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Messi has started training under his former Argentine teammate ahead of the MLS season.
Argentina's World Cup winner Messi, 37, plays for MLS side Inter Miami.
The eight-times Ballon d'Or winner was then seen sobbing on the sidelines, with an ice pack on his ankle.
Messi repeated the reason for his absence from the highly-anticipated game against a local League XI in Hong Kong on February 4.
The match in Hong Kong drew 40,000 fans, with some spectators paying up to nearly HK$5,000 ($640) per ticket.
Argentina forward Messi, nursing a hamstring problem, started on the bench and Portugal's Ronaldo missed out completely due to a muscle injury, disappointing fans hoping to see the world's two most famous footballers in opposition.
Malcom came up with the decisive goal to win the match in the 88th.
The party also included some of Messi’s Inter Miami teammates.
The 36-year-old is now three Ballons d'Or clear of rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the last of his five trophies in 2017.
Messi drew a foul about 25 yards from goal in the dying seconds and stepped up to deliver what everyone came to see as his free-kick sailed into the top left corner and sent the crowd into delirium.
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