When Jorge Mas said that we would hear news about the Miami MLS project soon, we were all hoping for it to be in the coming weeks after the announcement. We’re close to being four months away from the date that MLS declared Miami was officially getting a franchise and we’re starting to get some early clues as to how the franchise will honor the Magic City. While it’s nothing from the horse’s mouth, the connections are too big to ignore. Miami Freedom appears to be in the lead position.
Month: May 2018
We finally have a result, as Miami United FC claims the Magic City Clásico crown and advances in the U.S. Open Cup at the expense of The Miami FC 2. Plus, we get to speak in-depth with Chris Wittyngham, who is launching the Pitch Invasion podcast. Join us, won’t you? Thanks to our sponsor, Groundhopper, for helping to make this Magic City Soccer episode happen!
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Indoor Soccer Pro hosted its grand opening Sunday, as kids kicked around the courts and the Vice Mayor of Miami Gardens paid tribute to the new futsal venue.
Futsal, which is a soccer variant typically played as a five-a-side game on a smaller court, has tremendous popularity in South America. While it can be played on an outdoor court, its defining feature is that it can be moved indoors to a basketball-sized court. A rainy day like Sunday provided the perfect opportunity for Indoor Soccer Pro to shine.
FC Miami City will begin its PDL Southeast Division season hosting the Lakeland Tropics in Miami on Saturday 6PM at Tropical Park. This will start a 3 match homestand to open the PDL season. The club look to be in top shape after a vigorous pre-season playing NPSL clubs Boca Raton and Miami United. If that competition wasn’t stiff enough, City had to match up against Miami FC in the US Open Cup play-in round. To close the preseason they also faced the U.S. Men’s National U-20 team at Central Broward Regional Park.
Neymar Jr’s Five, a worldwide five-a-side tournament organized by the Brazilian superstar and Red Bull, will be coming to Miami for a qualifier this Saturday, with an encore performance and much more on the line just three weeks later.
The tournament is hosting qualifiers in 61 countries on six continents. In the United States, there are 17 qualifiers looking for teams to participate in the national final. On Saturday, there will be mixed and women’s qualifying at Urban Soccer 5 in Miami.
A minisode! We aren’t able to give you the full #MagicCityClásico breakdown you deserve due to some scheduling issues, so we’re going to delay that discussion until next week. In the meantime, Matt got a chance to talk to Eddie Salcedo, who is the tournament director of Neymar Jr’s Five in the United States. A five-a-side tournament, the Five will be coming to Miami on Saturday for preliminary qualification and will return in June for the national final. Are you ready for this? Join us, won’t you? Thanks to our sponsor, Groundhopper, for helping to make this Magic City Soccer episode happen!
To subscribe to Magic City Soccer on iTunes, click here. To subscribe to Magic City Soccer on SoundCloud, click here.
To subscribe on Google Play,
The second round of the US Open Cup was a match that many different layers to it. Sure at the top there is the Miami United victory, however, looking back of the match there was a lot that culminated in the result for the NPSL juggernaut. An early goal, high presses that would make your nose bleed, cards galore, and fateful tactical decisions all culminated together to bring Miami FC’s 2018 cup run to an end.
It’s very rare to find derby matches that have shown the strengths and weaknesses of both clubs with so much parity. It’s also very rare to face-off against your cross-town rival three times in one month. That’s what we have here in the 305 and only one club can be crowned as the Magic City’s best. Miami FC and Miami United will clash to settle all the scores.
Even though Serie B side A.C. Perugia Calcio warned a spot in the Serie A promotion playoff, that apparently wasn’t enough for the board. Manager Roberto Breda was dismissed. Breda’s loss, however, appears to be the gain of former manager of The Miami FC and Italian legend Alessandro Nesta.
Nesta was announced as Breda’s replacement on Monday, tasked with leading the squad through the playoff. His current contract only lasts through June 30, 2018.
Nesta left Miami FC in November 2017, after guiding the squad to Spring and Fall NASL titles that year, but losing to the New York Cosmos in the Soccer Bowl semifinal. He was replaced by Scotland’s Paul Dalglish.
Soccer fans in South Florida have an interesting event to look forward to next week. The SPORTELSummit Miami Beach will bring a number of important figures in the sports world together to discuss the issues of the day. However, there are some notable absences that leave participants and followers asking: What happened?