Inter Miami CF head coach Javier Mascherano said his players showed soul and fight to come back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to draw 3-3 against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night at Subaru Park.
Lionel Messi helped inspire the rally with a spectacular free kick and an assist on the tying goal for a team that has been trying to get out of a recent funk that included losses in five of the past seven games.
“I think we showed character, personality. It was another difficult start of the game for us because in the beginning we conceded the goal and the situation that we are in when you concede it’s difficult, you know, because you start to think that you have to come back again,” Mascherano said. “But the guys showed a lot of character. They showed that they want to fight to get out of this situation.
“I think we showed that we have soul and we have to fight.”
Despite entering the match trying to turn things around, Miami struggled to contain the Union early in the game and the hosts took a 2-0 lead into the break. Mascherano tried to rally his team at halftime, urging players to forget about the consequences of a negative result and focus on tactics.
“I told them at halftime that we are in a situation that is s—. And the only way to see the sun is to give everything, and forget the result,” Mascherano said. “The result is my fault, it is my responsibility. They have to play because football is a game and we have to play.
“I said, ‘Play, don’t think about the result.’ The result is the coach’s fault, the responsibility of the coach. But we want to have the ball, to move the ball to one side, to the other side, try to play on the opposite side. This is for me the way to start a game, winning games and be in a good dynamic. So I try to translate it because it’s the only way. We cannot be worried about the result. We cannot be worried. It’s about playing the game.”
Tadeo Allende led the comeback, scoring in the 60th minute, but the Union restored their two-goal advantage minutes later with Tai Baribo’s second strike of the night. Miami captain Messi kept his team in the game with a stellar free kick from the top of the area for the team’s second goal.
Telasco Segovia then scored the final goal of the night — with Messi assisting — in second-half stoppage time to secure the Herons’ point.
Mascherano, however, emphasized the team were unlucky in that the Union’s third goal should have been called offside.
“We were not lucky because the third goal of theirs was very clearly offside,” Miami’s coach said. “It was very, very obvious that the third goal was offside. I don’t know why. Where is the VAR? What were they doing? Because it’s very clear.
“We cannot watch it on our tablet because we have a tactical camera, but the lateral camera is very clear.”
The Herons return to action Wednesday night with a home game against CF Montreal at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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