Following its first win in history in its home debut, Inter Miami CF faces a quick turnaround as the side will host Atlanta United FC on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 8 p.m. ET. It will be the second Major League Soccer (MLS) match at Inter Miami CF Stadium and will broadcast regionally and nationally on television, radio and through digital platforms in English and Spanish.
Regional fans can watch live on MyTV33, the free Inter Miami App, and the Univision 23 App, as well as listen on Spanish radio via Univision Miami’s WQBA 1140 AM and the Uforia App. Fans worldwide can tune in to live commentary on the Club’s App. Download and Register your Profile here: https://www.intermiamicf.com/en/club/app.
“The team had been looking for the win for a while and never stopped fighting to earn it. It’ll undoubtedly serve our confidence well, but confidence is also built through hard work, day by day. Confidence isn’t built through results, it’s built by believing in an idea and defending that idea. I think the players have done that at all times and the confidence in our idea has been there, the confidence in the way we want to play and in what we believe we can achieve too. So, I think the win reassures us, but we have to continue moving forward," said manager Diego Alonso. “We have the opportunity to play at home again against a great team coming off of a match in which they played really well. We know that it will be difficult but we’re confident in our abilities.”
The next phase of Inter Miami’s inaugural season will continue with a second consecutive home match just four days after the Inter Miami CF Stadium debut, the first MLS match in South Florida in nearly 20 years. The team is coming off of the first victory in its history with a 3-2 win over Orlando City SC. Inter Miami was led to victory over Orlando by two goals from Julián Carranza, the first two in his MLS career, and a third from Mexican international Rodolfo Pizarro, his third of the season.
The match also featured Club debuts for two Inter Miami players, Leandro González Pirez and Brek Shea, both former Atlanta United players. A third former Atlanta player, Mikey Ambrose, appeared in that match. The trio played together for the Five Stripes in 2019, Shea’s only season with the club, while Ambrose and González Pirez played for the team from 2017 to 2019. Together they helped Atlanta lift the 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
González Pirez also helped launch Atlanta’s expansion campaign in 2017 and guided the team to the 2018 MLS Cup and 2019 Campeones Cup titles, while earning individual recognitions as a 2019 MLS All-Star and two-time MLS Defender of the Year nominee. Shea, meanwhile, joined the team in 2019. The versatile defender / midfielder made 19 appearances for the team, starting in 10 of those. Ambrose appeared in 20 regular season and two playoff matches in his three seasons with Atlanta.
The matchup will also feature a head to head between Rodolfo Pizarro and two compatriots, Jürgen Damm and Érick Torres. Pizarro has played alongside, and against, both players on a number of occasions throughout his career.
He was teammates with Damm at C.F. Pachuca from 2013 to 2015, including a period under the tutelage of current Inter Miami manager Diego Alonso from 2014 to 2015, and appeared in 61 matches together for the club. They also shared the pitch as teammates for the Mexican National Team on one occasion. The two have faced each other as opponents eight times in their careers, competing in LigaMX and Concacaf Champions League matches. Overall, Pizarro put together a record of three wins, three draws and two losses against Damm, registering one goal and two assists in the process.
Pizarro and Torres, meanwhile, have lined up as teammates at various levels for the Mexican National Team, sharing the pitch 10 times and compiling a record of seven wins, two draws and one loss. They have only faced each other as opponents once, when Pizarro’s Pachuca defeated Torres’ Chivas.
Atlanta United will come to South Florida as the reigning U.S. Open Cup and Campeones Cup champions, having claimed the titles under the management of Frank de Boer. The head coach, however, has since departed the club following its participation in the MLS is Back Tournament, in which the team lost its three matches, conceding three total goals and scoring none. Since then, the team has been under the leadership of interim head coach Stephen Glass, who helped guide them to a 2-0 victory over Nashville SC on Aug. 22.
The team will be without 2018 MLS MVP Josef Martínez, who is recovering from a knee injury suffered in the team’s first match of 2020. Gonzalo “Pity” Martínez, a dynamic midfielder, has led the team this season with a total of two goals and two assists.
