Inter Miami visited Subaru Park Sunday night to face off against the Philadelphia Union. With the team claiming a 1-2 victory, head coach Phil Neville earned his first win at the helm with Inter Miami, and his first as a head coach at the club level.
A first half consisting of suffocating defensive displays saw the match enter the break scoreless, but Neville quickly adjusted, making several substitutions in the second half.
“I think the substitutions were better this week. I thought we made substitutions earlier. We brought freshness onto the pitch. That helped,” said Neville. “We beat a really tough team. A team that’s in [Concacaf] Champions League, a team that’s going to be going for a championship this year, a team that hasn’t been beaten.”
The second substitution of the match proved to be the most fruitful of the evening; Federico Higuaín entered the game and replaced Rodolfo Pizarro at the 62 minute mark. Federico’s calm temperament on the pitch set the tone for the squad after they fell in a 0-1 hole.
“I think he brings calmness to training, calmness to the dressing room, calmness to Gonzalo, calmness to the whole team. He comes on, and when everyone else is running around at 100 miles an hour, he seems to flow into the game, gives the team confidence and composure,” said Neville.
Federico went on to not only register an assist on the goal that was headed by his brother Gonzalo, which tied the match at the 73 minute mark, but his cameo performance stole the show as he later went on to take matters into his own hands and score a header to secure a victory.
Neville also went on to speak about his own experience playing with his brother, Gary Neville, explaining how he understands the emotions that the Higuaín family must have felt following the match.
“I think speaking from real experience, having played with a brother for a long time, there’s a special bond when you play [for] the same team. Even though Federico and Gonzalo, obviously are just teammates, there’s a love, there’s a bond, there’s an understanding. I had the same feeling with my brother so there’s a special bond for both. And it was the first time brothers score in the same [MLS] game. Federico set Gonzalo up for the first one, and Federico scored a really good header for the second one. It’s a great moment for the family.”
Looking ahead at the remainder of Inter Miami’s season, Neville understood the importance of not getting caught in the moment and acknowledged the importance of winning as a motivator for the team.
“Ultimately winnings makes the players invest more and believe more in what we’re trying to do. So I think that was the meaning, the most important thing.
“So what we say in the dressing room after the game is that this is only the start of the journey for us. We know we have miles more to give, miles more quality, miles more consistency in our play. I do believe there’s another 20 to 30 percent from us...The road is long. There’s going to be many ups and downs.”
