Inter Miami player Leo Messi stated on Tuesday that he has "good feelings" ahead of a new friendly match in Japan after experiencing discomfort in the abductor muscle during the preseason tour, which led him to watch Sunday's match in Hong Kong from the bench.

He expressed this during a press conference before the match against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on Wednesday: "We will train this afternoon. The truth is that I feel much better compared to previous days, and depending on how it goes, I will see if I play," he said.

Messi's Absence Sparks Anger in Hong Kong

"To be honest, I still don't know if I will be able to play or not, but I feel much better and eager to do it," added the forward.

In the first of the two matches played in Arabia as part of the preseason tour, the Argentine star felt discomfort in the abductor muscle, and the diagnosis from an MRI scan was a muscle edema: "It was loaded, but there was no injury," explained Messi.

"In the second match (in Arabia), I played the minutes I played to test myself and see how I felt," he explained, but the discomfort persisted, making it "difficult" for him to play. "Then we went to Hong Kong, and we had the open-door training session, and I left because of the amount of people there," argued the player.

Inter Miami Smile in Hong Kong Without Messi and Luis Suárez

Regarding the controversy surrounding his absence in the friendly against the Hong Kong team, he said: "It's football, in any game, we can have an injury. It happened to me, and I couldn't play in the Hong Kong match."

"It's a shame because I always want to participate, I want to be there, especially in these types of matches, where we travel so far and people are so excited," continued the former Barcelona player.

Inter Miami will face Vissel Kobe next Wednesday after experiencing their first victory of the preseason tour in Hong Kong (4-1).