Inter Miami wins first game 3-2 over Orlando City in long-awaited home opener

Fans were prohibited from attending Inter Miami’s inaugural home game Saturday night due to COVID-19 restrictions, but that didn’t stop the team’s most ardent supporters from showing up to get as close as they could.

It was a historic night, which resulted in an entertaining 3-2 victory over Orlando City, and they were not going to miss it.

A group of about 50 black-and-pink clad fans congregated on the sidewalk outside the northeast corner of the newly-constructed Fort Lauderdale stadium and serenaded their beloved “Rosa Negra” (pink and black) before, during and after the game, waving giant flags and setting off pink smoke bombs.

Meanwhile, a few hundred feet away, cardboard cutouts of fans and an enormous “La Familia” banner filled the North stands, where the supporters groups normally would be located. The rest of the 18,000-seat stadium was empty, except for owners Jorge and Jose Mas and their families, team staff, and players who didn’t get in the game.

It wasn’t exactly the home debut Inter Miami players dreamed of back in March, before the coronavirus wreaked havoc with their season, but it was their first home game, nonetheless, and they made it a memorable one.

Julian Carranza, the 20-year-old Argentine, scored two first-half goals and Mexican playmaker Rodolfo Pizarro added a third in the second half to lead Miami to its first victory in franchise history.

“I’m very happy because our players deserved this win, and our fans deserved it after so much suffering,” said coach Diego Alonso. “We have waited a long, long time for this, after the pandemic suspended our league two days before our scheduled home debut with our fans. It was a pleasure to win our first home game and a memory I will remember forever.”

Miami had lost its first five games, each by a single goal. But on this night, the team played with more confidence and purpose. Orlando City beat Miami 2-1 on July 8 in the MLS is Back Tournament opener. This time, Miami controlled the game, imposed its will and survived an 80^th-minute Orlando goal by (who else?) Nani, the same player who broke Miami’s heart with a 97^th-minute winner in Orlando.

Calling the game from the broadcast booth for CBS-4 was Ray Hudson, the colorful retired English soccer player and former Miami Fusion coach, who is known for his turns of phrase and entertaining metaphors. He had plenty of material to work with on Saturday night.

Hudson called Pizarro “The Ben Hur behind this chariot”, the “Mexican magic man,” and called Pizarro’s goal in the 49^th minute “a stupendously magnificent goal, as cool as Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock!”

Lewis Morgan had crossed the ball, it bounced off the head of Victor Ulloa and into the path of Pizarro, who slotted it in for a textbook finish. Pizarro then broke into his trademark Joker face and climbed into the stands to celebrate and pose for a photo with a cardboard fan.

When Carranza scored his second goal with a header in the 23^rd minute off a long arching cross from Ben Sweat, Hudson screamed “This is a magisterial goal of the highest order!”

Carranza arrived in Miami with much promise last summer, but suffered a setback when he injured his foot in preseason. He sat out much of the spring, and has been working to get in peak form this summer. Alonso was pleased to see his young forward finally showing his quality.

“I was happy with Julian’s performance, and it should be confidence boost for him,” Alonso said. “It is very important for center forwards to be able to score, and he was able to do that. He is a player with a lot of promise.”

Orlando’s Daryl Dike scored the equalizer in the 18^th minute, after Inter Miami goalkeeper Luis Robles made a tough save, the ball rebounded off his body, into a scrum of players and Dike got his foot on it. Nani’s goal made things more tense than Inter Miami fans would have liked, but the team hung on for the win.

“We scored three very, very good goals,” said midfielder Wil Trapp. “For us, we suffered a lot and it was difficult down the stretch, but we did enough...It was very encouraging and something we have to continue to build on.”

Carranza added: “We had been training in the stadium, becoming familiar with the field and what it was like to play without fans, so we could focus and that helped us during the game. We felt at home. We played very comfortable in our first game here, even though at the end we suffered more than we should have.”

Miami’s starting lineup was similar to the one from the MLS is Back Tournament, but center back Leandro Gonzalez Pirez made his debut with the team and added stability to the back line. The Argentine, who was an MLS All-Star with Atlanta United, signed with Miami on July 1, but had not played a game yet.

Saturday’s starting lineup was: Robles, Nico Figal, Andres Reyes, Gonzalez Pirez, Sweat, Morgan, Matias Pellegrini, Wil Trapp, Ulloa, Pizarro, and Carranza. Dylan Nealis, Mikey Ambrose and Brek Shea came in off the bench in the 77^th minute, replacing Pellegrini, Reyes, and Morgan.

Inter Miami returns to its home stadium Wednesday night to face Atlanta United.