Miami won 4-1, scoring three second-half goals following an even opening 45 minutes in which Henrik Anier netted for the home team soon after Robert Taylor’s 40th-minute opener. But unrest was growing by the time Ryan Sailor headed home the visitors’ fourth with five minutes remaining.

Not many of the 38,323 inside the So Kon Po venue cared much that Inter were ending a run of three straight defeats on their preseason tour.

No, those who parted with between HK$880 and HK$4,480, or much more via resale sites, were not paying to watch goals from Taylor, Lawson Sunderland, Leonardo Campana and Sailor. They were forking out to see the “GOAT” – a player often referred to as the “greatest of all time” – up close and personal.

Messi spent the entire match on the bench, while there was also no appearance from his fellow former Barcelona forward Luis Suarez, the next most celebrated player present.

“We are thankful to Hong Kong for the past few days, we have been treated very well and felt the openness of the Hong Kong people,” Martino said despite the din of discontent he had just seen and heard from the pitch.

“We also enjoyed today in the stadium, but understand there is a lot of disappointment among fans because of the absence of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.

“This was the decision of the medical team. We checked their physical situation, and if we sent them on the pitch, we would have risked their physical well-being.

“We understand fans are very disappointed and we ask for their forgiveness. We wish we could have sent them on to the pitch for a while to play, but the risk was too big.”

Asked why fans were not forewarned over Messi’s no-show, after some spectators were already disappointed by the 36-year-old’s minimal involvement in Saturday’s ticketed training session at the same stadium, Martino said: “We have been assessing the situation day by day.

“He joined training yesterday [although Messi sat out the main elements of the session], and we were assessing him with the medical team until this morning.”

It was later stated by the official overseeing the press conferences that the decision over Messi was delayed until the afternoon.

An Inter Miami spokesperson subsequently told the Post that Spanish speaker Martino had been mistranslated, and had in fact said it was not until the afternoon that Messi was officially deemed unavailable.

As it happened: fans’ anger as Messi sits out Inter Miami v Hong Kong match

Martino said Messi was suffering from “inflammation [of his hamstring] … we are expecting some kind of improvement, but the situation has been there for many days”.

He added that Miami had “an obligation with Major League Soccer … so we came to the conclusion we could not risk him in today’s match”. The club begins its MLS season on February 22.

Inter allowed only one player to speak to the media – opening goalscorer Taylor – and barred questions about Messi and Suarez, “because they have been addressed by the coach”.

Beckham had made a futile attempt to quell the post-match mutiny with an address to the crowd. But the former Manchester United player’s thanks to Hong Kong fans were lost amid the boos and cries for refunds.

Hong Kong Football Association president Pui Kwan-kay declined to answer questions about the debacle, saying he was not familiar with the terms of the contract between organisers Tatler Asia and Inter Miami.

A source said Messi’s reluctance to engage with Hong Kong players off the field left some members of the home dressing room disappointed, too. The eight-times Ballon d’Or winner reportedly refused requests for photos and was “awkward”, unlike teammates, who provided signed shirts, and Beckham, who gladly posed for pictures.