Miami Freedom Park progressing as Inter Miami honors Messi

Construction of Inter Miami’s new stadium site is progressing as it enters its third month of work. The club previously announced that the demolition, formerly Melreese Country Club, was underway in early September. Although only a few months have gone by, there are some fairly noticeable updates regarding the plan.

YouTubers Futbol Miami TV uploaded a new video that documents the progress from outside of the stadium site. In their initial update, trees and grass filled most of the 131-acre area where Miami Freedom Park is set to be built. However, as of November 1st, a significant portion of this location has now been leveled by heavy machinery.

Construction crews must level the entire massive lot. Then, they can top it with dirt before construction begins on the actual stadium. They must remove physical pollution before anything can begin, too. Nevertheless, the building site for the arena is being flattened and new dirt has arrived at the location.

Messi to play final season with club at Miami Freedom Park

While physical construction of the stadium has yet to begin, there is still plenty of time for work to be done. The club has a target date of 2025 as the official opening of Miami Freedom Park. This would coincide with Lionel Messi’s final season with the team. The Argentine superstar’s contract expires in December 2025.

Messi has been a smash hit since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer. Although the club failed to qualify for the Major League Soccer playoffs, Messi did guide Miami to a Leagues Cup triumph back in August. It was the club’s first-ever trophy.

With the season now completed, Miami had previously scheduled two friendly matches in China in November. The tour of the Asian nation, however, fell through. Inter Miami attributed the failure to the promotional company. The club, like the other MLS teams, starts its 2024 preseason in January. They will then begin their regular season the following month.

Miami to organize party, friendly match to honor Messi

Nevertheless, Miami will soon celebrate Messi’s latest Ballon d’Or triumph. The Argentine collected his record eighth during the recent ceremony in France. He also became the first player to ever win the award while playing for three different clubs. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland finished second behind Messi.

The MLS side has officially announced plans for a ceremony honoring Messi’s latest trophy. Miami will hold the event, Noche d’Or, at DRV PNK Stadium on Friday, Nov. 10. The festivities start at 6 p.m. ET and will feature a speech by Messi himself. Specialty food and drink items are set to be introduced at the arena just for the occasion. This includes $8.88 ‘Ballon d’Or Margaritas’ to honor the Argentine’s win at the award show.

Following the party, Miami will play fellow MLS side New York City FC in a friendly. The match will begin at 8 p.m. ET. Messi will then likely soon head back to Argentina to feature for his national team. La Albiceleste faces two tough tests in their quest to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Argentina will play Uruguay on Nov. 16 before traveling to Brazil five days later.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Xinhua