Portland coach Phil Neville reflects on his Inter Miami era ahead of game Sunday
Portland Timbers coach Phil Neville didn’t think he would feel nostalgic returning to South Florida for the first time to prepare to face his former club, Inter Miami, on Sunday.
He said he tried to block it out and focus on the task at hand, attempting to find a way to contain Lionel Messi and Miami’s potent attack, which leads Major League Soccer with 31 goals.
But once the plane touched down at Miami International Airport, he got a glimpse of the newly constructed Nu Stadium, and then admitted some emotions set in when a few local beat reporters who covered him in the pre-Messi era showed up at the Timbers’ training session at FIU on a sweltering sunny Friday morning.
“I link it back to when I went back to Old Trafford and Man United [after he had switched clubs to Everton], you try and shut it off, close the door and focus on your team,” he said. “I always think in these situations, after the game is when you can say hello to everybody. First time back at Old Trafford I literally went into the stadium with blinkers [blinders] on my eyes and tried to perform to the best of my ability. And then after the game, I hugged and kissed and celebrated some incredible friendships I had built, and I see it no different on Sunday.”
He took a moment to thank Inter Miami owners David Beckham, and Jorge and Jose Mas, staff and fans for welcoming him to MLS.
“I’m here to make this week a seven-point week and win a game of football with a club I’ve fallen in love with; but obviously, without the club we’re playing against, I wouldn’t be a Portland Timbers manager now and without that friendship and love I received in this city, I wouldn’t be in this position.”
Neville, known for his candor, shared that he knew once rumors of Messi’s arrival intensified in the spring of 2023, he realized his days at the club were numbered. He was fired June 1 of that year and Messi announced he was coming to Inter Miami six days later.
“I had incredible relationships with the owners, so it didn’t just happen in seven days,” Neville said. “At the start of the season, I was under no illusions that probably if he came in that I wouldn’t be here, and that’s totally fine. I understood football.
“One of the best friends of my life [Beckham] is the owner of the football club, so it’s not as if we kept secrets from each other during that period. What my role was throughout the two and a half years was to bring stability to that club, to bring young players through and get us to the playoffs.”
Neville said he always knew there would be “a wow moment” for Inter Miami, and whether he would be part of it or not, he knew full-well what his role was before Messi’s arrival.
“You can feel incredibly bitter or you can feel incredibly proud of what you achieved,” he said. “I always looked back at that period and thought without those three owners and the belief they had in me, my daughter [who is in college] wouldn’t be going through the most incredible education, I wouldn’t have a green card, my son wouldn’t be playing football [for the Jacksonville USL team] and my wife wouldn’t be having the best time of her life. That is first and foremost.”
He added that since Messi joined the team, Inter Miami has raised the bar for the rest of the league.
“Inter Miami over the last three and a half years have taken the whole MLS to another level, and every single person involved, on and off the pitch, should be incredibly excited because what that’s done is raise the bar and everybody else has to catch up. It’s created rivalries. Owners are now competing, which is great, billionaires all wanting to be on top of the tree, spending more money and that only helps the league.”
As for the competition on the field Sunday, Neville, and former Inter Miami defender Kamal Miller, who plays for Portland, expect a fast-paced, high-scoring game.
Miami, which sits in second place in the East, is coming off a 5-3 win at FC Cincinnati on Wednesday. Messi scored two (and had a third that was later ruled a Cincinnati own goal), German Berterame one and Mateo Silvetti one.
The Timbers, in 12th place in the West, tied FC Montreal 2-2 at mid-week.
“You’re going to see two football sides that are going to go hell for leather, it’s literally going to be a basketball game because that’s the way I want to play,” he said. “It’s an incredible stadium. It’s an incredible team they’ve built there, playing an aggressive style, but I think it’s a style that might suit us, as well, because we’ve got real speed, we’re real good in transition and I want my team to play with real courage.”
Miller is a Canadian national team teammate and best friend of Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair’s since childhood. He discussed the challenges of defending Inter Miami.
“This is a full-circle moment,” he said. “Defending this group is an interesting attack to play against because sometimes they’re not too active and then, `Boom!’ they’re on top of your box, ready to score a goal. They have a lot of different weapons, so it’s going to take a solid team defensive performance.”
Neville said his video coordinator had 96 clips “of a certain No. 10 in the middle of the field” ready to go for the scouting report and Neville suggested they focus more on themselves. But, he said he has shown his players clips of Messi and other Miami stars displaying their passion and competitive spirit.
“Do you know what I love? And I loved it with other stars that were there, [Sergio] Busquets and [Jordi] Alba last year, was that when they score, they celebrate; they’re not here for holiday or just to pick up whatever money; they’re here to win,” Neville said.
He recalled a Miami game against Orlando when they were 2-0 down and Messi was arguing with an Orlando assistant coach.
“The greatest player in the world is arguing with maybe the goalkeeping coach of Orlando and that, for me, inspires the rest of the league,” Neville said. “Because we’ve had players in this league that came just for a pension. What those guys are doing shows their hunger and desire to be the absolute greatest every single day. I show clips not of their skill, but of their hunger and desire because that’s incredible.
“I was lucky enough to play with one of the greatest in Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Sunday I’ll be able to coach against one of the greatest, which is an honor.”
Notes: Scotland’s World Cup team will train at Inter Miami’s Fort Lauderdale facility from June 1 to June 5 ahead of their tournament games, one of which is in Miami, June 24 against Brazil. Scotland is making its ninth World Cup appearance… Also, Haiti will play a pre-World Cup friendly against New Zealand at Inter Miami’s Fort Lauderdale stadium on June 2 and Turkey, a USA group opponent, faces Venezuela there on June 6. Haiti will play Peru June 5 at Nu Stadium…Mastercard on Friday was named exclusive Payment Services Partner of Inter Miami CF and an Official Partner of the Club and Nu Stadium.
This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 4:21 PM.