Messi, Beckham booed after superstar sits out Hong Kong friendly

Lionel Messi and David Beckham were booed on Sunday after the Argentina superstar sat out Inter Miami's pre-season friendly in Hong Kong.

The World Cup-winning captain, who has a hamstring strain, stayed rooted to the bench throughout the 4-1 friendly win against a Hong Kong select XI.

It brought a show of anger from the near-capacity crowd of 38,323 who had paid upwards of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars ($125) to see their hero, and in many cases a lot more.

Halfway through the second-half, chants of "We want Messi" rose around the Hong Kong Stadium from fans desperate to see the greatest footballer of his generation in the much-hyped exhibition game.

The booing became louder during the last 10 minutes when it became clear that the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner would not make even the briefest of cameos.

The jeers rose to a crescendo at the final whistle after former Liverpool and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez also failed to take to the pitch because of a knee injury.

Miami co-owner Beckham was drowned out by booing as he tried to thank the crowd "for their incredible support" while fans signalled their anger with thumbs-down gestures.

"We understand the disappointment of the fans for the absence of Leo (Messi) and Luis Suarez," Miami coach Gerardo Martino told reporters, explaining the club's medical team had taken the decision after an assessment on Sunday morning.

"We understand a lot of fans are very disappointed and we ask for their forgiveness.

"We wish we could have sent Leo and Luis on for at least a while but the risk was too big."

The 36-year-old Messi played just six minutes in Miami's last match, in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, and now faces a race against time to be fit for the new MLS season which starts on February 21.

It was a bitter end to days of Hong Kong "Messi mania" in the lead-up to the match.

Tens of thousands turned up just to watch him train on Saturday, where he did little more than jog and stretch.

The team hotel was besieged by hundreds of fans trying to glimpse their hero, and a traditional junk boat was cruising around Victoria harbour with Messi's face plastered across sails.

Messi shirts had been flying off the shelves after tickets for the match sold out in an hour when they went on sale in December.

Miami's starting line-up featured neither of their other former Barcelona stars, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.