Inter Miami coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino praised his players for their tenacity and determination in coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Nashville SC in the Champions Cup Round of 16.
The Herons appeared to be on their way to losing their first competitive match of the 2024 season after Jacob Shaffelburg scored twice to give Nashville a commanding 2-0 lead with about 45 minutes remaining. However, Miami’s superstar Lionel Messi stepped up once more, curling a left-footed shot past Joe Willis and into the net.
Nashville had numerous opportunities to end the game as extra time approached, including a controversial offside call on Shaq Moor’s disallowed goal, but the Herons remained within striking distance due to the hosts’ inability to convert chances.
Luis Suarez scored his third goal in two games, deep into extra time, to cap the Herons’ comeback and effectively restart the tie ahead of the second leg in south Florida on March 13.
Martino, on the other hand, was aware that his team had finished second in the first and second halves’ opening stages.
“They (Nashville) came in more determined than us,” Martino said in Spanish after the contest. “We understood that from the beginning we were going to be able to control the game, and circulate the ball well, but maybe we didn’t do it with the intensity that the game deserved, with the intensity that the opponent deserved.”
On the other hand, the former Barcelona and Mexico national team head coach praised his team’s ability to claw back into the game at GEODIS Park, noting that they have already done so once this season in MLS action.
“We were rewarded for our insistence. It leaves us in a good position for the second leg. These games against Nashville have always been tough and even, and we expect the same [in the second leg next Wednesday], but with the peace of mind that our search was correct. It was not a disorderly search,” he said.
“Here, as well as at LA (against the Galaxy), when it seemed hopeless, the team didn’t let down, kept looking for the goal, and we got the prize, which was deserved because we did enough not to lose,” Martino continued.
“This is a 180-minute game. We have 90 minutes more to play at home. We put the game at risk in the early stages of the first half and the second half. There were 10 or 15 minutes in each half that could have cost us the game. For about an hour, we controlled the ball well and had chances, but we also could have been down 3-0 seven or eight minutes into the second half.”
Before returning to the most prestigious club competition in North American football, the Herons will host CF Montreal in league action on Sunday afternoon. Josef Martinez will face his former club in the Eastern Conference matchup, having scored 12 goals in 40 appearances for Miami in 2023.
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