just opened in Miami.
