Inter Miami forward battle between Campana, Higuain heats up heading into Atlanta game
Ecuadorean forward Leonardo Campana has been vacationing in Miami since he was a child and was visiting for the holidays when he got the call from Inter Miami in early January extending an offer to join the MLS team on loan from English Premier League club Wolverhampton “Wolves.”
“I didn’t give it a second thought,” Campana said shortly after signing with Inter Miami. “This has been my second home my whole life so I’m very excited. For me, Miami is the best city in the USA. The people are amazing, and I can’t wait to be in the stadium with them and score goals for them. I also have family living here, so adapting won’t be a problem.”
The 21-year-old striker has more than delivered on his promise, scoring five of Miami’s eight goals, including four in the past three matches. His hat trick against the New England Revolution was the first in club history.
Campana has settled into his Key Biscayne home and is feeling just as comfortable on the field, where he has overshadowed $6 million Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain, who scored two penalty kick goals thus far and sat out the past three games with a slight knee injury.
Higuain returned to training this week and is fit for Sunday’s home game against Atlanta United (1 p.m., ESPN) but he will have to work his way back into the lineup. Coach Phil Neville said Friday he plans to start Campana.
“Campana, at the moment, is almost undroppable,” Neville said. “When goal scorers get on these runs, you just let them fly. You don’t take them out of the action. That is a brilliant problem for us to have up front.
“You can see with the intensity Gonzalo has trained with this week that he knows he’s got a fight on his hands to get back in the team. He sees somebody scoring goals and that inspires him because he’s always been looking for someone to shoulder the responsibility with him. What the team have proven in the past three games is that they can win without Gonzalo.”
Inter Miami is on a three-game winning run after a five-game winless start. Neville said it is time for Higuain to get reintegrated into the game plan, along with midfielder Victor Ulloa and left back Kieran Gibbs, also coming off injuries. Higuain could be paired with Campana up top if Neville opts for a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 formation.
“Gonzalo, Gibbs and Ulloa will be involved on Sunday, I’m keen to get them minutes,” Neville said. “We had a lot of tired legs after two games on turf. We’re going to need fresh legs and fresh minds, and those three have been chomping at the bit to get back in.
“I’ve seen a different type of freedom to Gonzalo’s running and his fitness. Campana had 99 minutes against Seattle, 96 minutes against Miami FC, so we’re going to need Gonzalo.”
Campana’s early success is exactly what Neville was hoping for when they brought him in.
The imposing 6-2 striker has been turning heads since he was a teenager. He debuted for Ecuador’s Barcelona SC U-16s with 15 goals in 16 matches and the next season scored 20 goals in 19 games for the U-18s. He scored six times in nine games as Ecuador won the South American U-20 Championships and played well for Ecuador’s senior national team in the Copa America.
He signed with the Wolves in England but was unable to break into the lineup.
“When I saw the videos, I was a bit 50-50, but when I met him in person, I was 110 percent,” Neville said. “Character, hunger, so polite. He’s a brilliant boy from a really good family with a sporting background. He lived in Miami, wanted to play for Inter Miami, was willing to give up Premier League space, financial gain, the star leagues in Europe to come and play for a place in the World Cup. That’s all I needed to know. He’s proven everything I thought and more.”
Campana’s family is steeped in Ecuadorean sports history.
His father Pablo was a professional tennis player and became a politician and businessman upon retirement. His great grandfather Gabriel won six Ecuadorian league medals in the 1920s. His mother Isabel Romero Noboa is the daughter of Isidro Romero, the former president of Ecuador’s Barcelona SC, and Isabel Noboa Pontón, who is one of the most successful businesswomen in Latin America.
“We have a center forward now who wants to play every minute of every game, is scoring, who looks the real deal,” Neville said. “It’s his time. He lives an hour and a half from the facility and is the first in and last to leave. The boy wants to go to a World Cup. When I met him back in November, I told him `The only way you’ll get to a World Cup is by scoring goals. The Ecuador manager probably isn’t coming to Miami to see you play, but he’ll read the newspapers and see `Campana goal, Campana goal.’’ He’s doing everything right.”