Following Inter Miami’s stunning loss to Al-Hilal of the Saudi Pro League in the Riyadh Season Cup on Monday, Lionel Messi delivered a message to Inter Miami fans.

Despite goals from Messi and new teammate Luis Suarez among others, the MLS squad lost to Saudi Arabia’s premier team Al-Hilal, intensifying their preseason preparations for the next campaign. Nonetheless, Messi stated as much in a sobering social media post following the game, indicating that Miami is preparing for the upcoming campaign.

“Seguimos preparándonos,” the 36-year-old Argentine World Cup winner said on Instagram after scoring his first goal of the preseason campaign at Kingdom Arena with a penalty kick in the 54th minute. ( “We continue to prepare…” ).

Even though this was a loss, preseason games usually don’t have much of an impact on the outcome of a campaign. Messi, who led the American team to a Leagues Cup victory last season with 11 goals in 14 games, will be looking to get off to a solid start as Miami kicks off their MLS campaign on February 21.

Miami’s preseason schedule includes games against Al-Nassr, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, on Thursday, Hong Kong XI on February 4, and Vissel Kobe three days later. On February 15, they play their final friendly match against Newell’s Old Boys. A week later, they host Real Salt Lake to begin their Major League Soccer career.