At 9 p.m. on February 19, Messi posted on his personal Weibo **, responding to the controversy of "Hong Kong did not play": "The Year of the Dragon, fans and friends!".I would like to clarify some facts through this, and thank you again to all the fans who came to Hong Kong, China to support me and the team, thank you for your shouting, cheering tifo and love. A big hug to everyone. ”
The full text is as follows: Hello everyone, I have read and heard a lot of words that were mentioned after the competition in Hong Kong, China, I want to record this ** to give the real situation, I hope you will not continue to see false news.
As the fans know, I always want to go to every game, I always want to play the stadium, and I've heard people say that I don't want to play for political reasons or many other reasons, but that's not true, and if that were the case I wouldn't even go to Japan or visit China as many times as I did before.
From the very beginning of my career, I have had a very close and special relationship with China, and the interviews, matches and events here have left me with fond memories, and as a player, I have played many times here for FC Barcelona and the national team.
As I said at the press conference, the truth is that I had adductor inflammation and I felt it before the first friendly in Saudi Arabia so I couldn't play, and in the second game (in Saudi Arabia) I tried to play for a while and it got worse. Then the day before [the Hong Kong game], I tried to train on the pitch and work hard for all the fans who came to practice.
I did my best and participated in the end-of-training soccer interaction with the kids, but I couldn't really get on the pitch. I felt unwell and risked aggravating the injury. After a few days, the injury felt a little bit better, which is why I played in Japan for a while. I'm hoping to get back to some form for the next league that will start soon. I've said all of this [at the press conference], but I think it's important to revisit it now in the face of all this false information.
As always, I would like to send my best wishes to all the fans in China, I have always had special feelings for you and will continue to do so, I hope we will see you again soon, big hugs, take care!