Inter Miami CF will be missing key players in their MLS Cup playoff matchup against Nashville SC due to a COVID-19 outbreak on the team.
Three Inter Miami players who were expected to be on Friday’s game-day roster — including two key starters — were prevented from traveling to Nashville, Tenn., after not being medically cleared, a source confirmed to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“Not medically cleared” is the language MLS clubs have used on injury reports for players who tested positive for COVID-19.
SBI Soccer first reported on Thursday evening that five Inter Miami players tested positive for COVID-19. The source didn’t reveal which players tested positive or confirm the total number of players who tested positive for COVID-19.
The Miami Herald reported that Federico Higuain, Gonzalo Higuain and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez didn’t travel with the team. Gonzalo (nine) and Gonzalez Pirez (16) have started every match they were available for Inter Miami, while Federico has played in nine matches since the club traded for him in mid-October.
All players, technical staff, and essential club staff are tested for COVID-19 every other day, including the day before each game.
Inter Miami coach Diego Alonso said on Wednesday that Rodolfo Pizarro would be available for Inter Miami’s playoff game after being on international duty in Austria with Mexico’s national soccer team during FIFA’s international window earlier in the month.
The league is allowing players to avoid the nine- or 10-day quarantine period after international travel, per the league’s COVID-19 protocol, and be available in time for the playoffs as long as they use charter flights for their return to the U.S. and continue testing negative for COVID-19.
Alonso added earlier in the week that defender Nico Figal and defender/midfielder Brek Shea would also be available against Nashville SC. The Argentine defender missed Inter Miami’s last two games of the regular season after sustaining a muscle injury in his left leg against FC Dallas on Oct. 28 that was expected to keep him out for a few weeks.
Shea missed the team’s last three matches of the regular season — two due to injury and the regular-season finale against FC Cincinnati because he was “not medically cleared”.
Figal posted a picture on his Instagram story of him on a plane with “Nashville” as the geofilter. Starting goalkeeper John McCarthy and midfielder Victor Ulloa tweeted that they were making the trip after 6 p.m. on Thursday.
ESPN reported on Wednesday that teams that suffer from a COVID-19 outbreak during the playoffs will be forced to forfeit their match and withdraw from the tournament if the game can’t be rescheduled.
The league is working on a tight timeframe for the playoff tournament. The MLS Cup final is scheduled to take place on Dec. 12, which is right before the 2020 Concacaf Champions League tournament resumes from Dec. 15 through Dec. 22. Four MLS teams are competing in the tournament, including two (Los Angeles FC and New York City FC) that qualified for the MLS playoffs.
Inter Miami traveled to Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday evening and the match against Nashville SC was set to kick off at 9 p.m. on Friday at Nissan Stadium (ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes) as of Friday morning.
Inter Miami (7-13-3, 24 points) qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the regular season with a 2-1 victory versus FC Cincinnati on Nov. 8 at Inter Miami CF Stadium. They’re the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference while Nashville SC (8-7-8, 32 points) is the No. 7 seed in the conference.
The club previously had players test positive for COVID-19 earlier in the season. Inter Miami announced it had a player test positive for COVID-19 on June 18, with defender Christian Makoun announcing on Instagram in mid-July that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
A player on the team reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the month, which Inter Miami didn’t comment on at the time when reached via a club spokesperson.
Inter Miami aren’t the only known team who’ve had players test positive for COVID-19 heading into the playoffs.
LAFC confirmed Wednesday that defender Diego Palacios, midfielder Jose Cifuentes and forward Diego Rossi tested positive for COVID-19 while with the Ecuador and Uruguay national soccer teams. The Los Angeles Times reported that Brian Rodriguez also tested positive for COVID-19 while with Uruguay.
Los Angeles doesn’t play its first-round playoff game against the Seattle Sounders FC until Tuesday.
Inter Miami already had a challenging task ahead of them by trying to become the second expansion team to advance in the MLS playoffs against a steady Nashville SC that boasts one of the best defenses in the league.
But with them expected to miss multiple starters, Inter Miami’s chances of leaving Nissan Stadium with the victory are even more daunting.
