Mateo Gutierrez paid close to $100 a month ago for a ticket to watch Lionel Messi play at Audi Field. Sitting in the nosebleeds of the stadium, the 28-year-old instead watched Messi’s future team — Inter Miami — grind out a 2-2 draw on Saturday night. The performance did not appear to win him over.
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“I’ll come next year,” said an entirely unimpressed Gutierrez, who was attending his first-ever MLS match, “assuming Messi is here.”
Gutierrez likely wasn’t the only one in the crowd of 19,215 who probably paid a premium for the chance to see Messi play. When news of the Argentine’s arrival in MLS first broke, there were varying reports as to when he might make his debut. D.C. certainly felt like a possibility, at least initially. In a matter of days, United sold thousands of tickets for the match and many more exchanged hands on the secondary market at inflated prices. The stands were filled with Messi fans wearing his Barcelona and Argentina shirts.
But then Messi took his family to the Bahamas for a vacation and everybody learned that — if all goes to plan — he won’t make his debut until July 21st, weeks after Miami’s date in D.C.
The 2-2 draw on Saturday night was entertaining — a bit unusual for any MLS match played in the dog days of the middle of the season. Both teams struggled to manufacture early chances amidst the heat and humidity. D.C. probably had the best chance of the first half, a perfectly-played through ball from Nottingham Forest loanee Lewis O’Brien that D.C. striker Christian Benteke did poorly with in the 40th minute. Just before halftime, a D.C. goal was waved off when Benteke was ruled offside.
Early on, Miami looked largely disjointed and devoid of ideas. The team is sure to get better in the coming months as Miami looks to reunite Messi with former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, but on Saturday, they struggled at times to work their way into the game.
Designated player Rodolfo Pizarro, who earlier in the week expressed his dismay at the idea of potentially being traded, was a non-factor in the match and Miami rolled out a total of six homegrown players (five teenagers and a 20-year-old), throughout the course of the match. Former Atlanta United striker Josef Martinez, the club’s prized off-season acquisition, failed to convert a quality chance in the 57th minute.
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While Miami’s new head coach, Tata Martino, watched from the stands, somewhere out there, former head coach Phil Neville (“Fizzer18” on Twitter), who was dismissed last month after a dreadful start to the season, was busy retweeting criticisms of Miami’s performance.
Those homegrowns would help claw Miami back into the game. In Messi’s absence, it took a much, much less notable person of Argentine descent to get Miami on the board. Midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, who last year received a call-up to Argentina’s U-20 squad, drove an angled, perfectly-placed effort into the far-side netting in the 59th minute. It was his first MLS goal.
What a way to score your first MLS goal 😤
Benjamin Cremaschi rips this to put #InterMiamiCF on top. pic.twitter.com/IQ9eyyiFeV
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 9, 2023
“In the academy, he used to score a lot of goals for me,” said Morales, a former Inter Miami academy coach. “And he deserved (the goal tonight.) I am so proud of his performance in the last few games. I am so happy because he has a bright future.”
Miami’s lead would be short-lived. Just minutes later, D.C. forward Taxi Fountas ran onto a loose ball at the top of the area and drove home D.C.’s second goal. But Miami would not be deterred, relying on another homegrown — Noah Allen — to find the back of the net, this time inadvertently.
The 19-year-old swung a dead ball in from the near sideline. Nobody managed to get on the end of it — not even United goalkeeper Tyler Miller, who watched what was likely a cross settle into the far-side netting.
United, though, would ruin Miami’s chance at its first league victory since mid-May in the 77th minute when D.C. forward Nigel Robertha slotted home the match’s final goal, lunging to get on the end of a driven cross and knocking it home from inside the six-yard box.
The touch and pass from Ruan 👌
Nigel Robertha puts it in for the @dcunited equalizer. pic.twitter.com/VPQG7fAsYR
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 9, 2023
Inter Miami’s front office had a front-row seat to the madness on Saturday. Miami owner Jose Mas was joined in a suite by sporting director Chris Henderson and director of soccer operations Niki Budalic; Martino took the game in alongside his staff. Martino has received his work visa and could’ve theoretically been in the technical area on Saturday. But with only days before the match remaining, interim head coach Javi Morales remained in charge.
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“We came here with (the goal) of getting three points,” said Morales. “That was our target. And we had it. But we have like five homegrowns on the field and we finished with six. Right now, it’s all that we have. But I am so proud, and so happy to give those players the opportunity.”
Miami has just one game left before the all-star break, an away match against conference leaders St. Louis City SC on the 15th. Messi is currently set to be unveiled the following day, and if all goes to plan, he will make his first appearance on the 21st, in the club’s Leagues Cup opener against Liga MX side Cruz Azul.
As it currently stands, Miami sits in last place in the Eastern Conference, eight points below Montreal, who occupy the east’s final postseason spot. With fewer and fewer games remaining, it will take something record-setting for Inter Miami to qualify for the playoffs. It feels like a tall ask, even for the greatest player in the world.
“I’d love it if the fans saw this,” said Morales. “That this is a team that is going to fight. We had these homegrowns on the field and we came to fight. Until the very last minute, we fought. I hope the fans understand that this is going to be a team that competes.”
(Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
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