Upset-minded Tormenta FC no pushover for Inter Miami
At first glance, it would seem Inter Miami got an easy U.S. Open Cup draw with a Round of 32 home game Tuesday night against Tormenta FC, a third-division team from Statesboro, Georgia, a town of just over 30,000 residents that was the inspiration for the Allman Brothers song “Statesboro Blues.”
But dig a little deeper, and it is clear Tormenta FC could be a dangerous opponent for the Men in Pink, who are coming off back-to-back league losses. The USL League One team reached this stage of the Open Cup by posting back-to-back upsets of
USL Championship teams, which were one rung up on the U.S. Soccer hierarchy.
They won their second and third round games against Charleston Battery (1-0) and Birmingham Legion (2-0) and now will face a Major League Soccer team for the first time in an official game (8 p.m.)
They played Atlanta United close in a March 2021 preseason friendly. Also, during that preseason, Tormenta FC beat CF Montréal in a friendly played in Florida.
“We are going to use our strongest team; this is a Cup competition we will not take for granted,” said Inter Miami coach Phil
Neville. “We know it is a tough team that will play as if it’s their Cup final, a banana skin for us, similar to the Miami FC [U.S. Open Cup] game where we have to be at our absolute best.”
One of the most interesting players on the Tormenta roster is forward Kazaiah Sterling, a 23-year-old England native of Jamaican descent who was once a promising prospect at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
He signed with Tottenham’s youth academy in 2015 and in December 2017 made his senior debut for the club, coming on as an 88th minute sub for Dele Alli in the Spurs’ final Champions League group game at Wembley Stadium. Then 19, he became the youngest player in Spurs history to play a Champions League match.
Sterling honed his skills by training against the Tottenham first team under former managers Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho.
Unable to break into the lineup, he was loaned to Sunderland in 2019 and was then loaned to Doncaster Rovers later that season. He bounced around the lower leagues in England and Scotland and a few months ago moved to the United States to play for Tormenta, which is coached by Scotsman Ian Cameron.
Another Englishman on the team is defender Curtis Thorn, who was in Fulham’s youth academy from 2007-09 and played in college at Nova Southeastern in South Florida.
Inter Miami will be looking to get back to winning after losing league games on the road at New England and Charlotte FC. Forward Gonzalo Higuain, who has missed the past few games with a thigh contusion, could return to action.
One Inter Miami player with ties to Tormenta FV is newly-signed Indiana Vassilev, a Savannah, Georgia, native who got his start with Tormenta FC Academy in 2013. He spent two years with Tormenta FC before moving to IMG Academy in Bradenton.
Vassilev had a successful stint with Inter Miami last summer while on loan from Aston Villa, scoring three goals in 22 appearances. He returned to Aston Villa and re-signed with Inter Miami last week, as the team was seeking experience, speed and depth on the wings.
Tuesday’s match is part of the historic singleelimination U.S. Open Cup, the third-oldest cup tournament in the world. Tickets start as low as $5 for members of Inter Miami’s “La Familia” supporters group, and parking is free at DRV PNK Stadium.