Inter Miami forward Robbie Robinson continued the Club’s streak of virtual dominance with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Nashville SC’s Tanner Dieterich in the Club’s second eFriendly.
The former Clemson University teammates engaged in some friendly banter before kicking off the series, with Dieterich claiming to have ‘mental real estate’ in Robinson’s head. Robinson, meanwhile, was unfazed by the banter, saying, “He can talk all he wants but we all know what’s going to happen.”
The first match in the series featured a battle between neighboring countries France, controlled by Robinson, and Belgium, controlled by Dieterich. It was Robinson who took control of the match in the early going, taking a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute through a wonder strike curled into the top left corner of the net by Nabil Fekir.
“Look at that,” chirped Robinson. “It’s easy.”
The lead only grew from there, with a second goal coming from a corner in the 40th minute headed in by Kylian Mbappé, and a third coming just before halftime as a well-timed pass from Mbappé freed Ousmane Dembélé who chipped a shot over the keeper. A scoreless second half saw the match end in a comfortable 3-0 victory for Robinson’s France.
The second match was a showdown between English Premier League rivals as Robinson played with Wolves, who Inter Miami will face in an upcoming eFriendly, and Dieterich played with Liverpool. Robinson once again took a lead in the first half, this time thanks to a powerful strike by Raúl Jiménez from the edge of the box in the 36th minute. The 52nd minute saw Robinson break out the skill moves, nearly completing a rainbow flick over the keeper after some fancy footwork from Pedro Neto, though the keeper was able to keep the score at 1-0 for the moment.
“The disrespect here is unbelievable,” joked Dieterich.
Dieterich would get his revenge, however, equalizing in the 63rd minute thanks to a goal from Roberto Firmino. The match ended at 1-1 with neither player able to break down their opponent for the remainder of the match, putting the aggregate score at 4-1 in favor of Robinson heading into the final match.
The third and final match of the day saw another international matchup on the cards, this time Robinson in control of Chile while Dieterich controlled the United States.
“I picked Chile because my mom was actually born in Chile, so I have that Chilean in me,” said Robinson.
Meanwhile, he was already taking the lead through a fifth minute strike by Arturo Vidal which was smashed into the net from the top of the box.
“You see that chemistry right there,” he remarked, referencing his mother’s heritage.
In the late stages of the second half Dieterich appeared to have an equalizer, scoring off of a rebound with Cristian Roldan, but he was ruled offside. The match ended 1-0, giving Robinson his second individual match victory of the day and a comprehensive 5-1 aggregate victory over his friend and former Clemson teammate.
“It feels great to come out with a win; 5-1 aggregate so pretty convincing,” Robinson said with a smile. “I was pretty comfortable the whole time so that’s also good.”
The matchup began at 7 p.m. ET and was aired on the Club’s Twitch, YouTube and Facebook channels, as well as the Club’s official app, and was hosted by Inter Miami’s own Fernando Fiore, two-time Emmy award-winning broadcaster from Argentina, and Jamie Watson, Nashville SC’s TV color analyst.
Robinson previously participated in Twitch Rivals SuperGames ft. Fortnite for charity, contributing to Baptist Health Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund in the process. His victory over Dieterich marked another for Inter Miami as Lee Nguyen defeated LAFC’s Mark-Anthony Kaye in the first installment of the eFriendly series.
The victory was yet another moment of triumph for the rookie forward as he was also just named 2020 ACC Male Athlete of the Year, becoming the first soccer player to win the award and joining the likes of past champions such as Michael Jordan.
