MATCH OF THE YEAR

The announcement sent the city's football fans into a frenzy and tickets sold out within hours: ahead of Inter Miami's highly anticipated February match against Hong Kong players, we dive into the history of the team and what to expect from the game

- Richard Lord

There have been some momentous occasions in Hong Kong’s sporting history: the football team’s 1985 victory over China in Beijing; windsurfer Lee Lai-shan’s 1996 Olympic gold; the Edgar Cheung Ka-long and Siobhan Haughey-led six medal bonanza at the recent Tokyo games; even the cricket team’s 2014 World Cup win over Bangladesh. A football match taking place at Hong Kong Stadium on February 4 is set to join them among those memories.

On that day, US club side Inter Miami, co-owned by footballing superstar David Beckham and starring footballing hyperstar Lionel Messi, takes on a Best of Hong Kong Soccer 11 (sort of the SAR’s own team, but not officially) in a one-off match, presented in partnership with Tatler Asia. You’re going to need to pull in some favours if you want to get hold of a ticket: they sold out within an hour of the match being announced.

One major reason for this: Argentina and Barcelona legend Messi, the world’s greatest footballer, who has revolutionised Inter Miami’s fortunes both on and off the pitch since he arrived in the middle of 2023.

In truth, though, the entire short history of the club has been quite a ride. It began when Beckham signed for Major League Soccer (MLS) side LA Galaxy in 2007, with a deal that gave him the option to buy an MLS club when the league expanded. Fast forward to 2013, Beckham ends his playing career at French club Paris Saint-Germain, and the next day flies to the US to announce that he has exercised his option to buy an MLS expansion team—Inter Miami. In 2018, the stadium was complete; Inter Miami would play its inaugural game two years later.