On Sunday night, Argentina’s football great Lionel Messi was presented to 20,000 adoring supporters in a star-studded event, full of razzmatazz, at Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium in the US.
Ahead of Messi’s Inter Miami unveiling, Beckham and later Argentina’s Football Association, Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia, surprised Bagnasco. Both popped down to observe the artist’s colourful homage, marking Messi’s historic move to the US. “He will inspire and entertain wherever he goes, and on paper, at least, the timing of his move appears perfect for Messi and for the MLS.”
However, for a club founded as recently as 2018, Inter Miami face an uphill task to improve their domestic league performances though they have managed to reach the semi-finals of the US Cup against league-leaders FC Cincinnati. “This was probably pioneering for its time and was a very US-centric, corporate approach, remember his club NY Cosmos was owned by Warners. This meant that Pele was an icon with an international, cultural, as well as show-business appeal. He had box-office appeal and helped to fill stadiums wherever the Cosmos played, at home or away,” explains Gillet.
“Pele played his last competitive game at Soccerbowl '77, and after that, a Pele-less league found that it had over-speculated. A lot of players were, in fact, on very basic contracts, clubs found themselves on a precarious financial footing, and there was a players' strike in 1979. After a very exciting roller-coaster few years, the NASL folded in 1984, before the USA realised its ambition of hosting a FIFA World Cup,” he adds.
However, compared to Pele, the three-times FIFA World Cup winner and one of the most skilful players ever, Beckham never won any international trophy for England’s national team - being most famous for his long-range crosses and passing.