AFP’s Miami Bureau Lionel Messi, a superstar player for Inter Miami, made his comeback to the starting lineup when the Major League Soccer team played Newell’s Old Boys, his birthplace club from Argentina, at home on Thursday. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

The eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, who had been a fan of Old Boys as a child and had played for them from 1995 to 2000 before moving on to Barcelona, appeared to be overcome with emotion during the match.

Lawson Sunderland, an American player who is 22 years old, came in to replace Messi in the 60th minute of the match. Despite this, the home crowd were overjoyed. The 2024 Major League Soccer season will begin the following week.

The 36-year-old striker, who sparked Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title, returned to Miami’s starting 11 after fighting through a groin injury that caused him to sit out a friendly in Hong Kong earlier this month.

Messi came off the bench in a later Inter Miami match in Japan but was back among the starters for the MLS club’s final pre-season match.

After a scoreless first half, Inter Miami grabbed a 1-0 lead on Shanyder Borgelin’s goal in the 64th minute.

The 22-year-old Haitian forward leaped high over a defender to nod home a perfect corner kick from Finnish midfielder Robert Taylor.

Newell’s equalized on Argentine midfielder Franco Martin Diaz’s goal in the 83rd minute, a blast into the bottom right corner from the heart of the box.

Inter Miami will play host to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday in the MLS regular-season opener.