Lionel Messi's Inter Miami is about to begin its participation in the Concacaf Champions Cup facing extreme weather conditions. Despite having the Disney+ sports signal, the polar wave in the region poses a threat to the development of the match. The regulations state that only the accumulation of snow on the playing field could lead to the suspension of the game.
The Florida team is preparing for its first official match of the year with the aim of putting behind the elimination in the MLS playoffs in 2024. With renewals in its squad, Inter Miami, which has Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba as key figures, seeks to make history in the continental tournament. Mascherano, in his debut as the club's coach, will face his first major test in a challenging context both in sports and in climate.
In previous friendlies, Inter Miami remained undefeated with four wins and one draw, although two of those victories were decided on penalties. On the other hand, Sporting Kansas will look to take advantage of their home condition in the series.
On Tuesday, the team led by Javier Mascherano will visit Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the first round, which will take place at Sporting Park at 22:00 (Argentina time). Temperatures of -15 degrees and a 70% chance of snow are forecasted. Sporting Kansas City had irregular results in previous friendlies, with only one victory, three losses, and one draw.
Should the first leg be played normally, the rematch will take place on February 25 at Chase Stadium in Miami, with completely different weather. The winner of this tie will face Jamaica's Cavalier in the round of 16.
The probable formations for the match are as follows:
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Jan Jurcec, Jansen Miller, Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold; Jacob Bartlett, Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodriguez; Stephen Afrifa, Dejan Joveljic, and Daniel Salloi. Coach: Peter Vermes.
Inter Miami: Oscar Ustari; Marcelo Weigandt, Gonzalo Lujan, David Martínez, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Federico Redondo, Tadeo Allende, Benjamín Cremaschi; Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez. Coach: Javier Mascherano.
