Inter Miami has first practice
MIAMI — It’s always perfect the first day out. Monday was that way for the Inter Miami soccer franchise. Perfect day. Perfect scene. Perfectly timed passes, back and forth, involving players who met for the first time over physicals and hotel check-ins over the weekend.
Even if the passes weren’t always perfect, they were this day.
“This is how we do it!” shouted a coach across the practice field at Barry University in outlining another drill.
How it once was for the other expansion teams across South Florida — the logo breathed to life, the jerseys with real players in them — happened for Inter Miami with Monday’s inaugural practice.
Some running. Some drills. Some things entirely unique to Inter Miami, too, like coach Diego Alonso’s instructions translated into English by an assistant coach so the nonSpanish-speaking players understood what to do.
“It’s almost like the first day of school, right?” goalkeeper Luis Robles said.
Only it was all recess.
“It’s real,’’ said sporting director Paul McDonough, the boss of daily operations. “Every day we do something, every milestone we hit, everything becomes more real. Now we have players, a coach. We have grass. Preseason. Six weeks and we’re kicking off March 1st. So it’s very real.”
It’s still coming into view, too. As many as six more players could be signed, McDonough said, including some probably recognizable internationals. The training facility at the Lockhart Stadium site is nearly completed. The stadium put in seats last week. The team will have its first practice there Feb. 7, followed by a scrimmage within the next week.
There’s serious international interest in this team, too. It has nearly 500,000 Instagram followers — the third-most in Major League Soccer — without even playing a game. Co-owner David Beckham is big part of that. So is the idea of South Florida becoming a soccer gateway to South
American fans.
The tougher read is the local passion: Will this franchise succeed? Hockey and baseball are struggling, but the question always is whether it’s the market, the sport or the teams dismal lack of any sustained success. Probably it’s a mix of all the above.
Filling 19,000 seats for 17 home games shouldn’t be too difficult, right? Soccer is big here. Look at the youth fields. Look at the international feel and the European leagues followers in South Florida. Look, too, at how such local passion was why people thought baseball would be a big hit, too. So who knows?
“One of the things about being in Miami is the fans have very high expectations,’’ McDonough said.
Another thing: Does it matter Inter Miami is really Inter Broward? The stadium is in Broward for now. The training facility is in Broward. The players will live in Broward. The future of this full franchise could be in Broward depending on what plays out in the circus of Miami-Dade politics and the environmental mystery of the stadium site there.
It’s one thing for outsiders to say they’ve taken their talents to South Beach while a half-hour away. The question moving ahead is if it’s OK for insiders to act this way, too. That’s not for now, though.
Monday was about first days and fresh starts. Call the team anything you want. It’s was fun and fresh. Players ran through a first practice. Coaches sized up just what they have for the first time. McDonough was meeting with a prospective player’s agent afterward.
The opening game in Los Angeles against a strong Galaxy team is March 1. The home opener against Los Angeles FC, which is expected to sign Mexican star Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, is March 14.
“I know there’s going to be challenges,’’ Robles said. “I know there’s going to be ups and downs. That’s why I’m here. This is why they’ve assembled the group of veterans that they have. That’s so we can make this as smooth as possible, that we can make this team be as successful as possible.”
Day One. Practice One. All looked perfect.