Inter Miami tied 0-0 this Friday in their friendly against the El Salvador team at the Cuscatlán stadium in the Salvadoran capital, in the debut of the Uruguayan Luis Suárez, who started alongside the Argentine Lionel Messi and played 45 minutes without brilliance .
In the first of seven friendly matches prior to the start of the MLS, Inter Miami debuted the Suárez-Messi duo of ex-Barcelonians. The ‘Pistolero’ was the star signing of the Miami franchise for the new season and was reunited with Messi, at Inter since last June, with whom he won everything at Barcelona.
Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s team has only been training for a few days and competed at a low pace. Messi had the best chance in the first half, running into the goalkeeper, and El Salvador was the closest to victory, when Styven Vásquez hit the crossbar with a header in the 82nd minute.
Inter Miami began the first international tour in its history in San Salvador, which will see it travel more than 38,000 kilometers until February 15, with matches in Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan.
After this friendly, Martino’s team will travel to Texas to face FC Dallas, before flying to Arabia to face Al Hilal and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in Riyadh. Inter Miami will then travel to Hong Kong for a duel against a selection of local players, before facing Kobe in Tokyo.
Martino did not hesitate to immediately start Suárez, Inter Miami’s star signing for the new season. ‘El Pistolero’, with the number 9 on his back, played alongside Messi in Martino’s 5-3-2, in which the Spaniards Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba also started.
Inter Miami managed the ball more, but moved it at low rates and El Salvador, locked in their half of the field, waited for their moment to take advantage of spaces on the counterattack.
It was at the end of the first half when Inter Miami had its first opportunities. In the 37th minute, the four former Barcelona players touched the ball and carried out a great action that ended with Messi’s shot inside the area being saved by the goalkeeper. Three minutes later, it was Jordi Alba who controlled a ball in the area and unleashed a shot that the goalkeeper repelled again. The fans at the Cuscatlán stadium celebrated every moment in which Messi touched the ball and also applauded when ‘la Pulga’ shook Mario González’s hand after committing a foul.
Inter Miami’s big four were replaced at half-time by Martino and watched the second half sitting on the bench in a very relaxed atmosphere.
The crash became tougher after the restart. A hard foul by Cerén on Gregore, who reacted by kicking him, was punished with a double yellow by the referee and, in the 71st minute, came the worst news of the night for Inter Miami. Facundo Farías, who had replaced Messi, had to leave on a stretcher in the 70th minute after a nasty twist in his knee. The Argentine left the field in tears.
The best opportunity of the game came in the 82nd minute and went to El Salvador. Vásquez, who had taken the field shortly before, hit the crossbar with a header and was about to put his team ahead.
El Salvador, led by Spaniard David Dóniga, has not won official or friendly matches for more than a year. Vásquez’s opportunity was the last emotion of the San Salvador clash.
0. El Salvador: González; Tamacas, Mendoza, Sibrián, Cruz, Flores; Martínez, Cartagena, Cerén; Bonilla, Ferman. Benítez, Moreno and Vásquez also played.
0. Inter Miami: Dos Santos; Jordi Alba, Allen, Avilés, Yedlin, Gressel; Cremaschi, Busquets, Gregore; Messi and Suárez. Campana, Ruiz,
Referee: Iván Bartón. He showed yellow cards to Diego Flores (m.48) and Cerén (m.62), from El Salvador, and Gregore (m.63), from Inter Miami.
Incidents: Friendly match played at the Cuscatlán stadium in San Salvador before nearly 35,000 spectators.
