Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano confirmed not all players will be available for the 2025 Major League Soccer season opener against New York City FC on Saturday night at Chase Stadium after what he called an “unprecedented” turnaround for the club.
The team prepares to host the Eastern Conference rival just three days after facing Sporting Kansas City for the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup first round in frigid conditions with temperatures reaching three degrees Fahrenheit.
“Yes, we are prepared and above all recovering from the match on Wednesday. No, everyone is not available for tomorrow,” Mascherano said on Friday.
“I’m not going to tell you who, I’m not going to give you clues. The majority of players are available. We’re not even 48 hours away from the game we played in Kansas. Everyone saw the conditions we played in. That also requires us to wait a little longer for the players to recover. It’s been an unprecedented situation for everyone.”
Mascherano later confirmed that the players rested on Thursday before returning to training on Friday morning in preparation for the season opener.
Miami has sold out its season tickets as fans clamor to get an in-person look at Messi and fellow former Barcelona standouts Jordi Alba, Luis Suárez and Sergio Busquets.
“Obviously, we need to analyze the situation and we will try to line up the best 11 for tomorrow. The best 11 that we think that they can give 100% on the pitch,” Mascherano said.
“No, no one came back sick. Everyone is okay. Obviously tired because we arrived here around 4 o’clock in the morning. So yesterday, they were off to rest and today we will start to train, to see, to talk to them about who is available for tomorrow. And we will decide.”
Mascherano marked his official debut as manager with a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City, after being appointed to the role in November to replace Gerardo “Tata” Martino.
He now aspires to lead Inter Miami to success, but said he will adapt a game-by-game mentality in order to manage the season.
Following Saturday’s match, Inter Miami faces another quick turnaround by hosting Sporting KC on Feb. 25 in the second leg of the first round Concacaf Champions Cup series.
As MLS’ 30th season gets underway Saturday with 13 games on the slate, the league is also welcoming its 30th team.
Led by winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, San Diego FC is among the teams to watch this year, along with the expansion club’s first opponent, the defending MLS champion LA Galaxy.
The addition of the San Diego balances MLS at 15 teams per conference.
The league’s newest club is owned by billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Tribe, the first Native American tribe in the country to have an ownership stake in a professional soccer team. The team’s first season kicks off on Sunday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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