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Lionel Messi Goal and Assist Not Enough for Inter Miami Against Al-Hilal

Lionel Messi scored his first goal of 2024 and also provided an assist but Inter Miami fell to a 4-3 defeat by Al-Hilal in the Riyadh Season Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Robert Summerscales

Lionel Messi Goal and Assist Not Enough for Inter Miami Against Al-Hilal
Lionel Messi Goal and Assist Not Enough for Inter Miami Against Al-Hilal /

Lionel Messi scored his first goal of 2024 and also provided an assist but Inter Miami fell to a 4-3 defeat by Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

Luis Suarez and 19-year-old David Ruiz also found the net for Miami, who came from 2-0 and 3-1 down to level the game before the Saudi Pro League leaders struck an 88th-minute winner.

Monday's game was Miami's third pre-season fixture, following a 0-0 draw against El Salvador and a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas.

Meanwhile, Al-Hilal are currently on a mid-season break from competitive action. - after winning 17 and drawing two of their first 19 league games of the 2023/24 campaign.

Miami started all four of their former Barcelona stars - Messi, Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

But there was plenty of star-power in the Al-Hilal XI too - including Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic.

A fine first-time pass from Milinkovic-Savic set up Mitrovic for the opening goal after 10 minutes.

Abdullah Al-Hamdan then doubled the home team's lead three minutes later with a delicate finish from 20 yards.

Miami scored for the first time this year when Suarez tapped home from close range in the 34th minute.

Suarez's goal was initially disallowed for offside before a VAR review found that the ball had been played to him by an Al-Hilal defender, rather than a teammate.

Al-Hilal restored their two-goal lead before half-time thanks to a header from Brazilian forward Michael, who celebrated by performing Cristiano Ronaldo's famous 'SIU' routine.

Miami played much better after the interval and were level by the 55th minute.

Messi emphatically converted a penalty kick following a Mohammed Jahfali foul on Ruiz, who then netted a fabulous equalizer 54 seconds later.

Ruiz got on the end of a fine first-time through-pass from Messi before dancing around two defenders inside the 18-yard box and smashing a shot inside the near post.

Messi was withdrawn in the 88th minute - less than 60 seconds before ex-Barca winger Malcom scored Al-Hilal's winning goal.

Monday's contest was the opening game of the 2024 Riyadh Season Cup.

Miami will now take on Ronaldo's Al Nassr on Thursday. Al-Hilal and Al Nassr will then face off in the final game of the mini-series a week later.

Highlights: Al-Hilal 4-3 Inter Miami

Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi pictured moments before he scored from a penalty kick in a 4-3 loss to Al-Hilal in January 2024
Lionel Messi scored a penalty kick against Al-Hilal on Monday but Inter Miami fell to a 4-3 defeat in Saudi Arabia :: X.com/MLS
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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.