Higuain is longing to feel at home with a goal for Inter Miami
Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain will make his Inter Miami home debut Saturday night against New York City FC, determined to score his first MLS goal and help his new team rebound from a 3-0 loss at Philadelphia Union last Sunday.
“We’re a new team that is still building, and the important thing is to learn from our mistakes,” Higuain said.
“Now we have another opportunity on Saturday to show that we’ve improved on our mistakes and try to earn three points.”
Inter Miami enters the game (8 p.m., WFOR-CBS4, Unimas) with a 3-9-2 record, in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, tied at 11 points with D.C. United. The top 10 teams earn a spot in the playoffs. With nine regular-season games remaining, there is time for Miami to make a playoff push.
Coach Diego Alonso remains optimistic, despite the team losing its past two games by a combined score of 7-1.
“We face the upcoming match with great enthusiasm, positive and always moving forward with our head up high,” Alonso said. “All my life I’ve been a fighter, and sometimes when we have a setback it gives us energy to keep going. This is like in the neighborhood when you get hit when you’re a child. There are people who see blood and run away and there are people who see blood and want to face the problem.
“In this case to make the comparison, we lost and what we want is to move forward. You learn from victories, you learn from draws and you also learn from defeats. You learn to correct mistakes and you grow in character.”
Higuain, one of the top scorers in Europe over the past decade, showed flashes of his talent against Philadelphia, but was unable to finish. He also missed a penalty kick.
“Despite not scoring a goal, I think he played a very good game and generated five scoring situations,” Alonso said of Higuain. “We believe that time will give him more potential as he gets to know his teammates better, they get to know him, they interpret what he needs and he interprets what his teammates need. Most importantly for me, what I have seen from day one up to today is commitment. A footballer’s commitment is what makes the difference for better or worse and he is incredibly committed.”
Inter Miami will be without forward Juan Agudelo and defender Andres Reyes, who are injured.
New York City FC is coming off a 4-0 home victory over FC Cincinnati. NYCFC is sixth in the Eastern Conference standings with six wins, six losses and two ties.
This will be the second match between Miami and NYCFC. New York won their first game 1-0 on July 14 in the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando.
New York has been led by defender Anton Tinnerholm, who has three goals and two assists, and forward Alexandru Mitrita, who has two goals and two assists.