Lionel Messi may have scored, captained the side and had a quarter of the new building named in his honor, but this was unmistakably Inter Miami co-owner Sir David Beckham’s night.
The inaugural game at Nu Stadium in Miami – an entertaining 2-2 draw with Austin FC – was the culmination of the former England captain’s arduous, thirteen-year odyssey to first establish an MLS team in Miami, then fill it with superstars, win major honors and, critically, build a world class arena for the team to play in.
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“I came to America and MLS twenty years ago with a dream – to win championships, to help grow the game of soccer that I love so much, and one day, to build a club of my own.” he said, addressing fans from the field prior to kick off. “We had no name. We had no fans. We had no stadium. Today I stand in our new home. We are the champions of MLS. We have the best player in the history of the game playing in Miami.”
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This was his victory lap. He even got his good friend Marc Anthony to sing the national anthem.
“We’re home” read the commemorative rally towels placed on the seats at the stunning new 26,700 capacity arena next to Miami International Airport. After six years of playing in another city – including lifting a maiden MLS Cup in Fort Lauderdale last December – Inter Miami finally embodied the name on the badge. The sold out crowd expressed a mixture of joy, relief, and disbelief the moment had finally arrived.
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On the field, amid all that newness, it was down to the old guard. Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez both scored equalizing goals to atone for some very congenial defending from the hosts.
Miami came desperately close to a winner when Messi – of The Leo Messi Stand at Nu Stadium fame, no less – curled a 90th minute free-kick against the underside of the bar. Suárez tapped home, but the stadium fireworks were premature. He was well offside.
Not to worry. So striking is the stadium that Messi, for once, wasn’t the main event. It’s an exceptional place to watch the game. A proper bowl, it envelopes the pitch with an overhanging oval canopy that contains the noise. It feels spacious, offering the feel of a larger arena, while the single-tiered stands maintain some level of intimacy. The seats are pink, white and black. Neon pink lights hang from the rafters. It’s very Miami. Supporters remain quite close to the action, with a standing section behind one goal continuing to house the club’s most vocal and relentlessly musical supporters. Just like at Chase Stadium up the road in Fort Lauderdale.
Many of those supporters, who had become accustomed to driving 35 miles away from Miami, were clearly relishing the opportunity to take up residence in the 305 area code. They even arrived early, a rarity for south Florida sports fans
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However, the party endured a rough start. Austin’s Guilherme Biro earned a place in MLS history as the stadium’s first goal scorer, netting with a sixth minute header. The defending champions started slowly and had already been warned when Myrto Uzuni smacked the post with a free kick.
The Herons trailed for just four minutes. Inevitably Messi brought them level. Less inevitably, it came from his head – a powerful finish from academy graduate Ian Fray’s delicate cross. In celebration, Messi pointed to his right back – a south Florida native and the team’s longest serving player. It was a nice moment for Fray, still only 23, who suffered two separate cruciate ligament tears after his promotion to the first team in 2021.
An even first half with opportunities for both sides ensued, but Austin again began brightly in the second period. Jayden Nelson, on as a half-time substitute, restored the visitors’ lead on 53 minutes. Miami’s backline went walkabout, allowing Nelson the freedom of the formerly-named Miami Freedom Park to pick his spot and score his first goal for the club.
Again, Miami upped the tempo after falling behind. Messi’s close footwork in the penalty area created a handful of opportunities, including one for himself well saved by Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver.
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On as a late sub, his old Barcelona teammate Suárez rescued the night with ten minutes left. The Uruguayan volleyed home from close range, before Messi personally swarmed the Austin goal in search of a winner. The Argentine had multiple efforts saved or blocked, prior to the final free-kick that struck the woodwork.
There’d be no perfect ending for the sold-out crowd, but this was a hugely successful night for Inter Miami, its supporters, staff and ownership group. Despite there being no test events, except for a training session season ticket holders were invited to, the occasion ran remarkably smoothly.
Beckham, decked in a club suit, beamed during the pregame ribbon cutting event, alongside fellow co-owners the Mas brothers, Jorge and Jose. The billionaire engineering tycoons’ resources and political pull in their home town were vital to getting the stadium project over the line.
When Beckham landed in Miami in 2013, he claimed to have been “promised” a glamorous spot on the downtown waterfront by the city’s politicians. However, prior to the now-majority owner Jorge Mas joining the project 2017, Beckham’s hopes of building any stadium at all – a prerequisite for being granted the franchise – were fading. The league’s commissioner was losing patience. The entire MLS Miami project was on the ropes.
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“It was a journey. And that journey, in many ways, didn’t end when Leo Messi joined the club. The journey really came to its conclusion today with the opening of this building,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber told reporters in Miami on Saturday night.
“There were times of trouble, but David is an optimist. He was an optimist as a player. He’s got a lot of courage, and you’ve seen that throughout his career.”
That initially floated spot overlooking Biscayne Bay was, in hindsight, a non-starter. The influential cruise companies nixed that idea. Beckham’s group turned to at least three alternate sites and bought land in inner city Overtown, which turned out to be contaminated with arsenic. Eventually they settled on the temporary Fort Lauderdale home just to get the club off the ground for the 2020 season.
By then a solid plan was in place. Critics called it a “real estate heist”, but in April 2022 proposals were approved to transform Melreese Country Club (notable as the city’s last publicly owned golf course), into a soccer village with the stadium as the centerpiece.
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Phase 1 of that project is largely complete, as evidenced by Saturday night’s opener. Eventually, the $1bn development is supposed to boast a 58-acre public park. There’ll be retail and restaurants, office space, and hotels totaling 750 rooms. But right now the wider complex is a construction site and will be for quite some time.
The stadium opening itself came in barely under the deadline. The league even scheduled Inter’s first five games of the season away from home to give the club more time to prepare. Even then, just hours before the eventual opening on 4 April, the club was still chasing an occupancy certificate from the city so the game could take place. Decorative touches are still being added all over the building.
“I was here a month ago and what’s happened in the last 30 days is remarkable. It’s way further along than I expected it to be,” Garber added. “I’ve learned a lesson, that when people tell you they’re going to get done, sometimes you’ve just got to trust them.”
For Inter Miami supporters, their own trust has finally been rewarded. They’re home.