The home opener was delayed for five months. Inter Miami’s first win took six matches over a nearly six-month span. And even without fans in the seats, and after sweating out a frantic push from Orlando City in the closing minutes, it could not have felt any sweeter for Diego Alonso and Inter Miami to close out the 3-2 victory against their in-state rivals.
Could it really be happening? Is it possible that MLS is just a mere hours from resuming play? It certainly is. While the bubble being built around the Swan & Dolphin hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort may have its fair share of headlines, MLS is pushing through. The #MLSISBACK Cup Competition begins tonight from Disney’s Wide World Of Sports Complex. Inter Miami and Orlando City are the headliners for today’s opening act. Unfortunately for Inter Miami’s “Familia”, these matches right up the road in Orlando remain behind closed doors.
Inter Miami CF announced Thursday that it has established an English-language broadcast partnership with CBS Miami, which shares ownership of WFOR CBS-4 and WBFS My 33.
Major League Soccer confirmed Thursday morning that it would be postponing its season for a minimum of 30 days due to COVID-19, referred to commonly as novel coronavirus. This affects all MLS teams, including Inter Miami CF and its scheduled home opener on Saturday.
“We’ve made a decision as a league, this morning, as owners, that play will be suspended temporarily. Target on that is 30 days.” managing owner Jorge Mas told the assembled press this afternoon. “We are working, and the league is working on rescheduling the games. We fully anticipate that we will play all of our 34 games.”
“We want to protect our players, and protect our fans, as much as possible.”
Stay with Magic City Soccer as this story develops.
The debut of Inter Miami CF in Major League Soccer was more than six years in the making. Any actual result, win lose or draw, would have surely been a delight for the Miami faithful.
But when Lee Nguyen stood over a 96th-minute free kick, then followed up with a shot on goal moments later, those fans had to be dreaming of a point.
The excitement, the exhilaration and the possibility was all there for Inter Miami CF on Sunday night. The only thing missing was a goal.
Los Angeles FC, spearheaded by a solid defensive performance and led by a moment of brilliance from Carlos Vela, defeated Inter Miami 1-0 to give the RosaNegra an ignoble welcome to MLS.
As Inter Miami CF kicks off its first game this afternoon, I’ve been doing some thinking. I wasn’t always a fan of soccer. In fact, I spent most of my adolescence harboring a strong dislike of the sport. Soccer was boring, no one ever scored, it was for other countries and not the United States.
Obviously, if you’ve read this website or listened to our podcast, you know that opinion has changed radically. It was a process that started in my hometown of Baltimore, but took hold in Miami. I learned to appreciate, then love, The Beautiful Game.
By the time my appreciation of soccer took hold, around 2008, I was driving to pubs on Miami Beach or Oakland Park to watch my club team, Liverpool. And I was also aware of a plan by F.C. Barcelona and Marcelo Claure to bring Major League Soccer to Miami. My first thought was: “Yeah, why the hell doesn’t Miami have MLS already?” My second thought was: “Awesome!”
My first thought was answered when I researched and discovered there had been a Miami team, and that it had been contracted after the 2001 season. My second thought was slowly killed off by the Great Recession and Barcelona’s abandonment of the project in 2009. It would be more than a decade before Major League Soccer would actually return.
On Monday morning, Inter Miami CF preseason opened its first preseason at Buccaneer Field on the campus of Barry University. Three members of the club spoke to the press about the first day, and what could be coming. You can see and hear their full comments, with limited editing, below.
First, Sporting Director Paul McDonough spoke to the media, giving some insight about how many players may still be added to the squad and how players may — or may not — be added as the season goes along.
Inter Miami CF selected Georgetown University defender Dylan Nealis Monday afternoon with the third pick of the 2020 MLS Superdraft.
Nealis, a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist and a national champion with Georgetown in 2019, played in all 24 of the team’s games, accounting for four goals and five assists.
Nealis is the club’s second pick in the MLS Superdraft. Robbie Robinson was taken with the first pick.
Inter Miami CF selected Clemson University forward Robbie Robinson Monday afternoon with the first pick of the 2020 MLS Superdraft.
Robinson, the MAC Hermann Trophy winner for the 2019 season, appeared in 19 games and scored 18 goals. He also contributed nine assists.
His 18 goals tied him with Thibaut Jacquel of Campbell and Cal Jennings of UCF for the Division I lead.
Inter Miami sporting director Paul McDonough has experience with the Superdraft. In 2015 with Orlando City SC’s first pick, he chose Cyle Larin, who contributed to the club for three years before a transfer to Turkey’s Beşiktaş.
McDonough led expansion side Atlanta United into the 2017 draft, selecting Miles Robinson at No. 2 and Julian Gressel at No. 9. Robinson has made 44 appearances for Atlanta, while Gressel has made 98, totaling 15 goals.
This is the first Superdraft pick in the club’s history. The club selected Georgetown midfielder Dylan Nealis with pick No. 3.
Magic City Soccer will take the last 10 days of 2019 to review the last 10 years of Miami-Dade County soccer. Today in Miami Soccer in Review, we take a look back at 2017. The Miami FC makes an enthralling U.S. Open Cup run, and Jorge Mas offers a lifeline to a Miami Beckham United ready to quit.
When The Miami FC was announced in 2015. owner Riccardo Silva indicated that the U.S. Open Cup would prove to be as important as league performance. That wasn’t reflected in 2016, when the club was bombed out in its first game by Wilmington Hammerheads FC. In 2017, however, a magical run would show the potential that The Miami FC presented the South Florida soccer community.