A hamburger and drink combination called Lionel Messi and a huge sketch of the soccer star’s smiling face on a restaurant wall beside a viral meme from the 2022 World Cup is testimony to the excitement over the imminent arrival in Miami of the Argentine soccer legend.

There is no hiding the euphoria generated by Messi in Miami as he begins the new Major League Soccer phase of his career in one of the most Latino cities in the United States. But his arrival is also bringing a note of sadness as fans know that at age 36 he is nearing the end of his career.

Messi announced on June 7 that he will play for Inter Miami in a move that is expected to revitalize soccer in the United States and South Florida with one of the sporting world’s best-known figures. More than 100,000 Argentines live in Miami, which will host World Cup matches in 2026, Associated Press reported.

The seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, the soccer world’s most prestigious individual award, is coming off two years with Paris Saint-Germain and is expected to make his Inter Miami debut against Mexican team Cruz Azul on July 21.

In a career spanning more than 17 years with his country’s national team, Messi has scored more than 100 goals, including two against France at the 2022 World Cup, a match Argentina won on penalties.

“I love that he’s in Miami because my children will be able to experience him like I experienced (fellow Argentina soccer star Diego) Maradona,” said Maximiliano Alvarez, one of the owners of the Fiorito restaurant, where a wall has a giant mural of Messi. “It also makes me sad, nostalgic, because it looks like it is the beginning of his retirement.”

“Coming to this league is not the same as playing in the European league,” said the Argentine businessman.

Álvarez and his brother Cristian had the original mural with Messi’s face painted in the restaurant in 2018, when many people criticized the soccer star for his role in the Argentine national team’s poor performance. His idea was to honor him and the resilience he brings, never giving up.

In 2021, they renovated the restaurant in Little Haiti in northeast Miami with another mural of Messi on the same wall, this one by Chilean-American artist Claudio Picasso.

To the south, in Wynwood district, an area near downtown Miami known for its warehouse-turned-art galleries, other artists have painted murals of Messi. One is two giant images of the player, one with a smiling face, the other another running as if in a game. And there are plans for more, including a 10-meter-high mural of Messi kissing the World Cup in an open parking lot.

Near Miami Beach, at the Café Ragazzi of Argentine-Venezuelan singer-songwriter Ricardo Montaner, they are waiting for his return.

Messi was there on vacation after he won the America’s Cup with Argentina in 2021. The star caused an uproar in the restaurant as fans came to greet him, forcing staff, including waiters and kitchen workers, to form a wall around him to protect him and allow him to exit his car.

Now they want to offer the soccer legend more privacy and are thinking of putting up curtains.

“We are waiting for you in Miami with open arms,” said Emiliano Valdés, the café’s general manager. “He is revolutionizing the entire city and has not yet arrived.”