Soccer - Messi surprises team mate in group chat ahead of grand unveiling

LIONEL Messi has already proved to be a team player at his new club Inter Miami as the Argentine forward surprised a team mate in the players' group chat by providing a timely assist with tickets to his presentation on Sunday.

Not even the pouring rain could spoil Messi's welcome party last weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the new face of Major League Soccer (MLS) was introduced to a packed stadium of adoring fans.

The new team mates of the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner did not want to miss the event either, and forward Leonardo Campana turned to Inter's WhatsApp group for spare passes.

"On Sunday, Campana was looking for tickets and he put in the group chat if anybody has any," Inter defender DeAndre Yedlin told the reporters.

"I didn't even know whether Messi was in the group chat yet, but he popped up straightway and said, 'How many do you need though?' Straightaway like that.

"From there I was just like 'Woah!' You know what I mean. Like straight off the bat, they maybe know each other for three days or something. But to show that generosity is a great fresh example of how (Messi) is."

A sold-out crowd of about 20,000 fans waited through a delay caused by heavy rain and lightning to see Messi being presented with his No. 10 shirt, before he was joined on the pitch by his family where they posed for photos as fireworks lit up the sky.