Fan devastated after travelling 1,200 miles to watch Lionel Messi only to realise he wasn't there

A fan made the 1,200 mile trip from Florida to Philadelphia on Saturday night so he could watch Lionel Messi's Inter Miami debut. The problem? He wasn't actually playing.

Earlier this month, Messi finally confirmed his much-talked about transfer to Major League Soccer after months of speculation.

"I will not return to Barcelona, I will join Inter Miami," he told Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.

"After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, it was time to go to the United States to live football in a different way and enjoy more day to day."

Messi’s contract at the MLS club is valued between $125 million and $150 million, according to the Miami Herald.

Adidas is also said to be offering the player a profit-sharing agreement, which would involve the player receiving a cut of any increase in Adidas' profits resulting from his involvement in MLS.

So when will he make his debut? The Argentine forward will likely play his first game for Inter Miami on July 21 in a Leagues Cup match against Mexican side Cruz Azul, according to owner Jorge Mas.

Mas' message, however, clearly didn't reach one Herons supporter, who travelled 1,200 miles to the 18,000 capacity Subaru Park on Saturday night to watch Messi in action.

Maybe he should have done some research prior to this weekend's game. Instead, Messi was in Rosario on Saturday to play in Maxi Rodriguez's testimonial game against Newell's Old Boys.

Big yikes. Safe flight back! pic.twitter.com/t4oRMW4fBr

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) June 25, 2023

Here's how social media reacted to the above clip.

One fan commented: "40,000 crazy Newell's fans saw Messi last night at our stadium while this poor dude was in Philadelphia with nothing but a misguided dream," while another wrote: "This is priceless."

A third said: "Did...did people actually show up tonight expecting to see Messi?"

A fourth added: "I wish I could feel bad for him but even the tiniest bit of research would’ve told him messi wasn’t playing this game."

As mentioned earlier, Lionel Messi was given a heroes welcome at the Estadio Coloso Del Parque Marcelo Bielsa in Rosario on Saturday night before scoring a first-half hat-trick.

This fan, however, endured a long flight home as bottom-of-the-league Inter Miami suffered a 4-1 defeat to Philadelphia.