Sporting Kansas City at Inter Miami CF
2023 MLS Regular Season | Match 28
Saturday, September 9 | 6:30 p.m. CT (6:39 kickoff)
DRV PNK Stadium | Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Broadcast Schedule:
Apple TV | MLS Season Pass
English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
Satellite Radio | SiriusXM FC
5 Things | By the Numbers | Tune In on Apple TV | Pub Partners | SKC App | MatchCenter | @SKCMatchday
After back-to-back home wins, Sporting Kansas City returns to the road for the club's first ever match-up with Inter Miami CF at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Saturday's showdown will feature two teams making a late push for the postseason after slow starts in 2023. Sporting KC went winless in the team's opening 10 matches but now sits just two points out of playoff position and can move above the playoff line with a win. Inter Miami CF went winless in 11 straight MLS matches before new head coach Tata Martino and a spree of summer signings -- headlined by Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba -- revamped the team's roster to spark a current 11-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.
The veteran trio, along with the addition of 19-year-old Argentine Tomas Aviles, 20-year-old Paraguayan Diego Gomez and 21-year-old Argentine Facundo Farias via transfers, propelled Miami to secure the Leagues Cup 2023 title and a berth in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup Final later this month. The momentum has carried into the regular season as Miami has gone 2-0-1 in the past two weeks in their return to MLS play, including an impressive 3-1 road win over reigning MLS Cup champions LAFC last Sunday.
Notably, Inter Miami is expected to be without eight players due to international duty on Saturday. The list includes Messi, who contributed 11 goals and five assists in Miami's 11-game unbeaten run, as well as fellow forward Josef Martinez, who ranks ninth on Major League Soccer's all-time goals scored chart. Goalkeeper Drake Callender was named to the U.S. Men's National Team roster, however the 25-year-old has remained in Miami and is likely to join the USMNT after Saturday's match.
MIAvSKC International Call-Ups
- Inter Miami CF: Edison Azcona (Dominican Republic), Benjamin Cremaschi (United States), Diego Gomez (Paraguay), Sergii Kryvtsov (Ukraine), Josef Martinez (Venezuela), Lionel Messi (Argentina), David Ruiz (Honduras) and Robert Taylor (Finland)
- Sporting KC: Gadi Kinda (Israel) and Marinos Tzionis (Cyprus)
Sporting Kansas City has also enjoyed a successful restart to MLS action in the past two weeks by claiming six points out of six with a pair of home wins over the San Jose Earthquakes and first-place St. Louis CITY SC. Alan Pulido scored both goals in Sporting's 2-1 win over arch rivals St. Louis last Saturday, becoming the first player in team history to score four braces in a 10-game stretch of a single regular season.
In his fourth season with the club, Pulido now ranks fourth in MLS with 12 goals -- including a league-high 11 goals since the start of June -- after missing all of 2022 due to a knee injury. The World Cup veteran has 28 goals and 11 assists in 60 appearances across all competitions and, with 26 goals in 55 regular season matches, he sits atop the club's all-time goals per game chart.
Fellow Designated Player Erik Thommy has also played a pivotal part in Sporting's turnaround, highlighted by assists on both of Pulido's goals last weekend. The 29-year-old German playmaker joined Sporting last summer and has tallied 20 goal contributions (seven goals, 13 assists) for the club in 44 appearances across all competitions, including a team-leading 11 assists in 2023.
Saturday's cross-conference clash will be broadcast live on Apple TV in English and Spanish for MLS Season Pass subscribers (sign up for free trial ). Local radio coverage will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with streams in the Sporting KC app, while coverage of MIAvSKC will be available nationwide on SiriusXM FC. Pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will also show all of the action including an enhanced watch party at The Brooksider Sportsbar and Grill (6330 Brookside Plaza).
