Inter Miami players trained in groups for first time Thursday. Here’s how it went .
After 84 days restricted to individual workouts, Inter Miami players finally were able to train alongside teammates and pass the ball to each other on Thursday.
Granted, it was just small-group practices — six players on half a field — but it was better than training alone.
And full-squad training is coming soon.
Major League Soccer on Thursday lifted the moratorium on full-team training for the first time since the COVID-19 stoppage began 12 weeks ago, clearing the way for teams to train as a full group so long as each team’s plan is approved by the league and local government and health authorities.
The league announced Wednesday that it will resume play with a summer tournament at Orlando’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. Details are still being worked out, but all 26 teams are expected to report the week of June 29 and play games starting in early July.
Clubs that can conduct full-team training and coronavirus testing at home facilities will be able to report to Orlando a week later.
“The guys had a lot of fun,” Inter Miami captain and goalkeeper Luis Robles said of Thursday’s workout. “It’s crazy, you don’t think anything of having the privilege of passing the ball to your teammate or your friend, and yet you go through an experience like what we’re going through right now, and it’s taken from you and when you’re allowed to do it again, you can’t help but rejoice and really enjoy it.”
Although Inter Miami players have been keeping in shape with individual workouts, Robles said nothing compares to training together and spending time together off the field.
“Of course, the trainings have been really challenging and difficult, and we understand the aim and focus of coaches, but it’s a lot easier when you’re allowed to pass the ball to your teammate,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the next phase when we’re actually allowed to be together as an entire group because that’s been one of the challenges, is how do we maintain that same great spirit in our locker room that started in the beginning of this preseason up until March 12. How do we maintain that? We’ve tried through Zoom workouts, but it doesn’t replace what happens in a locker room.”
Inter Miami had played just two games of its inaugural season — both road losses — when the league was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic. The club was scheduled to play its long-awaited home debut against the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 14, but that will have to wait.
“The incentive is to continue the journey that started from the moment I signed, personally, to the journey that dates back to the moment David Beckham activated his [ownership] clause,” Robles said. “There was so much work put into getting to the season opener March 1 and then finally we’re there, let’s get to March 14, and then we didn’t get there. No one could have foreseen this.
“We haven’t won a game yet. That’s going to be historic, when we win our first game. We started on a real, real high and then all of a sudden, this very strange thing happened. Success in Orlando will help us get that winning culture.”
Robles, whose mother is Korean and father is a Puerto Rican former U.S. military officer, also addressed the players’ determination to be “agents for change” in the quest for racial equity. He vowed to have conversations about race with his teammates, league executives and his three young children.
As a member of the MLS Players Association executive board, Robles made it a point to praise the 85-player bargaining committee and his fellow board members who just finalized a revised collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday, averting a lockout.
During a Wednesday conference call, MLS commissioner Don Garber had singled Robles out for his leadership, but Robles said that was “unfair” to all the other players who worked so hard on the deal.
“I’m very proud of the commitment, dedication and resolve our players showed in this situation,” Robles said. “We demonstrated why the players association is the voice of the players. And we understand in the negotiation process there are going to be a lot of different tactics used for sides to arrive at an acceptable deal. They decided to use a tactic that was not welcome by a lot of people and the most important thing is we were able to separate our emotion from the process and put together the best proposal possible that allows the players to get back to performing on the field.”