Defend it like Beckham: Inter Miami owner bites back at MLS rivals’ taunts
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham has accused Minnesota United of a lack of respect for mocking his superstar team on social media after beating them at the weekend.
Beckham clapped back at two Instagram posts by Minnesota following their 4-1 win over Inter Miami, who boast Lionel Messi and a host of other former Barcelona stars.
Mocking their opponents’ flamingo-hued kits and expensively assembled squad, Minnesota captioned their posts “Pink Phony Club” and “History over hype, culture over cash”.
Beckham took exception, writing in the comments section of the social media platform: “Show a little respect, be elegant in triumph” and “Respect over everything”.
It was an uncharacteristic display of emotion from the former England captain, 50, who rarely lets his guard down in public and has more than 80m followers on Instagram.
The surprisingly heavy defeat checked Inter Miami’s good form so far this season and left them fourth in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference, with 21 points from 11 games.
Minnesota, meanwhile, climbed to second in the Western Conference, with 22 points from 12 games. They have never finished higher than fourth in their conference and seventh overall.
Inter Miami, whose other stars include former Liverpool striker Luiz Suarez and Spanish veterans Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, topped the MLS standings last year but lost in the play-offs.
They reached the semi-finals of the Concacaf Champions League but lost 5-1 on aggregate to Vancouver Whitecaps last month, denying Messi another continental crown aged 37.
He will have another shot at glory with Inter Miami this summer after they were controversially included in the first 32-team Club World Cup, which is being held in the US.
However, the team co-founded by Beckham face opposition from European heavyweights including Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
Beckham was last week announced as a member of a new ownership group at his other club, Salford City, along with former teammate Gary Neville and PR guru Declan Kelly.