The Inter Miami CF Academy U-14 team concluded International Champions Cup Futures play today. The tournament presented the Academy with a significant opportunity to continue the development of the Club’s future stars in a competitive setting against other elite academy teams. The U-14s played six games over the course of five days, facing the LA Galaxy, FC Barcelona, Shanghai Football Team, Juventus FC before wrapping up the tournament with games against the Michigan Wolves and New England Revolution today.
The group stage results qualified the team for the Trophy bracket, a single-elimination knockout stage featuring certain second-place finishers and the top third-place finishers from the group stage.
Today, Inter Miami earned a 5-2 victory over the Michigan Wolves in the semifinal of the Trophy bracket, followed by a 1-2 loss to the New England Revolution in the final.
The team’s starting XI to face Michigan was comprised of Lucas Russo; Milo Parquet, David Montoya, Fernando Sanchez, Jose Escobar; Matteo Depalo, Axel Perez, Lucas Depaula; Nyle Waugh, Juan Quevedo, and Miles Perkovich.
Midfielder Axel Perez opened the scoring for Inter Miami with an early brace. He scored goals in the 1st and 10th minutes. Miles Perkovich added the first half tally with a 23rd minute goal. The second half saw goals from Lucas Depaula and Ezequiel Abadia-Reda seal the victory.
“This tournament is one of the biggest tournaments in the world and to be a top team in the tournament is huge,” said Axel Perez. “It’s perfect for us going into the rest of the season.”
“It’s amazing to play in a big final like this.”
The win progressed the Club to the final of the Trophy bracket. The 2.p.m ET kickoff pitted the team against fellow MLS academy side New England Revolution. Inter Miami set up for its final game of the tournament with an XI of Angel Fernandez; Milo Parquet, Fernando Sanchez, Tyler Hall, Jose Escobar; Matteo Depalo, Axel Perez, Lucas Depaula; Nyle Waugh, Juan Quevedo, Miles Perkovich.
The Club opened the scoring in the final with a 24th minute goal from Juan Quevedo but fell to a 1-2 defeat at the hands of the Revolution after conceding two second half goals.
“I think the overall performance across the tournament I rate as very good,” said U-14 Head Coach John Deeley. “This is an invaluable tournament to be able to test yourself against not only the best teams in America, but also the best clubs in the world.”
“Our guys got a chance to see what the kids in their age group look like and to compete against them. In the case of the Juventus game, they got a chance to top one of the storied clubs in world football. The experience is top notch.”
The team, along with the other Inter Miami Academy age groups, will continue U.S. Soccer Development Academy play moving forward.
“I think we can build on these last few weeks,” added Deeley. “I was very pleased with what I saw in the ICC Futures tournament.”
“Now we just have to take it to the next level, but the experiences we gained were absolutely fantastic.”
The Inter Miami Academy is comprised of 160 youth players from South Florida, playing across six age groups from 12 to 19. The U-14s, who are in the ICC Futures Tournament, have gone undefeated in U.S. Soccer Development Academy league play to this point.
The Academy is fully funded by the organization and aims to recruit and develop talented players, providing them with the best opportunities to continue advancing to the highest levels of the sport.
