The silent protest by a supporters’ group at Inter Miami’s Sunday contest was a “so-silly, too-petty, only-in-soccer controversy that erupted” at Nu Stadium, according to Dave Hyde of the South Florida SUN-SENTINEL. Inter Miami “has the best show in MLS history,” and it is “not enough for its most passionate fans.” Hyde: “Can someone step in here? Help both sides? Say how petty it comes across -- and to just enjoy these good times for everyone while they last?” It “wasn’t just fans who missed the target.” Inter Miami F Lionel Messi, made aware of the fans’ frustration, “could have walked down the field at game’s end and delivered a big, beautiful, two-handed wave. Turned something bad into something good. Instead, that petulant hand signal to them.” Hyde wrote, “Messi, of course, can do whatever he wants. That’s part of his deal signing here.” Hyde added it is “petty for fans to pout he hadn’t waved to them. It didn’t look good that he didn’t detonate the scene with a quick wave, too” (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 5/18).
BE GRATEFUL: In Miami, Greg Cote wrote a supporters group “blessed to be cheering” for Messi “shows a bit of gall, frankly, to want more.” Cote: “Like the fans, I too have been guilty at times of wanting more from Messi. … But I also understand that when Messi agrees to sign with your club in MLS, it is on his terms and conditions.” Cote wrote, “Should fans be grateful to cheer for such excellence even as the subject of the adulation does not applaud back as much as they might like. We have had nobody of Messi’s global stature in the history of South Florida sports” (MIAMI HERALD, 5/18).
