Inter Miami’s Nu Stadium a ‘dream come true’ for Little Havana native David Ruiz
While 11 Inter Miami teammates, including captain Lionel Messi, were out of the country on national team duty for the past week, midfielder David Ruiz was training for an occasion he never even imagined as a Little Havana kid playing youth soccer at Charles Hadley Park in Allapattah.
On Saturday night, three miles from Ruiz’s family home and his mother’s Honduran restaurant on Calle Ocho, Inter Miami will open the doors to its new $350 million Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park. Miami will make its debut in the 26,700-seat stadium at 7:30 p.m. against Austin FC.
“I’m honestly very happy; I grew up literally three miles away and seeing how the city continues to grow is just an amazing thing,” Ruiz said. “Having a whole new stadium, close to the Marlins, is a dream come true for everybody. Everyone was waiting for this for a long time, and it’s amazing to see how beautiful the stadium is.”
When he was growing up, there was no MLS team in South Florida. The nearest was in Orlando. Now, in the span of six years, the Miami area has Inter Miami, Messi and a new stadium.
“I feel so honored, to go from local clubs in Miami to the [Inter Miami] academy to where I am now, winning trophies with one of the best, well…the best player in history, in my opinion, with players like Busi [Sergio Busquets] and Jordi Alba,” he said.
Ruiz, 22, has been keeping up with the stadium construction since the groundbreaking two years ago.
“Every time I go to my mom’s restaurant, on Calle Ocho, I always pass by there and seeing it little by little, from where it used to be a golf course to what it is now is amazing,” he said Tuesday morning after training. “I had a trip recently, and I saw it from the top view; it was just beautiful. I’m very happy to be able to experience that and being able to play this weekend would be the cherry on top.”
Ruiz expects more fans from Miami-Dade County to attend games at the new venue.
“I think with the stadium being in the heart of Miami, we’re going to have a lot more fans,” he said. “I’ve talked to a lot of families that tell me, `Oh, the trip is too far, and then I have to buy tickets… this and that. Now, with the stadium being right there in front of them, there’s no excuse. Everybody’s excited for this debut of the stadium, and they will have it right next to them.”
Having an MLS stadium in Miami’s urban core has been a long time coming, a 30-year saga that predates the arrival of Messi and the current Inter Miami ownership group of David Beckham, Jorge and Jose Mas.
When the league launched the Miami Fusion in 1997, the plan was for the team to begin play in March 1998 at the Orange Bowl. But then-owner Ken Horowitz and the city could not come to terms on a lease, so Horowitz took the team to Fort Lauderdale and upgraded Lockhart Stadium, where it played until it folded in 2001.
It was on those same grounds that the Inter Miami owners built the stadium that the team called home for the past six seasons (first DRV PNK, then Chase Stadium) and where the club won its first MLS Cup title in December.
Now, Miami’s MLS team will have a stadium in the city that bears the club’s name.
A crew of 1,300 workers has been on site adjacent to Miami International Airport working tirelessly for months to have the stadium ready in time. The Bermudagrass field, grown on a farm in Loxahatchee, was installed during the past few weeks. The seats are in place, alternated in pink, black, gray and white with some positioned to depict a heron, the team’s mascot.
Engraved in one of the stadium beams, and sewn into the collar of the team jerseys, is the club motto: Freedom to Dream.
Ruiz takes that message to heart. As the son of Honduran American immigrants, he hopes to inspire other young Miami athletes to chase their dreams.
He attended Riverside Elementary School, Mater Academy Middle and SLAM High School. He played club soccer for seven years for Miami United Stars. His mother owns and runs Alba’s Café, a Honduran restaurant at 2901 S.W. 8th St.
Ruiz went to Inter Miami academy tryouts at age 17 and did not make the squad, but coach Javi Morales encouraged him to stick with it. Ruiz was invited to guest play at a Dallas tournament, Morales saw him and invited him back to the Inter Miami academy. In 2023, he was promoted to the first team and signed his first professional contract.
“I am a living example that if you set goals and work toward reaching them, and have faith in God, you can fulfill your dreams,” Ruiz said.
Messi starting for Argentina vs. Zambia
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said that Messi would start the friendly against Zambia on Tuesday night at La Bombonera.
Messi went in as a halftime substitute in the 2-1 victory over Mauritania on March 27, a result against an inexperienced opponent that did not sit well with Scaloni. Inter Miami midfielder Rodrigo De Paul also came off the bench in that game.
“The game the other night could’ve been an alert, it’s things that as a head coach one starts looking at and later, we will decide,” Scaloni said.
Scaloni added that he is using the March friendlies to help finalize the 26-player roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
As for Messi’s inclusion on the World Cup roster, Scaloni said: “The important thing is that he comes and enjoys it. That he enjoy being at the World Cup, which in theory would be the last, but I wouldn’t dare to say anything, but that he enjoys it.
“I think it’s not just Argentines who want to see him, everyone wants to see him. They want to see him train, see him play, and that is what we all wish for.”
Argentina opens against Algeria on June 16 in Kansas City and then faces Austria in Dallas on June 22 and Jordan in Dallas on June 27.
Inter Miami Players on National Team Duty
Other Inter Miami players in action Tuesday include Ian Fray (Jamaica) vs. Congo, Dayne St. Clair (Canada) vs. Tunisia, and German Berterame (Mexico) vs. Belgium. Telasco Segovia played Monday for Venezuela in Uzbekistan. Noah Allen was with the Greece U21 team vs Germany on Tuesday. Santi Morales and Daniel Pinter (US-U19) were in a camp in Spain, and Alexander Shaw (US-U18) was a tournament in Portugal.