Inter Miami goalkeeper Luis Robles to undergo surgery on fractured arm. Here are details
Inter Miami will likely have to play the rest of the season without its captain, goalkeeper Luis Robles, who is undergoing surgery to repair his fractured left forearm.
Robles suffered the injury in stoppage time of Miami’s 3-2 loss to New York City FC on Saturday when he collided with Gary Mackay-Steven, a play that resulted in a yellow card for the NYCFC winger.
Inter Miami (3-10-2) plays on the road Wednesday night at New York Red Bulls, where Robles was a fan favorite for eight seasons. MLS veteran John McCarthy is the likely replacement for Robles, with rookie Drake Callender as the backup.
Four other Miami players will also be out against the Red Bulls, who beat Miami 4-1 two weeks ago -- Rodolfo Pizarro (Mexican national team duty), Leandro Gonzalez Pirez (yellow cards), Juan Agudelo (injured), Andres Reyes (injured).
“We brought Luis in for his leadership, and his leadership doesn’t go away, even if he’s not on the field,” said Inter Miami chief operating officer Paul McDonough, who confirmed Robles will require surgery. “I have an enormous amount of faith on John or Drake to carry the torch and I know Luis will be there supporting them and wishing them well.”
Robles posted a family photo on Instagram that shows him in a cast with his wife and three children.
“Sometimes life has a way of surprising you and it’s not always fun,” Robles wrote. “Yet I look around and I have so much to be grateful for. I could get caught up in how unfair some things may be but I choose to focus on the positive and react the best way I know how.
“It’s easy to trust in Him when things are good but it’s a deeper experience to choose to trust when it’s difficult. Somehow He will use this experience and grow me. Thank you everyone for the outpouring of love and support. I’ll bounce back stronger than ever!”
McDonough said he would feel comfortable with either McCarthy or Callender starting.
“John certainly has more experience and he’s done really well as a No. 1 in the league,” McDonough said. “When we went into the season, we wanted someone with experience and John was wanted by a lot of teams. Happy he has first-team experience from Philly. I think Drake has an enormous amount of potential and a chance to be the No. 1 here in the future.”
Coach Diego Alonso added: “This is a great opportunity, unfortunately due to an injury, for John and Drake to show what they are capable of.”
McCarthy has not played an MLS game in two years, but he made 21 appearances for the Philadelphia Union from 2015 to 2018. His last match was a 2-0 shutout over Sporting Kansas City in September 2018.
“Luis is a great guy, he’s the captain of our team for a reason,” McCarthy said in an article published on the team website. “He has years of experience, pulls everyone together and he’s had a great career so he’s a great guy to train with. To be able to fill his shoes, I look forward to taking advantage of the opportunity and helping everybody in a positive way.”
“These opportunities can be far and few between as a backup, but the mindset is that you can play every weekend. The preparedness for these moments comes from the work you put in throughout the week.”
Callender played four years at Cal-Berkeley, and in 2018 was All-Pac 12 second team. He says he is ready if called upon.
“The preparation started once I finished my college career. It started this preseason, getting adjusted to the level of play, how our coach wants us to play, his philosophy,” Callender said. “If you focus on what you can control, your attitude and your energy, then that will flow into your physical performance. I’ve been staying fit, giving 100 percent at every training and making sure that I’m preparing for a game even if I’m not a starter.”
Defender A.J. De la Garza said the team is committed to playing better defense going forward after giving up 10 goals in the past three games.
“Nobody thought with the players we have and the experience we have that we’d be in this position (13th place in the Eastern Conference), but we’re here and it’s up to us to get ourselves out of it,” De La Garza said. “We need to buckle down and really help our keeper. Unfortunately, we leave him out to dry a lot of times with open shots in the box, right outside the box. If we can get zeros or one, we have players capable of scoring on the other end.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 11:21 AM.