Whether you call a rivalry match a derby or a clasico, there is usually some sort of animosity between the two clubs. Sunday night in Hialeah, there was no hatred between Miami United and Miami FC 2. How could there be? The two have never squared off in a meaningful match, the teams are relatively unknown to each other, and the supporters groups actually get along well. The match may have laid the foundation for the idea of no love lost between the two organizations.
It is here, it is finally here. Welcome to the official start of the 2018 soccer season in the Magic City. As fate would have it, the first match pits two of our local clubs against each other. Local NPSL powerhouse Miami United get to take on the NPSL newcomers Miami FC 2. The #MagicCityClasico will surely be one of the determining factors of who moves on to the NPSL playoffs and tops the table at the end of the year. Let’s take a look at both teams that have a chance to lift the newest trophy in the battle for Miami.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. A professional team loses its place among the professional ranks and the team has to find its way back to glory by ascending the ranks again beginning in an amateur league. Have you? No? I haven’t either, and it’s not a script that Hollywood would think to write off the cuff. It almost seems entirely opposite to the classic sports tale. But that’s where we find ourselves for this 2018 Miami FC 2 season.
As you’ve heard Miami may not have a team in the “Pro” leagues this year but that does not mean that there is no soccer to enjoy throughout the Magic City. This season the hardcore soccer fan can take in as many as 19 regular season games between the months of April and July. Miami FC 2, Miami United, and FC Miami City will each have a home slate plus additional games that are played within a 45-minute drive.
In a way, most of the people who were told about the North American Soccer League’s decision to cancel the 2018 season were ready for that outcome. It almost seemed as if it was destined to happen after all of the events leading up to this point. Hell, the most pessimistic supporter of an NASL club could have told you the writing was on the wall after the tumultuous offseason of 2016-17. Be that as it may, Miami currently has zero professional clubs ready to play in a professional league for the 2018 season.
During the Miami FC’s Facebook Live event last week, Bruce Silverman and Sean Flynn announced that the Miami FC 2 schedule will have them opening the NPSL campaign on the road at Miami United (Ted Hendricks Stadium) on April 15. They will return home to complete their season series against United on April 21 at St. Thomas University.
It seems like there’s a lot of dust in the air surrounding the beautiful game here locally. While every other league’s schedule is still “under construction”, the PDL released their schedule recently. “PDL?”, you ask. Yes FC Miami City, the only club in the PDL from the magic city, will return to Tropical Park for the 2018 PDL season.
Miami FC fans rejoice! The club is back! The Miami FC announced the creation of Miami FC 2 yesterday in a press release. The “2” team will play in the National Premier Soccer league for the 2018 season. Playing in the Sunshine Conference, the Miami FC NPSL squad will have to go up against local clubs Miami United, Storm F.C., Boca Raton F.C., and NASL foe Jacksonville Armada among others.
Another off season full of drama has been provided by the NASL and the USSF. Unfortunately for Miami FC supporters, this offseason has had a prolonged “inevitable doom” feeling. Unlike last season, this off season was viewed from the distant shore as a storm that could bring some reckoning. Reckoning, it has definitely brought upon the NASL.
Playoffs are a funny thing. In American sports, playoffs separate the weak from the strong. The contenders from the pretenders. Yet somehow, they also have a way of allowing the underdog to rise to the occasion and steal the spotlight time and time again. Miami FC could have played their very last game and the North American Soccer League modern record for goals, wins, points, and differential could not have saved them.