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Inter Miami in four-way tie ahead of Porto game Thursday, but yellow cards could hurt
Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates were back at their training facility on a sweltering Monday morning, beginning preparations for their second Club World Cup game on Thursday in Atlanta against Portuguese team Porto.
Miami finds itself in a better position than many experts predicted, locked in a four-way tie in Group A with one point as both opening games ended in scoreless draws.
Inter Miami tied Egyptian club Al Ahly 0-0 at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday after a heroic performance by Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari before a crowd of 60,927. On Sunday, Porto and Brazilian power Palmeiras drew 0-0 at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey with a big game by Porto's backup goalkeeper Claudio Ramos, filling in for injured captain Diogo Costa.
However, as it stands now, Miami is listed in fourth place among the four because after head-to-head, goal differential and goals scored, the next group tiebreaker is Fair Play Points (red and yellow cards). Inter Miami collected four yellow cards in the opening match (Tomas Aviles, Fede Redondo, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez). Palmeiras and Porto got two apiece and Al Ahly just one.
Inter Miami's star left back Jordi Alba, who missed the Club World Cup opener and the May 31 MLS game against Columbus with a hamstring injury, trained with the rest of the team on Monday, a sign he could be available to play against Porto.
Midfielders Yannick Bright and David Ruiz, also recovering from hamstring injuries, trained separately. Center back Gonzalo Lujan (hamstring) was not on the field during the 15-minute media viewing period.
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano was encouraged by his team's performance on Saturday, particularly in the second half, when players settled their nerves and created several scoring chances.
'We are going day-by-day, we know that the next game the level will be higher because we are playing a European opponent, but I think we must keep in mind that its 11-v.-11, and even though we will face a quality opponent, anything can happen in football,' he said. 'We saw that in the first game, how things changed from the first half to the second when we took our time to move the ball and were committed to the plan.'
Asked what Inter Miami needs to improve heading into the Porto game, forward Luis Suarez said: 'I don't think we need to improve anything. We just need to score a goal in the next game to calm down. We are putting pressure on ourselves because we want to show why we made it to this tournament. We want to compete. We want to win.
'We understand this tournament is tough, we know who we will face. This is a great moment to show what we're capable of as a team.'
Security was beefed up Monday at Inter Miami's training facility in Fort Lauderdale, as German club Borussia Dortmund began training there and will be based there throughout the tournament. Dortmund's group games are Tuesday against Fluminense at MetLife Stadium, Saturday against Mamelodi Sundowns at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati and June 25 against Ulsan also at TQL Stadium.
As for Inter Miami, after the game against Porto, the men in pink return to Hard Rock Stadium for its Group A final game against Palmeiras. Tickets for the 9 p.m. match are available at and secondary online ticket outlets such as Vivid Seats and StubHub. As of Monday, tickets for that game were starting in the $110-$120 range.
Boca Juniors vs. Benfica
Hard Rock Stadium will be rocking on Monday night, as Argentine club Boca Juniors, with its massive fan base, takes on Benfica of Portugal at 6 p.m. Thousands of Boca fans decked in royal blue and yellow gathered in North Beach Sunday afternoon to chant and dance at an oceanside 'banderazo' (pre-game pep rally).
