Inter Miami welcome Nashville in CCC
Inter Miami CF host Nashville SC on Wednesday evening in Leg 2 of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round-of-16 series, introducing another chapter in their 2023 Leagues Cup final rematch. The aggregate score is tied at 2-2. Kickoff is set for 8:15 pm ET on FS2 and ViX.
11 MLS players called in for 2024 Copa América qualifier
Eleven MLS players have been named to Canada's 23-man roster for a March 23 match vs. Trinidad & Tobago in the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League Play-In, which acts as a qualifier to the 2024 Copa América.
Sign up for The Daily Kickoff in your inbox! The Daily Kickoff is more than an article – it can be delivered to your email account as well.
Columbus moved on, Philadelphia… Orlando… well, we should still talk it out, right?
The Crew scored a typical Crew goal via Cucho Hernández and that’s all they needed. Griffin Dorsey found the net late but, let’s be real, this one felt wrapped last week. The Crew are at a different level right now. Houston are struggling.
The good news is the Dynamo can reset and stop worrying about extra games. They certainly need a break. It feels like injuries and bad vibes have derailed the first part of the year. A lackluster offseason certainly hasn’t helped things, though. I’m not sure how much better they can actually be, even when they get Héctor Herrera back. You have to worry that they’ve missed their opportunity to build on the momentum of 2023.
Anyway, the Crew are moving on to face Tigres in one of the most exciting matchups of the competition. Columbus have the firepower and experience to take on the best of Liga MX. They’ll need to put together something special to win the tie, though. It’s Tigres. There are levels to these things.
Oh boy.
Uh.
This did not go well.
And I’m inclined to end it there. I probably would for most teams. But there’s more to this because it’s Philadelphia.
A lot has been made about their decision to essentially run it back one more time with the same roster that came up short in the CCC semifinals last year. It seemed fine at the time, and it’s still probably fine. But… man, last night sure felt like we were watching an era come to an end. I can’t remember this particular Philly group folding that way. It was a bummer, to be honest.
That said, Pachuca have a ton of talent, Salomón Rondón would have scored against anyone last night, and playing at extreme altitude is a miserable experience. That’s a tough formula to handle. You expect more from this group, though. Hopefully, we see them at their best again in MLS. But giving up 15 goals through your first six games of the year isn’t a great sign. It’s definitely not indicative of the Union we’re used to.
M. Flores (13'), A. Gignac (20' PK), F. Gorriarán (68'), S. Córdova (82') | F. Torres (24' PK), M. Ojeda (90+1 PK')
Well, this one got nice and Concacafy.
It looked like Tigres were set to run away with it when they went up 2-0 early thanks to a slow-rolling shot that found the corner and a penalty. But Orlando immediately got back in it with a penalty of their own and put some pressure on Tigres. That pressure dissipated when Tigres may or may not have banked a ball off the crossbar and off goalkeeper Pedro Gallese into the goal. Video Reviews as to whether it actually crossed the line seemed inconclusive.
At that point, things felt wrapped up, but Tigres picked up a red card for a high boot to the face (seen it given). Unfortunately for Orlando, Tigres kept pushing forward and found space for a long-range strike over an out-of-position Gallese. That was finally that.
Orlando have had a rough go of it to start the year. Their only win has come against Cavalry FC. They got boat raced by Inter Miami in a 5-0 loss. Now they’re out of CCC. A loss to Tigres in a vacuum is whatever, but a loss to Atlanta this weekend in the context of the rest of their early season could have folks in central Florida genuinely concerned.
Still, they’ve had a lot working against them to start the year. I know they outperformed their underlying numbers by a crazy amount last year, but I think this is a good roster. They should be fine. Then again, I don’t think they’re going to be a genuine contender when all is said and done. We might end up adding them to the list of teams that relied too much on continuity this offseason. It feels like they're destined for a road playoff spot right now. Maybe something worse than that if Gallese continues to play this way. He had a nightmare here.
Nashville learned a lesson last week that they should have already been aware of: You can’t wait for Inter Miami to die; you have to go ahead and make sure they’re dead. We’ve already seen so many teams try and sit back, hold a lead and, inevitably, relinquish that lead against the Herons.
We’re entering tonight’s matchup with a 2-2 aggregate score and the odds stacked against the traveling Nashville side. Not only are they on the road against a rested Lionel Messi-led team, but they’re going to have to deal with them without center back Walker Zimmerman.
The good news, though, is Nashville should have Hany Mukhtar for this one. They’ll need a moment of magic from him to pull off the upset. Plus another moment of magic from Jacob Shaffelburg again. And probably another one. Look, Nashville are going to need something pretty remarkable here to get a win on the road. It feels like their window of opportunity closed last week when Luis Suárez equalized at 2-2.
Vancouver acquire Ralph Priso from Colorado Rapids: Vancouver Whitecaps FC have acquired midfielder Ralph Priso in a trade with the Colorado Rapids. In exchange for Priso, Colorado receive $150,000 in conditional 2025 General Allocation Money (GAM), as well as the later of Vancouver’s current two first-round selections, and their natural third-round selection, in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. The later first-round pick will be either Vancouver or LAFC’s natural selection.
Chicago loan Reynolds to FC Lugano: Chicago Fire FC have loaned homegrown defender Justin Reynolds to sister side FC Lugano for the remainder of the 2023-24 Swiss Super League season. Chicago retain the right to recall the 19-year-old US youth international at any point.
- Lionel Messi will be ready to go tonight.
- Taylor Twellman believes Lorenzo Insigne and Toronto FC can surprise people this year.
- Joe Lowery assessed how legit some of the early league leaders are.
- Ben Steiner wrote about Canada’s roster for their upcoming Copa America qualifier.
- Mo Farsi provided the Energy Moment of the Matchday presented by Celsius for Matchday 4.
- Power Rankings.
Good luck out there. Connect with someone special.
