MLS

MATCH PREVIEW: Inter Miami CF to Visit Austin FC for the First Time on Sunday

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Inter Miami CF (0W-0L-1D, 1 point) is set to travel this weekend for its first road game of the 2022 Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign, when the team will face Austin FC (1W-0L-0D, 3 points) for the first time in club history on Sunday, March 6. The matchup at Q2 Stadium is set to kick off at 4 p.m. ET.

Head Coach Phil Neville Ahead of Facing Austin

“We are looking forward to the game against Austin. I think they are an outstanding team…They had an outstanding result against Cincinnati. They invested and recruited very well in their team. I think it’s going to be a really really difficult game,” said head coach Phil Neville. “In terms of our mentality, the clean sheet against Chicago gives us great confidence and we are going to build on that. We were able to keep a clean sheet against Chicago and we need to do the same against Austin.”

Where to Watch

The match will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Fans worldwide can follow live updates including video highlights and stats on the Club’s App. Download and Register your Profile here: https://www.intermiamicf.com/en/club/app.

Solid Defensive Performance to Kick off the 2022 Campaign

Inter Miami will carry on with MLS 2022 action this Sunday with its first away fixture of the campaign. Inter Miami enters its second game of the season after drawing 0-0 against the Chicago Fire at DRV PNK Stadium on Saturday, Feb 26 in the club’s highly anticipated season opener, in which the team had a strong defensive performance on the pitch. Particularly, goalkeeper Clément Diop and center back Damion Lowe shone at the back, with the shot stopper earning a clean sheet and earning Heineken Man of the Match honors in his first MLS match in Inter Miami colors.

Inter Miami CF Debuts

Additionally, 11 players made their first MLS appearance since joining Inter Miami, including defensive standouts Diop and Lowe, and 17-year-old Inter Miami CF Academy product left back Noah Allen, in the team’s first match of the season. The team also debuted the Heartbeat Kit in the Chicago match, the team’s first pink kit.

Team of the Week Honors for Damion Lowe

Center back Lowe was named to the bench of the MLS Team of the Week for week 1 of the 2022 season, following his strong debut in Inter Miami’s season opener against Chicago Fire FC on Saturday, Feb. 26. The Jamaican international started and played the entire 90 minutes, recording his first clean sheet in front of an electric home crowd at DRV PNK Stadium.

Lowe’s inclusion is his first appearance in the Team of the Week, and the first for an Inter Miami player this season.

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Familiar Faces

Sunday’s matchup at Q2 Stadium will be the first between both sides and may present a reunion between known rivals for both Inter Miami and Austin players. Several players on both rosters have faced each other in MLS action in the past, but notably, Inter Miami attacker Emerson Rodríguez previously played against Austin’s Jhojan Valencia in the second stage of the 2020 edition of the CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana, when Rodríguez’s former side Millonarios took on Deportivo Cali.

Scouting Austin FC

Austin will host Inter Miami for the first time after opening its second MLS season in MLS with a 5-0 win over FC Cincinnati at home. Paraguayan winger Cecilio Domínguez scored twice in the team’s first fixture of the 2022 MLS regular season.