Meet the five players Inter Miami picked in the MLS Expansion Draft. Coach coming soon
Inter Miami’s first home game is still four months away, but hundreds of fans, decked in black and pink, singing in Spanish and English, and banging on drums, offered a glimpse on Tuesday night of what the stadium atmosphere will look and sound like.
They were gathered at team headquarters in Coral Gables for a party celebrating the Major League Soccer Expansion Draft, during which Inter Miami selected five players.
Paul McDonough, the team’s sporting director, said the club is also “actively negotiating” for two high-profile international players, in “the contract stage” with a head coach and plans to name the coach “in the next couple of weeks.” The only hint he would offer is: “You’ll know his name.” One coach linked to the job is Marcelo Gallardo of Argentine club River Plate, which plays in the Copa Libertadores final on Nov. 23.
“We know the international players we have coming, so we were looking for MLS experience and help in the back” from Tuesday’s draft, McDonough said.
Inter Miami had the No. 1 overall pick in the Expansion Draft and used it to get New York City FC left back Ben Sweat, 28, a Palm Harbor, Fla., native who played at University of South Florida and in Europe before joining MLS. He has played in 79 games for NYCFC and played two games for the U.S. national team in 2018.
“Ben is a Florida guy, played at USF, so I had seen him back then, so that was one factor for us,” said McDonough.
With the second pick, Inter Miami selected Jamaican defender Alvas Powell of FC Cincinnati. Powell, a 25-year-old who primarily plays right back, has played 134 MLS matches with Portland from 2015-18 and then Cincinnati last season.
Powell has played 46 games for the Jamaican national team since 2012, and also represented his country at the U17 and U20 levels.
“Bringing Alvas back, he’s a Jamaican international and we really like his game, athletic, plays at right back so that was important for us,” McDonough said.
Los Angeles FC midfielder Lee Nguyen was Inter Miami’s third pick. Nguyen, 33, has dual citizenship in the United States and Vietnam. He played briefly in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven, moved to the Danish league to get more playing team and wound up with the New England Revolution from 2012-18 and joined LAFC last season. Nguyen has represented the U.S. national team nine times since 2007.
“I have known Lee for a long time,” McDonough said. “He’s a really good guy and a technical player the fans here are going to love. He’s going to really fit in with what we’re trying to build here. It’s really important to have him. He’s super excited.”
The fourth pick was midfielder Luis Argudo of the Columbus Crew and the fifth pick was goalkeeper Bryan Meredith of the Seattle Sounders. “Most teams carry three or four goalkeepers, and it’s important to have someone who’s been in a really good club for a long time.”
“Our plan is to keep all five players,” said McDonough. “When we started, we signed a lot of young players, so we wanted to add some MLS experience, especially first three guys are real key MLS contributors.”
They also have the No. 1 and No. 3 picks in the college SuperDraft in early January.
Prior to Tuesday’s draft, Inter Miami had signed nine players. Three are 19-year-old rising talents from South America -- forward Julian Carranza and midfielder Matias Pellegrini of Argentina, and Venezuelan defender Christian Makoun. All three were being pursued by European teams.
The others are midfielder Victor Ulloa (FC Cincinnati), midfielder David Norman Jr (Portland), midfielder Jay Chapman (Toronto FC), defender Grant Lillard (Chicago), Miami native George Acosta, and German-American forward Jerome Kiesewetter (USL club El Paso Locomotive), who has played in the Bundesliga and for the U.S. national team. Miami also acquired the rights to goalkeeper Drake Callender from the San Jose Earthquakes, but he is still playing college soccer for Cal-Berkeley.
Fox analyst Alexi Lalas, who will be in Miami on Thursday for the international SoccerEx conference, said he has been watching Inter Miami’s roster building with interest.
“Four or five of the starting 11 have to have an understanding of what MLS is and isn’t, and translate that to others who are coming in, from the travel standpoint, competitive standpoint, facilities,” said Lalas. “You can get that through drafts.
“Then you have the other two buckets – one is the Atlanta type of thing where they aren’t established stars in terms of name, but you are paying for the quality because everybody understands that while they’re not on the covers of magazines or websites, they are players that have undeniable talent that the rest of the world is looking at in terms of a potential buy for the quality and the asset appreciation.”
The three young South Americans fit that description.
“Then you have the third bucket where you have to get a name or a couple of names,” Lalas said. “For Miami in particular, I think it’s essential. Because David Beckham is involved, it forces them to do something like that – an established star that everyone who follows soccer knows. They can build around that face and name. Then, hope you have a coach that find some diamonds in the rough and polish some players to make them better than where they were previously.”
Asked about the international players and coach he has in mind, McDonough just smiled. In the background, the post-draft party got louder and louder.
“We have been waiting for so long for this moment,” said Kimani Brown, a fan from Broward County who drove down for the party. “The mere fact that it’s here now is amazing. Seeing the people, the vibe, the atmosphere, the different supporter groups. It’s so great for the city of Miami and South Florida. Awesome.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 6:45 PM.