Inter Miami Faces Seattle Sounders After Incidents in the Leagues Cup
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano has assured that there will be no residual tensions between the club and the Seattle Sounders when they face each other on Tuesday at Chase Stadium. Mascherano insists that what happened after the Leagues Cup final on August 31st is a “closed matter”. Inter Miami lost 3-0 against the Sounders in the Leagues Cup final, a match that culminated in a fight. Sergio Busquets was sanctioned for hitting Obed Vargas of the Seattle Sounders, and Luis Suárez was accused of spitting at a member of the opposing team’s staff. Both teams received sanctions for their actions. Busquets, Suárez, and Tomás Avilés were suspended by the Leagues Cup disciplinary committee for the next edition of the tournament. Additionally, Suárez received an additional three-match suspension from MLS due to his behavior, which will leave him out of Tuesday’s match against the Sounders.
Mascherano also added: “The important thing for us is to try to play a good game and, above all, get a good result, so that we can win again and regain the top positions and, above all, rebuild the confidence that this team has had.” Both Suárez and Inter Miami issued public statements condemning the incidents that occurred in the Leagues Cup final.“No, that’s in the past. The matches don’t repeat themselves, even if we face the same rival, it’s a different type of game due to a different competition, different circumstances, and a different context,” Mascherano commented on Monday.
Javier Mascherano
Now, Inter Miami seeks to turn the page and recover from the defeat in the final and the recent MLS match against Charlotte FC, where they lost 3-0 on Saturday night. However, the team will have to face this challenge without several key figures on the field, as Mascherano insists that injuries continue to affect the squad. The team could be in an even more complicated situation than in the match against Charlotte. “It’s a drama. Clearly, the squad is what it is. Unfortunately, today we found ourselves in a situation that we have already experienced at other stages of the season, where between suspensions and injuries, we have accumulated five or six absences,” said Mascherano. “It’s a lot, a lot for this stage of the season, a lot for the number of games we have to play in such a short time, but it is what it is, and well, I’m not here to make excuses.” Mascherano even hinted that the squad could be worse than the one for Saturday’s match against Charlotte. “We’re still the same, we could even be a little worse,” he stated. In addition to the absences from the previous weekend, such as Fafà Picault, David Ruiz, Allen Obando, and Baltasar Rodriguez, Telasco Segovia did not participate in the first 15 minutes of Monday morning’s training.“What happened the other day with Seattle, we’ve already discussed it. For me, it’s a closed matter because, well, the sanctions have already been imposed,” Mascherano pointed out.
Javier Mascherano
