Miami finalizing trade for 2020 MLS MVP Pozuelo
Inter Miami is expected to get a major boost for the second half of the season as the club is finalizing a deal to acquire 2020 Major League Soccer MVP Alejandro Pozuelo from Toronto FC.
Multiple league and team sources confirmed that Pozuelo, the 30-yearold Spanish attacking midfielder, will be traded to Miami for general allocation money. The two sides were finishing the paperwork on Tuesday and an announcement is pending league approval.
Pozuelo is in his fourth season with Toronto as a designated player and has four goals and five assists in 16 games this season. He has played 100 games for the Reds and scored 30 goals with 27 assists.
He is a two-time MLS All-Star and was a big reason Toronto advanced to the 2019 MLS Cup final, where the Reds lost to the Seattle Sounders.
Italian soccer journalist Fabrizio Romano was the first to report the news.
Inter Miami, which moved into ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 1-1 tie against FC Dallas on the road Monday, is two spots shy of the playoff line and eager to make a postseason push. Coach Phil Neville said the team would add a few pieces during the July transfer window. They signed French winger Corentin “Coco” Jean of RC Lens last week and he is expected to join the team in the next few weeks.
Pozuelo’s contract with Toronto expires at the end of this season and he was seeking an extension, according to reports from
Toronto. But his status with the team was in question as the club is reportedly close to signing Italian winger Federico Bernardeschi
of Juventus.
Bernardeschi was a teammate of Toronto forward Lorenzo Insigne on Italy’s Euro-winning national team. Toronto is building its team around Insigne, the former Napoli player who signed a fouryear deal with the Reds and will join the team in the coming days.
Inter Miami plays on the road at Orlando City on Saturday.
— MICHELLE KAUFMAN
U.S. WOMEN WIN
Alex Morgan scored a pair of first-half goals and the U.S. women’s national team defeated Haiti 3-0 late Monday in the opening match of the CONCACAF W Championship at Monterrey, Mexico.
The tournament determines the region’s four direct berths in the 2023
Women’s World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Midge Purce also scored for the United States, which has won the past two World Cups.
Morgan opened scoring for the U.S. in the 16th minute with a heel flick off a pass from Mallory Pugh. Morgan’s second goal came on a header in the 23rd minute.
U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski praised Morgan and said he was pleased with the result, although there are things to work on before the Americans face Jamaica on Thursday.
“On the other side, we gave up a lot of opportunities, gave up a penalty kick. That’s something we’re going to have to do better and tie up a few things for the next game,” Andonovski said.