The Daily Heron: Spray Painting Over an Inter Miami Mural… Really?

Jealousy of the attention Inter Miami is receiving lately seems to run deep.

Earlier this week, a Lionel Messi-themed mural painted by the Inter Miami supporters group Vice City 1896 was vandalized in the Wynwood section of Miami.

The mural, which had an image of Messi and the words “Welcome to Vice City” was painted over in purple paint with the words “LA FLORIDA ED MORADA” or “FL is Purple.”

This would indicate the vandalism was done by supporters of Inter Miami’s in-state rivals, Orlando City.

Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but it’s also possible that someone vandalized the mural in a way to where we “think” it has to do with Orlando City fans.

Either way, it seems apparent there are some out there outraged by the attention Inter Miami is getting of late by signing the Argentine great.

Kudos to members of Vice City 1898 for not only putting the mural up in the first place, but also working diligently to remove the purple paint and restore the mural to its original form.

The Gift That Keeps Giving… and One I Want Immediately

According to The Mirror website, Messi had a special gift for all of his teammates following their 4-0 thrashing of Atlanta United in the 2023 Leagues Cup.

A special edition pair of Beats headphones.

The custom-made headphones sport Inter Miami’s black and pink color scheme and the club’s badge.

Yeah, that’s Messi. Messi got them for the team. I don’t know if he bought them, but he gave everybody headphones for his first game.

De’Andre Yedlin, Inter Miami

Of course, there’s also the story of Messi gifting Leonardo Campana extra tickets to Messi’s unveiling a few weeks ago.

That’s great about the tickets, but I want to know where I can get those sweet headphones.

You Get a Selfie, You Get a Selfie, Everyone Gets a Selfie

Not to be outdone by fellow tennis star Serena Williams’ attendance at Messi’s first match against Cruz Azul, Victoria Azarenka wanted her own experience.

So, she did what any of us would do… she took a “selfie” with Messi.

Well, kind of.

The Belarusian tennis star got her picture snapped as Messi was dribbling on the pitch against Atlanta United.

Not quite a “selfie” but, hey, it’s closer than most of would have gotten.

ICYMI: Luis Suarez Isn’t Coming to Inter Miami

We can close the door on the rumor of Messi and Busquets’ fellow Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez joining the pair in South Florida.

As we reported Thursday, Gremio confirmed Suarez will stay with the Brazilian side at least until December.

Not that the deal was going to happen anyway, but we can at least stop speculating on whether the injury-prone Suarez is coming to South Florida.

Rumors ranged from Suarez tearing up his contract to his willing to buy out the rest of his contract just to move to Miami.

Now we have pretty solid confirmation that none of that is going to happen… at least not now.