New-look Inter Miami dominates, but settles for 0-0 tie vs Chicago Fire in home opener
Sporting new all-pink uniforms and a retooled roster with 14 new players, an energized Inter Miami kicked off Season 3 with promise on a balmy Saturday but had to settle for a 0-0 tie with the Chicago Fire.
The energy at DRV PNK Stadium was at midseason form with thousands of diehard “La Familia” fans in the north stands banging drums, chanting Spanish songs and setting off pink smoke bombs and pink confetti streams before the opening whistle. Miami coach Phil Neville said the atmosphere reminded him of a match between Argentine rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate.
Pink was in full display, as many in the crowd of 16,080 wore the new pink jersey and even the goal nets changed to pink this season. The club underwent a makeover after back-to-back disappointing seasons.
Miami’s starting lineup included just two returnees from last season – Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain and Brazilian captain Gregore.
The team got off to a nervous start, losing the ball with errant passes, but the Miami players settled into the game and gained confidence as it went on and they dominated the second half.
Neville compared it to throwing your kids into the deep end to teach them how to swim.
“It was what I expected, a team that was nervous,” Neville said. “All the scrimmages we played and the preseason games in Charleston, nothing was like the atmosphere and occasion of (Saturday). I knew we’d have to get over those nerves in the first 45 minutes. We didn’t have any control in possession, we were really really poor, gave away unforced errors. The big plus was we went into halftime zero.
“There were pressures, expectations, famous people in stadium they’ve probably never experienced before. But the second half we were absolutely outstanding. This is probably was a game we would have lost last year.”
Neville was pleased that this new group of players demonstrated the energy and fighting spirit he was seeking.
“They headed free kicks away, dug in, slid tackles, every time there was a chance against us or a poor decision they never ever wobbled,” he said. “The second half we were the better team, created better changes. Our keeper made three brilliant saves, their keeper made three brilliant saves. A draw was a fair result.”
The biggest surprise in the starting lineup was 17-year-old Pembroke Pines native Noah Allen, who was added to the roster hours before the game on a short-term loan agreement from the club’s MLS NEXT Pro team (the club’s new reserve team, replacing the Fort Lauderdale USL team).
Co-owner David Beckham, who watched from his field-level suite, said from the moment he launched Inter Miami that his dream was to see the club’s academy players have a pathway to the senior team, as he and coach Phil Neville did as youngsters with Manchester United. His wish was granted on Saturday.
Allen, a 5-9 and 145-pound left back with floppy hair, was promoted from the club’s youth academy to the USL team last season. This preseason he and a half-dozen other players from that reserve team trained with the senior team and Allen more than held his own. With the roster thinned by injuries, he started all three games in the Carolina Challenge Cup tournament and had the assist on Gonzalo Higuain’s goal in the victory over Charlotte FC.
Although he is still a teenager, he has built up an impressive resume. Allen was voted 2021 USL League One Young Player of the Year, has been invited to camps with the U.S. Under-15 and Under-20 teams.
He did not look out of place Saturday, managing the left side of the field and even getting off a nice shot that sailed wide right off a cross from Mota. Allen played 77 minutes before being replaced by Brek Shea. He got a rousing ovation as he headed to the bench.
“Noah was one of maybe 2 or 3 not affected by (the occasion),” Neville said. “A 17-year-old kid hasn’t been burned, 17-year-old kid has no fear. He just went out there as if he was playing in an MLS 2 or USL game. We were super proud. An academy graduate, one of our own. The boy, if he keeps feet on ground, if he keeps learning, he has a brilliant future.
“When Brek came on, he was outstanding, too. He was unlucky to missed seven, eight days of training, and we had Noah to put in. We had no doubt Noah could handle this occasion. He did himself, his family and the club really proud.”
Allen, who didn’t find out he was starting until just before the game, said the night was everything he dreamed of and “it was really beautiful” to make his MLS debut in front of family and friends.
“The hype was a little nervewracking, but once I stepped on the field and saw the supporters and my Mom in the stands I felt more comfortable,” Allen said. “After warmups every single player was talking to me, telling me to relax and play my game, so that really helped me calm down.”
He took a photo of his locker as a memento, and the equipment manager told him to keep his jersey, which he said he will have his teammates sign and he will frame it and hang it in his room.
The rest of the starting lineup included: Goalkeeper Clement Diop, starting in place of injured Nick Marsman; defenders Jairo Quintero of the Bolivian national team, Damion Lowe of the Jamaican national team, Swedish-American Christopher McVey, and U.S. national team defender DeAndre Yedlin. The midfielders were Gregore and fellow Brazilian Jean Mota, and Mo Allen. Higuain started up top alongside Ecuadorean national Leo Campana.
Higuain, 33, showed the quality that made him one of Europe’s most prolific scorers during his time with Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus. Sliding back to more of a playmaker role, he delivered perfect passes to teammates time and again.
Twice Higuain sent balls to Campana in front of the goal, but the newcomer failed to find the back of the net. His first-half shot, a header, clanked off the cross bar. The second, in the 57th minute, went wide.
Miami’s first subs entered the field in the 64th minute – speedster Ariel Lassiter, son of former MLS star Roy Lassiter, replaced Campana and Finnish winger Robert Taylor went in for Adams. Lassiter, who scored two goals in preseason, had two of the best Miami scoring chances of the night in the late minutes, but one blast went inches wide and the other was parried out by Chicago’s 17-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, who has family in Poland and wore a “No War in Ukraine” t-shirt under his jersey.
In the 94th minute, Diop held onto the ball to stall until the final whistle while Higuain waved for the ball in midfield.
“Gonzalo’s a winner, he was probably frustrated because he wants to score goals and I understand that and it’s normal you want to play quick, but me as a goalkeeper, it’s the 94th minute, 0-0, I’m not here to win the game anymore. I’m here to not lose it,” Diop said. “How does it look if we play quick and take a counterattack and a goal everyone would be like why didn’t I hold onto the ball when game was finished? But it’s good Gonzalo did that, it showed he wants to win.”
Neville felt Diop, the former Montreal keeper, was the best player of the night.
“Diop trained with us three months last year, paid his own way, his own hotel, so when we released John McCarthy in off-season, we wanted to sign someone with experience, really good with feet, with personality. We knew Diop was probably going to start the season with Nick out and he kept us in the game.”
He also was pleased with Yedlin’s debut.
“The second half in particular he looked like a DP player, like someone that was going to be a match-winner for us,” Neville said. “We told (Jairo) Quintero `Keep giving the ball to Yedlin’, because the first half he was refusing that pass. Yedlin played like a DP, USA best right back in the league and there’s still more to come.”
Inter Miami and the Fire came into this season in similar situations. Both clubs scored just 34 goals last season, which tied for second fewest in the league. And both are hungry to reach the post-season. Miami didn’t make the playoffs last season and made only the play-in game during the inaugural season. Chicago has missed the postseason 10 of the past 12 years.
Miami addressed its troubles by unloading the majority of its 2021 roster, including high-priced Designated Players Blaise Matuidi and Rodolfo Pizarro. Matuidi was told he would not be part of the team’s on-field plans this season, but he has taken a role as a team ambassador and was seen greeting fans on Saturday.
The Fire invested a team-record $7.5 million transfer fee to bring in Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri, who made his debut on Saturday and had a nice shot in the 35th minute that was saved by Diop. Shaqiri previously won the Champions League and three Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich and also played for Liverpool.
“Our team has to fight, whether you’re up or you’re down, you fight until the last minute and the last second,” Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas said on Friday. “I think that’s something that in the careers of David Beckham and at least something that I know [myself], we fight, never give up…The team has to be a reflection, in that aspect, of its ownership. This team needs to fight and battle 90 plus minutes every game.”
Beckham added: “We want players that are going to step onto that pitch and our fans are going to be proud of and our fans are going to watch every week and say, `OK, they’re playing, we may not have won that game, but (wow) did we fight.’ That’s the most important thing, that they fight every time they walk onto the pitch.”
That they did.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 9:52 PM.