When Inter Miami announced their globetrotting preseason plans, the outside world knew exactly what was going on. This was an exercise in brand-building, a moment for the club to remind the rest of the world that they have signed Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest to ever play the game. It was also a chance to show that they weren't content to just be the talk of North America; they wanted to be the talk of the entire world.
With that in mind, Miami scheduled out a preseason that would see them play teams from four different continents over several weeks, taking them from El Salvador to Dallas to Saudi Arabia to East Asia and back to Miami.
As that tour nears its close, Inter Miami is very much a talking point of the global game. The problem is, though, that most of the talk isn't good.
From poor results on the field to some reputation hits off of it, this hasn't gone as anyone at the club would have planned. Nearly everything that could have gone wrong has, from injuries to catastrophic losses to angry fans going so far as to take aim at one of the most beloved figures this sport has, Messi himself.
It's been a preseason tour from hell for Miami, and it's hard to see how anyone involved has benefitted. Some promoters have probably made some good money and several players in the squad have been given a heck of an experience, but with the ew MLS season approaching, it doesn't feel like Inter Miami is in a better position as a club or as a team than they were just a few weeks ago.