A sold-out crowd of about 20,000 waited through a delay caused by torrential rain and heavy lightning to officially welcome Lionel Messi to Inter Miami on Sunday.
The ceremony dubbed “La PresentaSIon,” at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, also marked Miami’s official signing of former FC Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets. The 35-year-old Spaniard landed a deal that runs through the 2025 season.
Busquets and Messi were teammates with Barcelona for 15 seasons.
On being introduced, Messi briefly addressed the crowd before the team played a tribute video on the scoreboard screen. The likes of Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, DJ Khaled and Gloria and Emilio Estefan welcomed Messi to the US.
“Thank you very much to all the people for supporting me and giving me this love,” Messi said in Spanish. “I am very happy to be here in Miami.”
