Veteran keeper Robles, defender DeLaGarza sign
Inter Miami’s inaugural roster grew to 17 players on Monday, as the team announced the signing of free agent goalkeeper Luis Robles from the New York Red Bulls and defender
A.J. DeLaGarza from the Houston Dynamo.
Robles, 35, started 238 Major League Soccer regular-season games for the Red Bulls over the past eight seasons, and recorded 72 shutouts during that time. He was named the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2015.
In the 2018 season, Robles kept a club-record and career-high 14 clean sheets. He holds the record for most consecutive MLS regular season starts, 183 starts from 2012 to 2018. He is also sixth all-time in MLS history with 114 goalkeeper wins.
Robles, who was raised in Arizona, has played three games for the U.S. national team. His father is Puerto Rican and his mother is Korean.
“Luis has had a storied MLS career and we are excited that it will continue in Miami,” said Inter Miami sporting director Paul McDonough. “We look forward to his contributions ahead of our inaugural MLS season.”
DeLaGarza, 32, won three MLS Cups with the
Los Angeles Galaxy in 2011, 2012 and 2014. He played with L.A. for eight seasons and went to Houston in 2018.
MLS also announced Monday, as expected, that Inter Miami will be in the Eastern Conference; and Nashville SC, the other new team, will play in the Western Conference. Miami will play home and away against its 12 conference rivals: Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, D.C., Cincinnati, Montreal, New England, NYCFC, NY Red Bulls, Orlando, Philadelphia and Toronto.
They will play 10 of the 13 Western teams once for a total of 34 regular-season games. The 13 West teams are: Colorado, Dallas, Houston, LAFC, L.A. Galaxy, Minnesota, Nashville, Portland, Real Salt Lake, San Jose, Seattle, Kansas City, Vancouver.
The schedule will be announced later this month. Miami will begin its inaugural season on the road and play its home opener March 14 at 2:30 p.m. against the L.A. Galaxy, the former team of Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham.
Inter Miami is expected to name a head coach this week. The coaches linked most recently to the job are Marcelo Gallardo of Argentine club River Plate and Patrick Vieira of French club Nice.