Inter Miami CF played its second international EA SPORTSTM FIFA 20 matchup today as part of the Club’s ongoing series of eFriendlies. The young Argentinian forward Julián Carranza overcame English Premier League team Everton F.C. and Brazilian National Team star Richarlison by an aggregate scoreline of 8-2. The clash that kicked off at 12 p.m. ET was streamed worldwide via the Inter Miami Twitch, YouTube and Facebook channels and the Club’s official app, as well as Everton F.C.’s digital channels. Inter Miami has now claimed victories in each of the Club’s five eFriendlies to date.
The eFriendly was hosted by Inter Miami digital personality Fernando Fiore, a two-time Emmy award-winning broadcaster from Argentina.
SignedWhite Heron and RosaNegra jerseys from Carranza, and an Everton F.C. home and away jersey will be given away to lucky winners. To enter to win, viewers must download the Inter Miami app and visit www.evertonfc.com/efriendly. To download the Club’s app, visit https://www.intermiamicf.com/en/club/app.
In the first matchup of the eFriendly, which consisted of three FIFA 20 matches, a Carranza led France side battled it out against Richarlison’s Belgium. The initial nerves were costly for the Brazilian, as he gave away a penalty in the opening moments of the match.
“Hey referee, no penalty, no penalty,” jokingly complained a disappointed Richarlison.
“What do you mean no! That’s a penalty and a red card,” replied Carranza who stood by the referee’s decision.
Carranza made no mistake and converted the penalty with Antoine Griezmann to open the scoreline 1-0 in the 5th minute of play. The Inter Miami attacker then struck again in the 27th minute to extend his lead to 2-0 through a right-footed Kylian Mbappé finish in a one-on-one against the keeper. Richarlison was able to cut the lead in the 42nd minute via a tidy right-footed curler with Kevin De Bruyne inside the box to go into halftime with a 2-1 score on the board.
In the second half, it remained a tight contest until Carranza scored a match-clinching goal with a left-footed shot by Griezmann after a Mbappé run and assist in the 67h minute to go up 3-1 and win the match.
The second match featured a matchup between club teams, as Carranza was in control of Italian side Juventus FC and Richarlison controlled his own Everton. It was Carranza who once again landed an early blow on his rival, scoring a simple tap in with Cristiano Ronaldo in the 5th minute of the game to take a 1-0 lead. Carranza then scored a marvelous 39th-minute right-footed free-kick with Ronaldo to go up 2-0 before halftime.
In the second half, the Inter Miami forward continued to establish his dominance. He added three more Ronaldo goals in the 50th, 62nd and 70th minutes to bring the Portuguese superstar’s tally up to five goals in the match and wrap up a thumping 5-0 victory.
The third and final matchup of the eFriendly featured a new installment of the fierce Argentina versus Brazil rivalry, with Carranza and Richarlison controlling their respective home countries. At halftime, the scoreline read 0-0 as both rivals were cautious to not make any mistakes. In the second 45 minutes, It seemed as if the deadlock wasn’t going to be broken, but in the 83rd minute Richarlison’s Brazil finished off a counter-attack with a right-footed finish to score the match-winning 0-1 goal. Overall though, it was a landslide victory by an aggregate scoreline of 8-2 in favor of Carranza and Inter Miami.
Inter Miami also found success in its four prior eFriendlies since the Club’s series kicked off on May 9, winning all four. Lee Nguyen defeated his former LAFC teammate Mark-Anthony Kaye by an aggregate score of 10-7, then Robbie Robinson overcame his former Clemson University teammate Tanner Dieterich by an aggregate score of 5-1, followed by two Rodolfo Pizarro victories against Mexican National Team teammates, first claiming a 3-2 victory on aggregate against Wolves striker Raúl Jiménez and subsequently defeating Sporting Kansas City’s Alan Pulido with a 7-1 aggregate scoreline.
Today’s FIFA 20 eFriendly wasn’t Carranza’s first virtual competition during the season’s pause due to COVID-19, as he previously participated in Inter Miami’s FIFA 20 tournament as part of Twitch’s Steam Aid 2020, a virtual event that raised over $2.7 million for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
