Your jersey is here.
The first-ever Inter Miami away jersey, "The RosaNegra" was just revealed to the world at the FORWARD25 event in New York City. The event saw superstars, celebrities and other prominent individuals present each MLS team’s jerseys for the upcoming season. Inter Miami, however, was represented by Axel Perez, 13, and Fernando Sanchez, 14.
Why did the Club pick two Academy players to be the face of such a momentous occasion?
Inter Miami is committed to the development of South Florida’s own. One of the pillars of the Club is to foster the growth of the region’s local talent and create a pipeline for yout players hoping to represent their city at the professional level. Before the First Team was even assembled, Inter Miami launched its Academy consisting of 160 youth players.
Perez and Sanchez are two standout Academy players who were selected to showcase the jersey as they represent the city’s unique culture and flair. Both players are Miami-Dade born Cuban-Americans who have starred for the Inter Miami U-14 team that has gone undefeated in U.S. Soccer Development Academy league play to this point. They were also among the first players to ever wear the Inter Miami badge, participating in the first Academy training session in June 2019 and the first matches in South Florida in September 2019.
The U-14 teammates also helped guide their team to successful results in the International Champions Cup Futures tournament in December. The team faced the likes of LA Galaxy, FC Barcelona and Juventus FC in the tournament, emerging victorious against both the Galaxy and Juventus.
Perez has stood out as one of the country’s best players born in 2007; the midfielder was selected to represent the U.S. Men’s Youth National Team U-14s despite being just 12 years old at the time.
Sanchez is a natural-born leader who has captained the Inter Miami U-14s. The defensive midfielder/center back is a confident young player who never shies away from a challenge and energizes his teammates.
For these reasons, among others, they were the perfect candidates to model Inter Miami’s first-ever away jersey.
“I’m super proud to represent Inter Miami,” said Sanchez. “I’m really excited to wear the first-ever jersey. I think the crest is beautiful and the colors really represent South Florida.”
“I think that choosing Academy players to reveal the jersey really shows how the Club is committed to showing South Florida’s talent and how committed they are to developing the players of the Academy.”
Perez shared a similar sentiment, expressing an admiration for the Club’s focus on its stars of the future.
“This is a big milestone for Inter Miami and to show that they picked Academy players is also such a big experience for us and shows that the Academy is going to be a big part of Inter Miami and the future is going to be invested in it,” said Perez.
The pair stood on stage surrounded by high-profile individuals at Penn Plaza Pavilion in New York City as representations of Inter Miami’s values. They brought South Florida’s boldness to a national stage and wore the colors proudly.
“The jersey shows Miami’s style,” said Perez. “Pink, black, it shows the culture here in Miami, the fashion. It shows Miami all over.”
The two of them also shared what stands out to them about the jersey and why they were so excited for the world to get to see it.
“My favorite part of the jersey is the colors and how they mix,” said Perez. “The style of the jersey, the way it feels, it’s just super nice. I love it.”
“One thing I really like about the jersey is the herons and I love that it says, ‘freedom to dream.’ That really shows what the Academy is about and a lot about our Club,” added Sanchez.
With less than a month remaining until the Club makes its worldwide debut, the excitement continues to build. Fans had been eagerly awaiting the release of the inaugural jersey, but that only excited Perez even further.
“Inter Miami is a worldwide Club,” said Perez. “To represent Inter Miami as an Academy player is such a huge experience. To wear the First Team jersey of this Club is something I’ll never forget.”
