Higuain undergoes Inter Miami physical, team plays at Orlando Saturday in front of fans
Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain arrived in Miami on Thursday night, is undergoing a physical with the Inter Miami medical team, and the club is expected to finalize his contract sometime this weekend. He will have to quarantine up to 10 days per MLS COVID-19 protocol before he can join his new teammates.
Team owner Jorge Mas posted a photo of Higuain’s arrival at Miami International Airport with the caption: “A warm welcome to Gonzalo Higuain, a world class striker and champion.” Coach Diego Alonso confirmed Higuain is undergoing medical exams and said he hopes they can seal the deal soon.
Higuain, 32, spent the past four years with Italian power Juventus, with loan spells at Milan and Chelsea. Before that he played for River Plate, Real Madrid and Napoli. He will be reunited with Juventus teammate Blaise Matuidi, the French midfielder who joined Inter Miami last month.
Inter Miami, coming off a dramatic 2-1 home win against Atlanta United on Wednesday, plays on the road Saturday at Orlando City (7:30 p.m., CBS, Unimas). The game at Exploria Stadium is the third match between the inter-state rivals since July and their first in front of fans since the league returned from the COVID-19 suspension.
Up to 7,500 tickets (30 percent of the stadium capacity) were made available for the game. A group of Inter Miami supporters, many of whom cheered on the team Wednesday from the Inter Miami Stadium parking lot, is making the road trip and will be there with drums and flags.
“It’s awesome, we’ve all been dying for them to come into the stadium,” said defender Dylan Nealis. “Each of the home games they’re all chanting outside at the gate, almost want to rush in. It’s going to be exciting. It will only make the game more fun to watch.”
Orlando City won the first time they played, 2-1 on July 8, in the opening game of the MLS is Back Tournament. Miami won 3-2 in its first home game on Aug. 22.
It will be Miami’s third match in six days, while Orlando has had a week of rest. The wife of Miami defender Leandro Gonzalez Pirez had a baby girl, Lucia, on Friday, but he is expected to play.
Midfielder Jay Chapman said Miami players are energized by the three-game unbeaten streak, the addition of Matuidi, and the promise of Higuain.
“Blaise as played at the highest level, you can see it when he’s training, how he carries himself, so there’s an aura around him that he’s seen and done it all,” Chapman said. “Anytime you can learn from a guy like that, my ears are open, all eyes on him. He’s a fantastic guy, great personality.”
In other news, MLS on Friday announced the next schedule through the end of September, as well as MLS Cup playoffs qualification and format.
Inter Miami will play Sept. 19 at Atlanta United, Sept. 23 at home vs. New York Red Bulls and Sept. 27 at Philadelphia Union. Higuain could possibly make his debut on Sept. 23 or 27, as the team makes a push for a playoff spot.
From Sept. 18 to 27, each MLS club will compete in three regular season matches. As the league continues to finalize travel protocols, the Canadian teams will play all three of their matches in the U.S., including each club hosting one home match in a U.S. city. The Montreal Impact will host a match in Harrison, N.J., Toronto FC in Hartford, Conn., and Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Portland, Ore.
The 18-team MLS Cup Playoffs will again consist of single-elimination matches hosted by the higher-seeded team and follow a straight bracket format through MLS Cup on Dec.12. Eight teams from the 12-team Western Conference will qualify directly to Round 1. The top six seeds from the 14-team Eastern Conference will qualify directly to Round 1. Eastern Conference seeds 7-10 will each compete in a play-in match (No. 7 vs. No. 10, and No. 8 vs. No. 9) to determine the two additional spots.
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 12:10 PM.