“Promote Our Players”- Sporting Kansas City’s Lionel Messi PR Stunt Angers Loyal Fans Before Inter Miami Face Off

After an unfortunate CONCACAF Champions League result, Inter Miami is back to basics. The Herons will now completely turn their focus on the MLS as the weekend clash sees them face Sporting Kansas City. Though they would be coming into the fixture feeling blue from yesterday’s disappointment, the rivals are high as a kite to face Lionel Messi. In fact, their recent promotion campaign that circles around La Pulga has left their own faithful fuming. 

Sporting Kansas City’s fans have turned against their own side. Earlier, Inter Miami had tweeted the details of their squad to face the Colorado Rapids, which later ended in a 2-2 draw. Aside from this, they had also posted a B/W picture of Messi heading toward the pitch from the tunnel with a caption on it saying “He’s Back.” Interestingly, just hours ago, Kansas City reshared the tweet on their X handle alongside a caption saying, “Ready to welcome Messi to the loudest stadium in the world.” 

While the tweet suggested that the team was ecstatic to host the Argentinian superstar in their 76,000-seater Arrowhead Stadium, it unfortunately backfired on them. The Kansas fans are apparently dissatisfied with the fact that they are promoting a rival star instead of their own players. On the other hand, it’s quite understandable what Kansas City meant by its recent social media activity. 

The Western Conference side didn’t get the chance to face Messi last season, even though he had transferred to Inter Miami. Sadly, the 36-year-old was sidelined during the clash on September 10, 2023, that the Florida side had won 3-2 in his absence. Hence, the excitement remains to face him now. But it looks like they will now face the wrath of their loyal fans.

Sporting Kansas City fans face fury from their own faithful for their Lionel Messi fandom  

With their latest tweet, Sporting Kansas City fans are leaving no stone unturned in guilt-tripping their beloved team for expressing excitement about facing Lionel Messi.

This fan suggests that Kansas should promote its own stars. So far, there hasn’t been a single tweet about their own players ahead of facing Inter Miami. Perhaps they might now, after facing such heat.

This fan has reminded Sporting Kansas City about their recent bottling of a three-goal lead in the first half against Portland and urged them to start focusing on the upcoming clash.

We wonder what the outcome would have been if the same had happened in any of the biggest European leagues.

Only Johnny Russell for Kansas fans and no Lionel Messi. The spectators would be looking forward to seeing their side thrash Tata Martino’s side.

Just like the MLS, are rival teams also focusing on Messi-centric campaigning? Even though his presence is quite big for the league, it’s not a scene that we often see from Saudi Pro League teams for Cristiano Ronaldo.

Whatever intentions Sporting Kansas City had, it looks like they might owe an apology to their ardent supporters. Otherwise, their loudest stadium might be filled with boos on Sunday.

READ MORE: Watch: Lionel Messi Gets Booed by Fans in Mexico Debut as He Starts in Monterrey vs Inter Miami Showdown