Yannick Bright shines again, just in time for Inter Miami’s return to MLS play
Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul rightfully dominated the headlines after Inter Miami’s emphatic 3-1 Leagues Cup victory over Pumas on Wednesday that clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, where Miami will face Mexican club Tigres at Chase Stadium on August 20.
But coach Javier Mascherano, and anyone who was paying close attention, would point out that the unsung hero of the game was 23-year-old Italian midfielder Yannick Bright, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since injuring his hamstring in mid-May.
He had eight tackles, far more than any player on either team. His teammate Sergio Busquets was second with four and nobody else on Miami’s roster had more than two. Bright recovered ball after ball, made life difficult for Adalberto Carrasquilla, and played a perfectly-paced long pass to Suarez that led to De Paul’s equalizer.
“We wanted to use an extra midfielder [against Pumas] due to their strong midfield, and especially wanted a defensive midfielder like Yannick, who played a huge game, recovering a ton of balls,” Mascherano said Wednesday night. “That allowed us to stifle Pumas’ midfield.”
Bright was a key player last season and off to a strong start this year, but the injury sidelined him for five MLS games, all four Club World Cup games, and the Leagues Cup opener against Atlas.
With the team’s recent high-profile and high-priced signing of De Paul, who happens to be one of Messi’s closest friends and a teammate on Argentina’s national team, there were questions about how Bright would fit into lineup.
Messi’s absence due to injury on Wednesday opened a spot, and he will still be out for the MLS road game on Sunday against Orlando (8 p.m., Apple TV MLS Season Pass).
Messi returned to training Saturday but worked out on his own. Mascherano said Messi would be back soon but gave no timetable.
Bright is using every opportunity as a chance to prove he still belongs on the field and deserves to make more than $83,647, which was the lowest salary for a Miami starter at the time of his injury. Buquets, by contrast, will make $8.8 million this season and Jordi Alba $6 million.
Asked about De Paul joining the team, Bright said: “Obviously, he’s really, really good. You can tell how his level is. But the goal is still the same. Everyone is here for a reason. Everyone’s trying to play. I’m the same. He’s really good, I know. But I can do good, too. It’s up to the coach at that point.”
Bright added that he prides himself on his defense, which is something valued highly by Mascherano, who also was known as a relentless defensive midfielder.
“I pride myself on winning duels and tackles, that’s what I try to do best,” Bright said.
In the Leagues Cup win against Necaxa, Bright came off the bench and made a handful of critical tackles, including one that likely thwarted a scoring chance.
University of New Hampshire coach Rich Weinrebe remembers the first time he saw Bright on a soccer field.
It was January 2020 at a college showcase for Italian prospects in Milan and Weinrebe, then an assistant coach, knew almost instantly he had stumbled upon a hidden gem.
“We were searching for a player like Yannick for about five years as a staff and we couldn’t find anyone quite like him,” Weinrebe explained. “Then someone from YesWeCollege, a scouting company for Italian players, turned us onto him and sent us his video. They said, `You have to come see this guy.’ So, I flew over to Milan. It was a very small showcase, only five or six coaches there. So, I felt very happy about that.”
“Within five minutes, I called my former boss Marc Hubbard and said `We have to get this guy.’”
They offered him a scholarship on the spot. He accepted and went on to become one of the top college players and scholar-athletes in the nation.
In December 2023, Bright, a three-time All-American and two-time conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, graduated Cum Laude with a finance degree. That same month, Inter Miami selected the midfielder with the No. 15 pick in the 2024 MLS Draft.
“I feel like tackling is a bit of a lost art, and Yannick is an extremely good tackler and also covers a lot of ground,” Weinrebe said. “He has a sense for the game out of possession that is hard to find where he’s able to read the game, position himself in good areas, win the ball and then he has great ability to be able to play with both feet, play vertical balls forward, keep possession after he tackles and wins it. We were immediately drawn to him. His academics made him the complete package.”
Bright never imagined at that time that he would wind up playing alongside Messi, Busquets, Suarez, Alba and De Paul. But there he is, looking like he belongs.
His defensive mind-set could prove critical as Inter Miami returns to league play this weekend in hopes of making a deep playoff run after last year’s disappointing first-round exit.
Heading into Sunday’s game in Orlando, with three games still in hand, Miami is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 42 points, eight points behind leader Philadelphia, seven shy of Cincinnati, five short of Nashville, and two behind Columbus. Orlando is just behind Miami at 41 points.
The top seven teams in each conference make the MLS playoffs and Miami has seven games remaining.
Note: The Leagues Cup quarterfinal between Inter Miami vs. Tigres will kick off on Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. at Chase Stadium. It will be broadcast on Apple TV MLS Season Pass and on FS1 and Televisa Univision. Tickets are available at LeaguesCup.com/tickets and at intermiamicf.com
This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 2:09 PM.