Just months after winning the World Cup last December in Qatar, Lionel Messi, arguably the best soccer player on the planet, made an unexpected decision. Rather than play his last few years in the fierce competitive environment of a European league, Messi chose to join Inter Miami, the worst team in the eastern conference of Major League Soccer, America's professional soccer league.
Miami, a soccer-crazy town, welcomed him in a frenzy. Murals of Messi dressed in Inter pink popped up around town. Tickets sold out to watch him play in the team's small, temporary stadium in Fort Lauderdale. (A proper one will be ready in 2025, an owner said.) An image of Messi grocery shopping at a local supermarket went viral.