Despite disappointments, triumph of perseverance at hand for David Beckham, Inter Miami | Opinion
Came the word Inter Miami’s main sponsor might be Qatar Airways and the gut reaction was, “Of course, it would be.”
Nothing has been smooth or simple in this six-year odyssey — emphasis on odd — to finally realize Major League Soccer in South Florida, so why on earth would we expect this finishing touch, the name on the front of the jersey, to be benign and controversy-free?
That would make too much sense.
So instead, though no final deal is announced, there have been reports (and leaked photos) indicating David Beckham’s Inter Miami has negotiated a $234 million arrangement to proudly wear the name Qatar. Although “proudly” might not quite be the proper word considering the airline is state owned, and Qatar is a place where the government has severed ties with Israel and is considered hostile to Jews, and where one can be jailed for the crime of being in a same-sex relationship.
Strange how money can sometimes make the human rights violations a bit easier to ignore. Works for the NBA doing business in China. Worked for the Miami Heat owner sending his Carnival cruise ships to Cuba. Now it appears OK with Inter Miami and Qatar.
The pending partnership with Qatar already has raised alarms for Fort Lauderdale city commissioner Steve Glassman, whose city will be home to Inter Miami for at least the first two MLS seasons while its planned permanent home, Miami Freedom Park, is built near Miami International Airport.
That Inter Miami hasn’t played a game yet and is displaced some 30 miles north fits perfectly amid the six years of labor it has taken to birth this franchise.
For six years this has been a persevering, uphill climb for Beckham and associates, one wrought with missteps and misfortune.
The games arrive as a a respite, a break.
Inter Miami’s historic inaugural game is Sunday at Los Angeles FC. Miami plays the following Saturday at D.C. United, then has its first home game on March 14 at the new stadium at the old Lockhart Stadium site, vs. the L.A. Galaxy — Beckham’s old team and a league power.
Beckham set out out on this dream in February 2014, enlisting money man Jorge Mas along the way. The club’s financial footing seems solid, but so much else has gone wrong.
The initial vision of a downtown waterfront stadium failed to materialize. The Miami Freedom Park site is on land that must be freed of toxic waste, which could take years. Miami fans might have to get accustomed to the long trek north.
We haven’t even talked about the team itself, the makeup of which has hardly delivered on the big names and superstar appeal half-hinted and half-promised by the Beckham/Mas group.
Expansion team Atlanta United set the modern template three years ago, arriving with a huge splash, brand new in 2017, league champions by ‘18, and setting attendance records. Miami hired away United mastermind Paul McDonough as sporting director, but he does not seem equipped to replicate that instant success with Miami.
ESPN’s initial MLS power rankings have Inter Miami No. 25 of 26 teams, ahead of only Cincinnati. Fellow expansion team Nashville, the natural comparative barometer, is 24th.
Mas spoke of a desire “to attract players who play in some of the best leagues in the world.”
It hasn’t happened. Inter Miami instead quietly has cobbled together a solid roster mix of MLS veterans (including pedigreed-though-aging goalkeeper Luis Robles) and young South American prospects.
Coach Diego Alonso was not the first or second (or third) choice. Remember when the aim was as high as Marcelo Gallardo of Argentina’s River Plate?
Superstar players were floated and rumored, the likes of Luka Modric, Antoine Griezmann, Gareth Bale, Edinson Cavani and David Silva.
Last summer there was serious talk Miami might land Luis Suarez, the brilliant, mercurial Uruguayan striker from Barcelona. I wrote he would be Miami sports’ biggest signing since LeBron James in 2010.
None of it happened. At least not yet.
Miami’s two big “DP” (designated player) signings have been Rodolfo Pizarro from Mexican champion Monterrey and Matias Pellegrini, a 19-year-old Argentine.
“Everybody has been waiting for a really big name, someone from Europe,” Mas acknowledged. “In all likelihood our main DP will likely be in the summer window.”
This roster as is may jell and grow into something solid, even special. One or two additions including the loan of Boca Juniors midfielder Agustin Almendra might be forthcoming. But, for now, the roster is largely bereft of the international starpower promised. From the jump it looks less like a team poised to make a major splash than it does, well, an expansion team braced to take its lumps.
Still — despite the displacement to Fort Lauderdale, a less-than-starry roster, or even Qatar on the jerseys if that happens — it will nonetheless be a triumph of perseverance on Sunday when a six-year odyssey finds its elusive crescendo and the games finally begin.
No result will be needed to feel that somehow, at long last, David Beckham won.
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 12:24 PM.
