Luis Suárez Receives Suspension and Demotion at Inter Miami
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano has confirmed the absence of a key player following Luis Suárez’s three-match suspension in the MLS. The sanction is due to an incident with a member of the Seattle Sounders staff during the Leagues Cup final on August 31.
Initially, Suárez received a six-match suspension from the Leagues Cup, which would be served in the next edition of the tournament. However, MLS added an additional three-match sanction. Both Suárez and Inter Miami issued statements apologizing for what happened after the final against the Sounders.
“Regarding the suspension, obviously, we accept the MLS decision. Obviously, the club has already publicly agreed with that decision,” Mascherano stated.
Javier Mascherano
The coach added: “Luis has also publicly expressed his agreement with the team. We discussed what we had to discuss in private and, well, I think we’ve finally closed that issue, although clearly none of us liked how the game against Seattle ended and everything that happened.”Luis Suárez se perderá los próximos tres partidos del Inter Miami.Suárez will not be able to participate in the matches against Charlotte FC, Seattle and D.C. United.
“Well, we clearly lose a starting player, a player who has been important throughout the season and, well, that opens up the opportunity for us to look at other things, try to replace him in the best possible way,” commented Mascherano.
“Whenever we are missing an important player within the team, what we try to do is have the team replace him in general and not have the individual substitution try to do it for Luis because, well, no player is the same as another, so we have already started preparing the match all this week with the mentality of not just having this match but the next two and, well, trying to do things in the best way to get the three points.”
In addition to the absence of Suárez, Inter Miami will not have Fafà Picault, David Ruiz, Allen Obando, and Baltasar Rodriguez due to injuries.
“I think if there’s something I’ve adapted to throughout the season it’s these situations, they’re things that can happen,” said Mascherano.
Lionel Messi, however, will travel to Charlotte for the next match and is expected to participate with the Herons.
The Inter Miami coach confirmed that he trained all week with the club after returning early from international duty with Argentina, opting to rejoin the team instead of traveling to Ecuador for the last CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying match for La Albiceleste.
Inter Miami is in sixth place in the Eastern Conference table with 46 points in 25 matches.
