FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Sultry midsummer is normally down season for visitors to south Florida. But futbol fans from near and far are flocking here ahead of Friday night’s Leagues Cup opener between Inter Miami CF and Cruz Azul (8 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Univision), as the buzz around Lionel Messi’s sensational arrival builds to a crescendo.

From sandwiches to hotels to energy drinks, a multitude of billboards and other activations across the region welcome the GOAT to town. New corner stands have been installed to expand capacity at DRV PNK Stadium, which has officially been announced as sold out as of Thursday afternoon.

Amid all that hype, the magnitude of the task in front of Messi, his old friend Sergio Busquets, new coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino and the rest of IMCF has come into clear focus. That old phrase about building the airplane while flying it? That applies tenfold to Miami, who are undergoing a profound transformation with the lion’s share of their 2023 campaign already behind them.

“The moment the ball rolls, there’s no more time for explaining,” Martino told reporters in Spanish during Thursday’s matchday-1 press conference. “We understand we’ve had very few days training together. The players have recently arrived here and they have to get in shape. So sure, immediate results are expected, and we want it to be that way, because the plan we have will flow better if we align them to positive results.”

Debut prospects

It’s not just Messi and Busquets who are freshly arrived, but Paraguayan midfielder Diego Gómez and, at some point, left back Jordi Alba, another FC Barcelona alum whose signing has been completed but has not yet reported to the Florida Blue Training Center due to the birth of his new son Paolo. All are welcome reinforcements for a side wracked by a litany of long-term injuries this season, yet their specific situations are not too conducive to immediate contributions.

Martino said Gómez won’t be available for Friday’s game, but could debut in Tuesday’s Leagues Cup match vs. Atlanta United. While Busquets sounded game for some minutes against La Maquina, he termed it “practically impossible” for him to log a full match at this point due to fitness concerns. It doesn’t help that the region is currently in the grip of a heat wave that exacerbates the usual draining heat and humidity at this time of year.

Nevertheless, much is expected of Miami’s glittering newcomers, and they’re eager to deliver.

“I know the situation is different, particularly in the league, but we arrive with a lot of hope,” said Busquets. “The club is making a change and that’s the change we want to see to move forward and be able to contend for all the titles.

“We do have to go through an adaptation period, get to know one another, and the first opportunity is [Friday]. I hope that playing at home, with the energy that has been building these past few days, and the good thing the players had been doing, we are able to get a victory.”

New opportunity

The Herons occupy last place in the overall MLS standings as they pivot towards Leagues Cup, much like Cruz Azul sit at the bottom of the Liga MX table with an 0W-3L-0D record in the early weeks of the Apertura campaign. Still, La Maquina remain among Mexico’s elite clubs, rich with talent, and in Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti, they are led by one of the tenured deans of Liga MX management.

“I remember Tuca’s philosophy and I’m sure they are going to come after the game,” said Martino, who carries ample knowledge of Liga MX from his time in charge of the Mexico national team during the 2022 World Cup cycle.

“We know they haven’t started the league in the best way, but also this week they got reinforcements like Carlos Rodríguez and Uriel Antuna, who are coming back as champions of the Gold Cup. Surely they will transmit some positive energy that maybe after three straight losses in their tournament they really need. It’s a squad made up of very good individual players.”

As bruising as the Herons’ league campaign has been up to this point, Leagues Cup represents a clean slate. A couple of decent performances in the two-game group stage would lead to a spot in the tournament’s 32-team knockout bracket, and any sort of positive momentum would be priceless for a side suffering through an 11-match winless skid in MLS play.

“In my end, I’ll try for Leo, Busi and other players like Diego Gómez to adapt quickly to the league, that they get to know it,” said Martino. “On the other hand, we have to understand that what we’re starting [Friday] is a completely different league, where we are in the same position as all the other teams competing in it.”