Inter Miami’s preseason scoring drought ended on Monday with goals by Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and David Ruiz; but the team lost 4-3 to Saudi league leader Al Hilal after conceding a late goal in the friendly at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Despite all the hype surrounding its high-profile players, Miami remains winless through three preseason games after a scoreless tie with El Salvador’s national team and a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas.
Messi and his teammates fell behind 2-0 in the first 13 minutes Monday on goals by former Fulham and Newcastle forward Aleksandar Mitrovic and Abdullah Al-Hamdan. Miami’s defense was exposed by a depleted Al Hilal team that was missing eight players through injury and national team duty.
The blue-clad home crowd went wild as Inter Miami players, wearing their new pink jerseys for the first time, tried to find their rhythm. Messi, who is a paid Saudi tourism ambassador, had been linked to a potential move to Al Hilal when he announced he was leaving Paris Saint Germain last spring, but he chose Miami over the Saudi club.
Although they were the visiting team, had traveled 7,500 miles, and are just in the third week of training camp, Inter Miami is under intense pressure to win with its star-studded lineup. Miami players looked a bit flat and unsettled at the start, perhaps still getting acclimated to the eight-hour time difference and the integration of new players.
Suarez, the Uruguayan forward who signed just before Christmas, got Miami in the game after scoring his first goal with the club in the 34th minute.
Suarez’s former FC Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba started the play by finding Julian Gressel, another offseason acquisition, behind Al Hilal’s back line. Gressel then passed to a wide-open Suarez at the far post for the easy goal.
The goal was initially waved off for offside, but eventually allowed after review by the video assistant referee. Al Hilal opened a 3-1 lead just before halftime on a header by Brazilian forward Michael, who previously played at Flamengo.
Momentum shifted to Miami in the second half as Messi scored on a 54th minute penalty kick to the upper right corner after Ruiz drew contact in the box. One minute later, Ruiz launched a curling equalizer across his body from the left side.
Miami picked up its pace, played well for most of the second half and it appeared the game would end in a 3-3 tie.
Coach Tata Martino made substitutions in the 75th minute. Leo Campana replaced Suarez, Gregore replaced Ruiz and Christopher McVey replaced Serhiy Kryvtsov, who appeared to have a head injury. Messi exited the field in the 88th minute, replaced by Robert Taylor, and almost immediately, Al Hilal’s Brazilian striker Malcom got loose and scored the game-winner past Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender.
Despite the loss, Ruiz said the team feels it is headed in the right direction. Next up is a highly-anticipated match Thursday against Al Nassr, which features superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Playing alongside the likes of Messi, Alba, Busquets, and Suarez in Saudi Arabia was quite the experience for Ruiz, a 19-year-old Honduran American who grew up in Little Havana and played youth soccer at Charles Hadley Park in Allapattah. He played club for seven years for Miami United Stars. His mother owns and runs Alba’s Café, a Honduran restaurant at 2901 S.W. 8th St.
“I am trying to score more goals and get more assists this season,” Ruiz said. “With the quality that Leo (Messi) has, I always know he will be there, so I am trying to get behind defenders as much as I can. I always wanted to score goals and get assists for this club and I know there are young kids in the academy and all over Miami watching me now and I try to inspire them to see that anything’s possible.”
Asked if he is concerned that the team has not won any of its three preseason games so far, Ruiz replied: “Of course we want to win, but we know this is the preseason, and we are working on getting better every day to the MLS season coming up. We are focusing on getting minutes and preparing. After watching Messi and Ronaldo on T.V. playing in these games is really special.”
