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Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said that Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and JordiAlba “always” tried to persuade him to practice with them.
David Beckham and Lionel Messi at Inter Miami’s training (AP)
David Beckham has opened up about being urged by Inter Miami players to join them in training. A co-owner of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club, Beckham made the revelation during a recent interview with Men’ sHealth. The English football legend said that Lionel Messi and some other veteran members of the team like Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba “always” tried to persuade him to practice with them.
“Do you know what, they’re always on at me, Leo, Luis, Jordi, Sergio? They will turn around and say, ‘Come on, come on, join in’,” Beckham told Men’s Health, as per The Mirror.
“The funny thing was, the other day I was kicking a ball around for Adidas, doing some filming for my new Predator boots. I was doing some free kicks, pinging some long passes and I got overly excited,” he added.
Reminiscing about his playing days, Beckham further claimed that footballers were not used to doing“much warm-up and stretching in that era”.“So, it wasn’t unusual just taking some balls on the halfway line and pinging them into the goal or onto the crossbar,” he said.
“I got to the fifth, sixth and seventh – on the eighth one, I pinged it, and I was like, ‘Oh s***, my quad!’The guy filming asked if I could do a couple more. I was like, ‘No, I think we got it’,” the former Manchester United star explained further.
Beckham, who hung up his boots in 2013 after a four-month stint at Paris Saint Germain, currently serves as the president of Inter Miami besides holding a minority share of the club. The 49-year-old is said to have played a key role in convincing Messi about shifting his base to the US.
The Argentine legend ended his European career in 2023 after spending two seasons at PSG. Following his arrival, Messi’s former Barcelona teammates Suarez, Alba and Busquets also joined Inter Miami, forming an experienced squad.
Shorting after joining the club, Messi led Miami to become the Leagues Cup champions in 2023. They emerged as the winners of the MLS Supporters Shield last season, with Messi scoring a brace in the decider against Columbus Crew.
