FC Miami City have been improving leaps and bounds over their previous season. The massive overhaul of the roster and staff has so far been vindicated by the results being earned on the field. While it hasn’t always been pretty, FC Miami City have found themselves near the top of the table 2 games before the half way point of the season. Their victory against Weston was another result earned by grinding out their opponent.
Two years removed from their previous clash in South Florida, Venezuela and Ecuador took the pitch behind the support of thousands of their patriots. South Florida has long been the destination for Latin American migration, and it showed proudly with the amount of Venezuelan and Ecuadorian fans at Hard Rock Stadium. Over 12,000 showed for a friendly that was missing some notable superstars for both nations.
FC Miami City’s home opener was a success given all the obstacles in the way of Miami’s lone USL League Two club. An early start time (noon kickoff on a weekday), stadium equipment issues, and a completely overhauled roster didn’t stop the match from earning an average attendance. Friends and family took to Tropical Park to watch FCMC square off against newly founded Daytona SC.
The world’s game returns to the beautiful confines of Hard Rock Stadium Saturday night for yet another CONMEBOL showdown. Last year we were graced with a great matchup between Chile and Peru that brought out thousands of South American transplants. This weekend, expect the same as Venezuela and Ecuador look to give hope to their South Floridian fans ahead of this year’s Copa America.
It’s not rare to have a roster turnover with quite a few players leaving, especially in lower division football. What FC Miami City have done is surely something that has not been replicated quite often. The entire roster has been overhauled, not even one player returns from the 2018 season. How will that work for City in inaugural USL League Two campaign? For the new coaching staff, it has to be better than the previous campaign.
Miami United are looking like a club that could have made a long run in the U.S. Open Cup had they only had a chance to enter the tournament. Not having dropped a match since their season opener against cross-town rival Miami FC, United have won their last four matches by an impressive margin. Unfortunately for the pink and black, their cross town rivals are outgunning them against the same set of opponents.
Back in 2017 we had a nice little run going here at Magic City Soccer of nailing score-lines of Miami FC matches. If you look back at the preview, we hit the match right on it’s head. It took Miami quite a while, for their standards, to get their first goal of the match. It just took one to open the floodgates and secure three points in Winter Park.
It’s been a long, long, time since the Miami FC played an official match in central Florida. The Orlando area has always treated Miami quite well on the pitch. I don’t have to remind you of the 2017 #cupset over Orlando City behind the hat trick from Stefano Pinho. Those days are long gone, but the Miami FC are in fine form and look to keep racking up the wins in the 407 over NPSL Sunshine Conference newcomers CFSC.
It was surprising and yet at the very same time it was not. The Florida Soccer Soldiers will get their second round match against the Charlotte Independence (USL Championship) in just a few hours. The UPSL heavyweights from the Magic City held their own against the NPSL champions Miami FC just a week ago. Flash forward six days later, and the Soldiers are looking to make a FC Christos style run in the U.S. Open Cup.
It was a good night of soccer for the Magic City faithful. With two matches taking place consecutively, or so we thought, South Florida was treated to 180 minutes of dominating action. In Lauderhill, Miami FC had to wait approximately three hours to kickoff their match against the new look Storm FC. Our contingent was at the match, where the weather delay persisted due to lightning strikes in the area, despite a drop of water never falling from the sky. Scheduled for a 5:30 kickoff, Miami United’s contest against the Jacksonville Armada began prior to kickoff at Central Broward Stadium.