Luis Suarez’s Inter Miami debut was a quiet one, as Lionel Messi and co. were held scoreless to open preseason in a draw with El Salvador.
It was a quiet night for Messi, Suarez, and the Barcelona gang, who played the first 45 minutes of Inter Miami’s first friendly of the season on Friday. The match was a unique one, a clash with El Salvador’s national team at the Estadio Cuscatlan, as Miami opened up a wild world tour ahead of the MLS campaign.
The foursome of Messi, Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba all started, having a few good moments together, but those moments were few and far between. El Salvador arguably had the better of the first half, generating a few good chances early on.
Inter Miami got some good looks late in the first half, headlined by one sequence put together by the Barcelona legends, but when the second kicked off, the Herons’ four big stars were out of the game, much to the disappointment of the crowd in El Salvador.
The second 45 proved a bit more eventful, with some fiery confrontations between the two teams, but it ultimately ended scoreless as neither side could quite find the breakthrough by the time all was said and done.
Widely expected to get swept aside, El Salvador battled strong against Inter Miami’s star-studded team and was probably the team most likely to get the winning goal. On the other end of the pitch, though, goalkeeper Mario Gonzalez put together a strong performance to keep Inter Miami scoreless in a match he will surely tell future generations about someday. It’s not too often you can tell anyone in this game that you kept both Suarez and Messi out of the net.
He was overshadowed a bit last season by the club’s other mega-signings, but Facundo Farias arrived at Inter Miami with high hopes. A young, dynamic Argentine attacker with his country’s giants all chasing after him, Farias instead chose Miami, a club that gave him a chance to learn from some of the very best in a massive, massive spotlight.
The 21-year-old winger scored three goals in 2023, but his 2024 season is already off to a nightmare start. A second-half substitute, Farias, was carted off midway through the second half, having suffered an apparent knee injury in the first friendly of the season. Farias and Inter Miami will hope it isn’t serious, as the youngster has the potential to be a big, big contributor across several competitions this season.
Inter Miami’s globetrotting preseason is just beginning, with the club set for a brief return to the U.S. for their next stop. Next up is Monday’s clash with FC Dallas at the Cotton Bowl before the club heads to Saudi Arabia to face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr as well as Al-Hilal. The Herons will then head east to take on the Hong Kong XI and Vissel Kobe before concluding preseason at home against Messi’s former club, Newell’s, on February 15.
