Inter Miami goalkeeper Robles fractures arm, Pizarro out 4-5 games for Mexico call-up
The news went from bad to worse for Inter Miami after Saturday night’s 3-2 home loss to New York City FC.
Goalkeeper Luis Robles, the team captain, fractured his left arm during a collision in the closing minutes of the game. He is being evaluated by team doctors at Baptist Health over the next few days. If he requires surgery, he could miss the remainder of the season.
Robles took a hard fall in stoppage time after colliding with New York’s Gary Mackay-Steven, who was shown a yellow card for a bad foul. Robles grabbed his left forearm and stayed down for a few minutes, then bolted off the field after the final whistle.
It is the first major injury in Robles’ career. He holds the Major League Soccer record for consecutive regular season starts with 183, from September 2012 to May 2018 with the New York Red Bulls. He did not miss a single minute of action for five and a half years, earning the nickname “Ironman” and drawing comparisons to baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. In 2015, Robles was voted MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
Before joining the Red Bulls, he spent six seasons in the German Bundesliga — four with FC Kaiserslautern and two with Karlsruher SC.
“As an experienced, older player I always tell younger guys, `It’s your talent that got you here, but it’s not your talent that’s going to keep you here’,” Robles, 36, said when he signed with Inter Miami in December 2019. “It’s your understanding of what it takes to be a professional, the rigor, the ups and downs. It’s not always going to be up. And really what defines you is how you handle the downs.
“What I can bring to this team is that locker-room experience, the voice of reason and calming presence when times can be very hectic.”
There have been many hectic and trying times during Inter Miami’s inaugural season and Robles, a member of the MLS Players Association executive board, has been a steadying influence on his teammates. Backup keeper John McCarthy is the likely replacement for Robles.
Robles is not the only key starter who will be missing as the team tries to secure a playoff spot.
Coach Diego Alonso confirmed in his post-match remarks that they will lose midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro for the next “four or five games” as he travels to Netherlands to play two friendlies with the Mexican national team on Oct. 7 and Oct. 13. Per MLS rules, Pizarro must quarantine for 10 days upon his return, so he could miss as many as six Inter Miami games.
“Rodolfo is going, we couldn’t keep him,” Alonso said. “I am not in agreement, but we have to accept it.”
The mood of the team was grim following the loss, its third in a row.
A pair of nice-looking first-half goals from Scottish right winger Lewis Morgan, one of them assisted by Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain playing his home debut, were overshadowed by sluggish defense at critical moments. Those miscues wound up costing Miami the game.
Late-sub Julian Carranza appeared to score the equalizer for Inter Miami in the 85th minute when he knocked in a low cross from Higuain. But video replay showed Carranza was offside, so the goal was disallowed.
Inter Miami dropped to 3-10-2 and failed to gain any ground on a potential playoff push with eight games remaining. They have 11 points and are six points away from the final playoff spot.
It was the third game in a row the team conceded an early goal and Miami has given up 10 goals in those games.
Morgan said his two goals were rendered meaningless by the team’s mistakes.
“At the moment, I don’t really care about them much, to be honest,” he said of the goals. “I would much rather not score and get three points. Something we highlighted before the game, when we do score we’re conceding goals within the next five or 10 minutes, which is something we can’t do. We can’t give away the goals we’re giving and expect to win games. That’s something we need to look at.”
Midfielder Blaise Matuidi agreed.
“We seem to be making costly mistakes, and we are in a difficult moment,” said Matuidi. “This game showed us there is hope, we can get it turned around, but it is difficult to accept…It seems when we give up that many goals, there is a concentration issue and our confidence seems to dip.”
Miami fell behind in the fourth minute, when its back line was caught sleeping. After a New York free kick, NYCFC’s Finnish captain Alexander Ring lofted a long pass over the heads of the Miami defenders, and connected with Romanian midfielder Alexandru Mitrita, who scored from close range.
Morgan tied it up in the 27th minute and gave Miami a boost of energy. He took a slick side-footed pass from Victor Ulloa and scored on a right-footed shot from the right side of the box to the top right corner.
New York’s Anton Tinnerholm then slipped through the Miami defense a few minute later and left-footed a shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner to give New York a 2-1 lead.
Morgan came to the rescue again, tying it back up in the 38th minute with his second goal of the night on an assist from Higuain. But in the 43rd minute, Mitrita struck again after a breakaway, scoring the eventual game-winner.
Miami’s next game is Wednesday on the road at New York Red Bulls.
This story was originally published October 4, 2020 at 2:02 PM.