Looking for 1st win against motivated D.C.

Inter Miami still looking for 1st goal, as well as 1st victory

FORT LAUDERDALE — Inter Miami CF had many “firsts” in their Major League Soccer debut, a 1-0 loss to Los Angeles FC on Sunday at Banc of California Stadium.

But they left two keys ones on the table that they’ll have the opportunity to achieve against D.C. United on Saturday at Audi Field — their first goal and their first win.

Goalkeeper Luis Robles knows how challenging it’ll be for the expansion club to achieve both against D.C. Robles spent the first eight years of his MLS career with the New York Red Bulls, D.C.’s main rival, and gained a familiarity with the playing style employed by D.C. United coach Ben Olsen.

“With them, you can expect a team that’s going to fight, that’s going to compete and be scrappy,” Robles said. “If we’re not ready for the fight, especially in D.C., it puts us in a tough situation. When you look at some of their players, they have a lot of talent but more than anything when it comes to [Benny], it comes to a team that has an engine that

goes for 90 minutes and we have to match that right out the gate.”

In contrast to LAFC’s possession-oriented playing style, D.C. has preferred a more direct attack in the past. This can play into Inter Miami’s hand as coach Diego Alonso prefers to possess the ball and build sequences of out of the back.

In this 3:30 p.m. match, Inter Miami are expecting to play against a team with extra motivation after D.C. United lost their seasonopener to the Colorado Rapids at home last weekend. Miami knows D.C. will be desperate to avoid opening the season with two home losses.

“We need to show up with the same intensity we did in L.A. and score goals this time,” defender Ben Sweat said. “That was kind of the only thing we were missing last game.”

Robles has cautioned teammates to not become overconfident after keeping up with LAFC, calling Inter Miami’s opener an easy game to get up for. He said the real test is how the team will perform in a match that receives less attention than the club’s inaugural MLS game and home-opener against L.A. Galaxy on March 14 at Inter Miami CF Stadium.

“It’s the first game in history, there’s a huge build-up for it, we’re playing against last year Supporters’ Shield winners, it’s an incredible environment that was sold out, it was one of most expensive opening day tickets in the history of the league — all those things allow a player to get up for it,” Robles said.

“Now, the real challenge is the next one, where there isn’t the same buildup, it’s not going to be the same environment and it’s not the same competition. It’s really important that we find the motivation to compete at the highest level because we’re playing an in-conference opponent and all these points matter. D.C. is going to be a tough matchup and one we can’t overlook.”