What you should know as Messi, Inter Miami kick off preseason tour in El Salvador on Friday

Passports in hand, and boasting a superstar roster the likes of which Major League Soccer has never seen, Inter Miami embarks Friday on a global preseason tour which takes the team to El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and Japan.

The arrival of Lionel Messi and his former FC Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez has turned the team’s seven preseason exhibition matches into high-profile money-making events. Miami’s trademark pink jerseys, especially Messi’s No. 10, will be on display from San Salvador to Riyadh to Hong Kong to Tokyo.

“The eyes of the world are on us,” declared coach Tata Martino.

The first game is at 8 p.m. Friday against the El Salvador national team at 44,836-seat Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador. The match will be livestreamed on MLSsoccer.com in English and MLSes.com in Spanish.

Inter Miami released its travel squad for the El Salvador game, and the marquee names are on it: Messi, Busquets, Alba, Suarez, as well as other fan favorites such as Leo Campana, DeAndre Yedlin, Gregore, and Benjamin Cremaschi. Goalkeeper Drake Callender is not traveling, as he is with the U.S. national team for a Sunday game against Slovenia in San Antonio.

It remains to be seen how many minutes the starters will play. Martino has stressed that managing playing time will be especially critical this season.

According to media reports from San Salvador, street vendors have set up shop and have been selling Messi merchandise all week. Fans from all over Central America are expected to show up for the game to witness the rare visit from the Argentine legend.

The team will fly back to South Florida after the match and then head to Dallas on Sunday for a Monday match against FC Dallas, which will be streamed on MLSsoccer.com. After a couple of days back home, the team heads to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 25 for a few days of training before playing Al Hilal on January 29 (1 p.m. ET) and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr Feb. 1 (1 p.m. ET).

From there, it’s on to play the Hong Kong All-Star team on Feb. 4 (3 a.m. ET) and then to Tokyo for a 5 a.m. ET game against J-League club Vissel Kobe. In all, the team will travel more than 24,000 miles.

“Going Global” was the caption on Inter Miami’s social media accounts Thursday.

The final preseason match is at home, at DRV PNK Stadium, on Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. against Messi’s and Martino’s hometown club Newell’s Old Boys. The regular season kicks off Feb. 21 at home against Real Salt Lake.

The games in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan and the Newell’s game will be shown on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Newly signed wingback Julian Gressel, who came from MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew, said Inter Miami’s ambitious preseason schedule and star-filled roster are among the reasons he chose to sign with the club, along with the fact that he won an MLS Cup with Martino when they were with Atlanta United.

“It’s intriguing in terms of who your teammates are and what the club is trying to do,” Gressel said. “Not only here in this market, but in MLS. This league is trying to go places and a franchise like this helps push the boundaries. I think I have a real good chance here of winning four trophies (MLS Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, U.S. Open Cup). The appeal of Miami and what the club is trying to do, and the vision beyond this year, this is what I was excited about.”

Gressel has enjoyed his first few weeks with the club and pleased that he has been able to integrate so seamlessly into the squad. He said captain DeAndre Yedlin, whom he knows from the U.S. national team, has been a big help.

“It’s special to be on the field with those guys and train with them, there’s no doubt about that,” Gressel said. “But at the same time, I’m really happy that they’re super regular guys.”

Gressel shared that on his first day with the team Busquets came over and congratulated him for winning the MLS Cup.

“Not even knowing me, he knew I had won, and that’s good to see,” Gressel said.

Defender Tyler Hall, a 17-year-old from Miramar who last week was promoted to the senior roster after going through the youth academy and second team, is also getting acclimated. He said he has been using the Duolingo app to work on his Spanish.

The teenager spoke to the media for the first time on Wednesday and admitted he still can’t believe he is sharing a field with Messi, Busquets, Suarez and Alba.

“I mean, it’s been a while that they’ve been here, and I’m still getting used to it,” he said. “Like, you get onto a feeling like, `Dang, I’m really next to them.’ So, I mean, it’s just a great opportunity that I have to train alongside these players and hopefully get onto that field to play with them as well.

“It feels unreal now because when I was younger, I was watching YouTube videos, the highlights of Messi, and now being right next to him in training, the same way you see on YouTube, is crazy.”