Messi Mania hits fever pitch as fans gather for Argentinian's Inter Miami debut

Lionel Messi is now, officially, an Inter Miami player.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s best player checked in for his new Major League Soccer club for the first time on Friday night, coming in early in the second half of Inter Miami’s game against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup tournament.

He hugged the player he was replacing, midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, then trotted onto the field as the estimated crowd of 21,000 all seemed to be standing, almost all of them with phones out to chronicle the moment.

It took Inter Miami four years of planning and two years of actual pursuing to bring Messi to the club.

“Worth it,” co-owner David Beckham said earlier in the week.

Messi wasn’t in the starting lineup, and came on with his team leading 1-0. Nobody even left their seats when the halftime whistle blew. The reason: Messi was on the field. He warmed up for about 5 minutes during intermission with the other reserves before they all left for the locker room.

Messi arrived with the team about two hours before game time, dressed in the team colors — pink T-shirt, black shorts. He stopped for a few photos and handshakes as he entered the tunnel leading to the locker room.

He got a hug and shared a few words with LeBron James — another guy who knows a thing or two about making a highly celebrated move to Miami, after he joined the Heat in 2010 and won his first two NBA titles in a four-year stay — on his way to the bench. Messi took his seat and watched his new team, in the all-pink jersey, shorts and socks, start his new era.

Almost every seat was filled, many by people wearing newly acquired Miami jerseys with Messi’s name on the back. They chanted his name a few times, waved flags bearing his name and number.

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