For someone about to celebrate their birthday and whose team had just qualified for the knockout stages of the Fifa Club World Cup, it was a visibly frustrated Lionel Messi after the final whistle at Hard Rock Stadium.
Inter Miami had been cruising at 2-0 up against Palmeiras with 10 minutes to go, only for the Brazilians to grab two late goals to snatch a point and deny the MLS side all three points.
More importantly, it meant Miami had missed out on top spot in Group A, and that instead of taking on another Brazilian side in Botafogo in the last 16, it would be newly crowned Uefa Champions League winners – and Messi's former club – Paris Saint-Germain up next.
It had been vintage Messi – who turned 38 on Tuesday - in their previous game when the World Cup winner, and eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, had curled home a trademark free-kick to secure victory over Porto, after Miami opened the tournament with a disappointing goalless draw with Al Ahly.
Beating the Portuguese outfit meant Miami had created history by becoming the first Concacaf team to defeat a European side in an official Fifa tournament, but repeating the trick against the might of PSG is a far trickier prospect.
“If we make these mistakes against PSG we will pay a heavy price,” admitted Luis Suarez, who scored a brilliant second goal against Palmeiras and won the player-of-the-match award.
Messi joined Miami in the summer of 2023 after leaving Paris following a difficult spell which had ended with a fractured relationship between the player and PSG fans.
The Argentine had scored 32 goals and assisted in a further 35 in 75 games, while also helping PSG win the Ligue 1 title in both his seasons spent in Paris between 2021 and 2023.
But in a team of galactico signings – that also included the likes of Sergio Ramos, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – PSG's failure to make it beyond the Champions League last 16 meant the Messi era was considered a failure.
The fact that Messi was also suspended for two weeks by the club for an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia – for which he later apologised – only added to the tensions.
“I went through two years which I didn't enjoy,” recalled Messi in an interview earlier this year. “I wasn't happy on a daily basis, with the training, the matches. I had a hard time adapting to all that.”
Miami coach Javier Mascherano is confident his former Barcelona and Argentina teammate can channel those memories into helping his current side produce what would be a major shock in the US.
“It's clear that it would better for us if he was angry, because he's one of those players who, when he has something in mind, gives a bit extra,” Mascherano told ESPN.
“In the end, what Leo wants is to win games, like the great player that he is,” added Miami teammate Jordi Alba. “He was there for two years and only he knows what happened.”
Adding to the intrigue of Sunday's game in Atlanta (kicking off 11pm UAE time) is the fact PSG are managed by former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique.
Barca boys turned Miami men Macherano, Alba, Messi, Suarez and Sergio Busquets were all part of Luis Enrique's 2015 team that secured the Catalan giants a memorable treble – a feat the Spaniard has just repeated with PSG. And the respect they have for their old manager is clear.
“I've said it infinite times: For me, he's the best – I think not just as a coach, but also how he manages the group,” said left-back Alba.
“He's a phenomenon. I'm excited to see him, as well as his entire staff. I'll give him a hug but when the ref blows the opening whistle, try to beat him.”
“He's a coach who influenced me greatly,” added striker Suarez. “I already had a competitive DNA, but he injected even more into me.”
Luis Enrique's stock has never been higher following their magnificent 5-0 demolition job over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, although there have been bumps in road as they hunt a quadruple.
The Parisians started their Group B fixtures with a 4-0 thrashing of Atletico Madrid only to then fall to a shock loss to Botafogo before defeating Seattle Sounders and clinching a last-16 clash with Miami.
“Our coach is incredible,” Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves told Fifa.com after the Seattle win. “He gives us confidence, he gives us freedom, but with responsibility. Possession is what matters most.
“He wants us to have the ball and make the other team run. And when we don’t have it, we have to get it back quickly. It doesn’t matter who the opposing team is, it’s always the same: it’s eleven against eleven. We all attack, we all defend.”
The exit of Mbappe last summer marked the end of an era at PSG, with Luis Enrique putting his faith in hungry young players rather than big-name signings.
That is not to say PSG have stopped spending money, far from it, but they are now investing in younger talent.
Arrivals over the past 12 months include Neves for €60 million, forward Desire Doue for €59m – both aged 20 – while €70m was forked out in January for 24-year-old winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
“I’ve never said I don’t want stars, I want a team full of good players,” insists Luis Enrique. “We don’t want players who come and act like they’re doing us some kind of favour.
“It should be just the opposite: we want players who are hungry, who want to come to a one-of-a-kind club like PSG, to a one-of-a-kind city and a one-of-a-kind country, players who want to write their names in the club’s history books.”
