Inter Miami's Lionel Messi said on Tuesday that it was "bad luck" that stopped him playing in Hong Kong at the weekend and he hopes to return one day to try again.

Now in Japan where his team will play another friendly, Messi said he understood that the fans in Hong Kong were looking forward to see him play, but he had discomfort in his adductor muscles.

"In Hong Kong, there was such a big crowd, I really wanted to play, but unfortunately, it was difficult," he said in Spanish.

"The truth is that it was bad luck that I couldn’t play."

The 36-year-old added that he was already suffering from muscle discomfort while in Saudi Arabia, just before the Hong Kong trip.

The World Cup-winning captain was subbed off in the final minutes of the first exhibition match in the Middle Eastern country, and managed to play for several minutes in the second game there.

"I tried to test it out, to see the sensations I had and how I felt, because I had done the MRI and it had come out that I had oedema in the adductor, which was overloaded, but there was no injury. That's why I tried to play," he said.

"Then we went to Hong Kong and had the open training and I came out because of the number of people there and because there was also a clinic [appearance] with the kids. I wanted to be present and participate, but the truth is that the discomfort continued. It was very difficult for me to play," he said.

"I always want to participate, I want to play, especially in these games where we travel so far and people want to see our games. I hope we can return and play a game in Hong Kong."

Messi said his leg pain was improving, but there was no guarantee he would be able to play in the club's next friendly, against Vissel Kobe on Wednesday.