Inter Miami will finally play inaugural home game Saturday after a five-month delay
The only “fans” at Inter Miami’s inaugural home game Saturday night against Orlando City will be $50 waterproof cardboard cutouts of fans in the North Stands of their newly constructed 18,000-seat stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
David Beckham won’t be there, either. The team’s co-owner is at home in England, and due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, unable to make it for the game. “Couple of nights before our home opener…wishing we were able to travel to be there in our beautiful stadium with all our loyal fans,” Beckham posted on Instagram on Thursday.
But strange and empty as the stadium might feel, the regular season will resume after a five-month interruption and a few weeks after teams got back in shape with the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando. The game will be televised at 8 p.m. on CBS-4 and UNIMAS.
Inter Miami is hungry for its first win after losing all five matches so far, each by a single goal. Among those losses was a 2-1 heartbreaker to Orlando City on July 8 in the opening game of the MLS is Back Tournament.
Miami was leading that match 1-0 early in the second half after Juan Agudelo scored, launching the bench players — all in masks — out of their seats. But the team mood switched from joyous to nervous a few minutes later when defender Andres Reyes stayed down convulsing on the field after being hit in the throat area by Orlando’s Dom Dwyer.
Reyes was carried off the field strapped to a stretcher. Miami players lost their concentration, Orlando’s Chris Mueller tied the score in the 70th minute, and Nani scored the game winner in the seventh minute of injury time.
Inter Miami coach Diego Alonso and his players feel that is a game they could have won, and they are eager to avenge the loss Saturday.
“We’ve really utilized the past few weeks to work hard and get in a good mind-set to continue the rest of the season,” said captain and goalkeeper Luis Robles. “The Orlando tournament was not the best reflection of who we are as a team. We are so close, and just need to get that first win.”
Despite the absence of fans, players feel they will have home-field advantage as they have been training and scrimmaging at the Fort Lauderdale facility.
“Home advantage is something you always have to make sure counts,” midfielder Lewis Morgan said. “This is going to be our first game at home, but obviously, our real home opener will be in front of fans, and we can’t wait for that day. But it’s important now to build a fortress at home and make sure that statistically where you’re going to pack most of your points from so we need to make sure that we can put that home advantage to good use early on. We’re certainly looking to do that on Saturday.”
Morgan said the team will be better prepared for Orlando this time around.
“It’s important that we look at our last game against Orlando and try to learn from it and correct those wrongs,” Morgan said. “We’re getting more familiar with each other, the time we’ve had has been invaluable. It’s good to play a team we have a feel for and hope to come out on top.”
One key player making his debut is center back Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, who signed with Miami on July 1 and trained with the team in Orlando but was not eligible to play. Gonzalez Pirez, a native of Argentina, was an MLS All-Star with Atlanta United and brings experience and a physical presence on the back line.
“We were lucky enough to have Leandro with us in Orlando, and obviously he wasn’t able to partake in the games, but as soon as he came and was part of the group, you knew he’s someone who’s a leader,” Morgan said. “He’s had a very successful career. He’s won trophies, and having that winning mentality in the club is only going to help…That’s the culture we want to build here.”
Gonzalez Pirez has been itching to play for weeks.
“This is the day I have been waiting for,” he said. “I am very confident in the group we have. We have a good mix of veterans, young players and cultures. We have great camaraderie. I have never lost to Orlando in my years with Atlanta, and I want to keep that streak going.”
Miami will be without French World Cup-winning midfielder Blaise Matuidi, who left Juventus and signed with Miami last week but is awaiting his visa and must go through the MLS coronavirus protocol.
Orlando coach Oscar Pareja expects a tough game.
“Miami is a team who has been evolving for sure,” Pareja said. “It’s a new franchise with a new coach, and what we learned from the tournament is that they have players with a lot of intensity...We tried to read, not just in the game that we played against them, but in the other games too, trying to see if there are some similarities in their models or formations so we can take advantage of some stuff, or how we can prevent them as well to hurt our systems.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 5:44 PM.