‘We continue to prepare’ - Lionel Messi sends message to Inter Miami fans following disappointing Al-Hilal defeat in Riyadh Season Cup

The MLS outfit stepped up their preparations for the new season with defeat against Saudi top dogs Al-Hilal, despite goals from Messi and new team-mate Luis Suarez, among others. However, Miami are building ahead of the new campaign and Messi said as much in a grounded social media post after the game.

The 36-year-old Argentine World Cup winner, who netted his first goal of the pre-season campaign with a penalty in the 54th minute at Kingdom Arena, wrote on Instagram: "Seguimos preparándonos…" ("We continue to prepare...").

While this was a defeat, pre-season games tend to count for little when gauging how successful a campaign is going to be. Miami begin their MLS campaign on February 21 and Messi - who scored 11 goals in 14 games for the American outfit last term and helped them to a Leagues Cup triumph - will be focusing on a strong start there.

Miami continue their pre-season preparation with fixtures against Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr on Thursday, Hong Kong XI on February 4, and Vissel Kobe three days later. They round off their friendly matches against Newell's Old Boys on February 15 before starting their MLS campaign at home to Real Salt Lake a week later.