The city of Philadelphia is abuzz with excitement surrounding the upcoming Leagues Cup Semifinal match at Subaru Park on Tuesday, where the Union will host their highest-stakes game yet in 2023 against world-class soccer superstar Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF. The winner of the matchup will advance to the first-ever Leagues Cup final on Friday, August 19th and automatically qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Philadelphia Union and Inter Miami have reached the Semifinals unscathed, both advancing through the knockout rounds after emerging from the group stage undefeated against both MLS and Liga MX opponents. Though both teams have displayed interleague dominance during the tournament, the Florida team’s recent success is uncharted. Prior to the Leagues Cup, Inter Miami stood in last place at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, holding an uninspiring 5-3-14 record.
Favorably for Inter Miami, the commencement of Leagues Cup intersected with the ushering in of a new era of Major League Soccer that features their squad at the epicenter following an upheaval of the team’s roster and staff.
On June 28th, the club announced that they had hired storied Head Coach Tata Martino to take over at the helm, making his comeback to the league after three years coaching the Mexican Men’s National Team. Less than a month later, Lionel Messi made his Inter Miami debut against Cruz Azul in group play following a blockbuster deal that altered the league’s landscape by bringing the 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning Argentine stateside. Signings from fellow European talents in Spaniards Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba soon followed, and the trio’s presence swiftly injected newfound energy to their squad and fanbase, unsurprisingly propelling them through Leagues Cup with ease.
“It’s a roster that is, as a coach, difficult to prepare for, for sure. You can see how Jordi Alba and [Sergio] Busquets – almost like pickup soccer for them with Messi. They know when to give them the ball, where to give him the ball and it's fun to watch,” Head Coach Jim Curtin said after Philadelphia’s quarterfinal game.
“They do pin you in and then you can counter attack and you better be clinical on your counters, because they're going to score goals. That's the reality of things. We're going to obviously try to limit their chances as best we can, but we have to be ruthless on the counter attack against a Miami team that's, I'll just tell you right now, gonna have more of the ball that we will I can guarantee that. I don’t care whether we're home or away, that's just gonna be how it is and we’re okay with that.”
With Messi on the pitch Miami has amassed an 11 goal differential against their opponents. He promptly put his renowned talent on display on the North American stage – out of all players, he has tallied the most shots on target, and he leads the tournament’s Golden Boot race with eight goals so far.
Despite Miami’s meteoric rise to relevance and success, their trip to Philadelphia is set to be their most challenging test yet. Philadelphia Union’s Subaru Park fortress has been an impenetrable one as of late – the team has only dropped one match through their last 28 games at home in Chester. Their latest loss at Subaru Park came nearly five months ago on March 25th against Orlando City SC during an international break that left the team without starting midfielders Daniel Gazdag and José Martinez due to national team call-ups. Starting net protector Andre Blake was unavailable that game too, due to injury. Before Inter Miami welcomed their new additions, they had only won one game on the road, and they’ve only had one away outing with Messi in tow.
On Monday ahead of the matchup, Head Coach Jim Curtin met with the media, previewing what’s to come.
“I think like boxing, styles make fights. It is two really unique clubs…we have built our club in a different way. It’s maybe not the glitz and glamor of Miami but we’re more the Philadelphia blue collar and homegrown players with really experienced international players that are a team and together,” Curtin said.
His sentiment was most recently exemplified in the team’s Friday match against Queretaro, when two young players in 24-year-old Venezuelan midfielder Jesús Bueno and Devon, Pennsylvania-grown 23-year-old forward Chris Donovan stepped up to push the team ahead in the face of adversity.
In the 10th minute, Bueno gave Philadelphia the lead early, scoring his first-ever professional goal for the Philadelphia Union in his third season on the team. The game nearly went to penalties after Queretaro scored a 63rd minute equalizer, but in stoppage time, Donovan, the Conestoga and Drexel University graduate, became a hometown hero, scoring a game-winner in the 101st minute just before the final whistle.
The pair’s performance came in the absence of multiple starters – team captain Alejandro Bedoya had been out since the start of the tournament due to a lingering quadriceps injury and Daniel Gazdag was sidelined due to a grade 1 knee sprain. Julían Carranza, who leads the team in goals aside Gazdag, was out for the final push as well, exiting the game in the 76th minute after suffering a grade 1 hamstring strain.
On Monday, Curtin shared positive injury news for each of the three players, noting that they will all participate in some way.
Philadelphia Union and Inter Miami will battle for a spot in the Leagues Cup final in front of a sold-out Subaru Park crowd, anticipated to be the largest the stadium has ever seen. To watch the action, tune in with MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
