MIAMI (WSVN) - Messi mania spilled onto South Beach after the soccer superstar made a visit to an athletic apparel store on Lincoln Road, but perhaps not everybody is happy about his arrival in South Florida. Vandals made a mess of a Messi mural in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood
Cellphone video captured Lionel Messi and his family as they walked out of the Adidas store at 846 Lincoln Road, late Friday afternoon.
A mob of adoring fans greeted Messi and began chanting his name.
“I hear a lot of screams, people, and I say to my mom, ‘Maybe Messi’s here,’ and he was,” said a fan.
“Very, very special. I send the video to my family, all my family was so excited, ‘Oh, really? You thought you see Messi?'” said another fan.
Some fans surrounded the Audi where Messi got in and was taken away.
“It was nice, was nice, it was very emotional,” said a fan.
Just after 6:10 p.m., 7News cameras captured a couple dozen people standing outside the store, perhaps hoping Inter Miami’s star player would return.
These latecomers said they heard the buzz about Messi being on Lincoln Road. Unfortunately, they were unable to get a glimpse of him.
Among these fans was a man who came to have his jersey signed by Messi.
“It’s crazy, and him coming here, so it’s unbelievable,” he said.
When asked how he felt about Messi’s surprise Lincoln Road stop, the man replied, “I’m in shock.”
Members of Vice City 1896 beam with pride. They are known as Inter Miami’s official hardcore fans.
“We just got arguably the best player in history to come to Inter Miami,” said Sebastian Moraga with Vice City 1896.
Members of Vice City 1896 were behind a welcome mural in Wynwood, but earlier this week, someone splattered purple paint on it.
“People were hurt, for lack of a better term. People were kind of offended by it,” said Moraga, “so everybody was just like, ‘All right, we need to act now.'”
Dozens of Vice City members got together and immediately repainted the mural. They suspect the people responsible may have been fans of a direct rival of theirs.
“At the end of the day, whoever it is, it was someone that wasn’t a part of us,” said Moraga, “and what we always say is like, for lack of a better term, when you have haters, it means you’re doing something right.”
On Friday, there was not a single trace of purple paint on the Messi mural.
“They kind of thought they were doing something to harm us, but in reality, all they did was just push us up even more,” said Moraga.
Messi and Inter Miami are certainly in the spotlight this month, but while the 36-year-old player would likely be mobbed by fans in other parts of the world, he has been able to be out and about with his family after he arrived in South Florida.
Messi has been spotted in places like Cafe Prima Pasta in Miami Beach and a Publix supermarket in Sea Ranch Lakes, a village near Fort Lauderdale.
Messi’s pink jersey is among the items currently for sale at Adidas stores.
Moraga said they didn’t report the mural defacing to police because they genuinely believe someone is going to vandalize it again.
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