Inter Miami update: Alba misses practice, Ruiz redeems himself, Cremaschi happy to be back
Most of the attention around Inter Miami this week has been on the return of Lionel Messi and the team’s win over Kansas City in front of a crowd of 72,000. Rightfully so.
Messi’s spectacular goal and sublime assist on Diego Gomez’s goal against Sporting KC earned him MLS Player of the Week honors. The Argentine star made MLS history, as well, becoming the first player to record five goals and five assists in his first five games of a season.
The team is back in first place in the Eastern Conference standings heading into the home game Saturday against Nashville SC (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) and Messi is back to full fitness after missing nearly a month with a hamstring injury.
Messi trained with the rest of the team on Wednesday. The most notable absence from practice was left back Jordi Alba, who left the game with an apparent right hamstring injury. There is no word yet on the extent of the injury. It is not believed to be too serious, but it appears unlikely he would be ready to play on Saturday.
Leo Campana, Robert Taylor, and Ian Fray trained separately from the group as they are coming off injuries and working their way back into game shape.
Meanwhile, Key Biscayne teenager Benjamin Cremaschi made his season debut against Kansas City after missing the start of the season following sport hernia surgery. The Argentine American midfielder, who had a breakthrough season last year, had been itching to get back.
“Every game I watched, whether from home when the team was away, or in the stadium for the home games, I wanted to play,” he said Wednesday before training. “I wanted to help the team. It was difficult, and I’m happy to be back on the field. My body had to recuperate after the surgery, so it took some time.”
Cremachi’s motor and box to box running will be a welcome complement for a midfield that relies on Sergio Busquets, who is best when he can conserve energy and focus on scanning the field and delivering pinpoint passes to Messi and the other attacking players. Fede Redondo had taken on the role of Busquets’ midfield partner, but he is expected to be out for a few months with a knee injury.
Another homegrown Miami player taking on a key midfield role is David Ruiz, the 20-year-old Honduran American from Little Havana. Ruiz never imagined as he grew up playing in Chris Hadley Park in Allapattah that he would be delivering an assist to Messi at Arrowhead Stadium in front of more than 70,000 fans, including NFL star Patrick Mahomes.
After Messi cranked the perfectly placed shot to the upper center of the net, he celebrated with Ruiz and other teammates.
It was redemption in a way for Ruiz, who felt awful after getting ejected with two yellow cards from the first leg of the Champions Cup quarterfinal against Monterrey. Miami was winning that game 1-0, and then Monterrey scored two goals after Ruiz’s expulsion.
Messi and a few other teammates complained to the referee after the game, and assured Ruiz that they had his back. They told him to learn from his error and come back strong the next game. He did just that.
“I learned a lot from that experience,” Ruiz said. “It was a frustrating moment, leaving the team with 10 players on the field. At the end of the day, I talked to my family about the situation, and I learned a lot. I know it’s not going to happen again, but I did a great job the next game. I got Team of the Week and it was a great response after what happened in that game.”
It meant a lot to him that the team’s biggest stars supported him at that tough moment.
“It made me feel better. There was a moment that should not have happened, but knowing they were on my side made me feel like they were my family, always having my back no matter what. In training I said, `I’m sorry’ to them for what happened and they took me in. It’s a great moment as a young player having everyone holding your back.”
