Messi, new coach González aim to keep momentum

Four days after lifting a trophy on Wednesday night, Inter Miami will have a chance to build momentum as it plays the first MLS game of the Cristian “Kily” González era.

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González’s first game at the helm came in Miami’s 2-0 Campeones Cup win over Cruz Azul, when Lionel Messi scored the 100th goal of his Inter Miami career and Casemiro added another to give González an ideal start to his tenure.

The former Argentine international arrived in South Florida on Monday and signed a contract running through June 2028. González, who previously coached in Argentina, called taking over Inter Miami “the great challenge of my life.”

Two days later, after winning a trophy in his debut, González was still taking in the moment.

“I don’t have words to describe what I’m feeling,” González said. “It’s joy, happiness, so many emotions. Leo told me he’d make me a champion, so he kept his word.”

Now, Miami will look to carry its midweek success into league play after settling for draws in each of its past three MLS matches.

On Sunday, Inter Miami hosts San Diego FC at 7 p.m. Sunday at Nu Stadium in the first meeting between the clubs.

The most recent draw came Saturday against league-leading Nashville SC, when Miami surrendered a stoppage-time equalizer in a 2-2 draw at home. Sam Surridge scored in the 91st minute after Messi had given the Herons a second-half lead.

Despite the three-match winless stretch in MLS, Gonzalez is inheriting a team still powered by some of the league’s most productive attacking players.

Inter Miami remains second in the Eastern Conference with a 12-4-9 record and 45 points, Messi enters Sunday with 19 goals and 13 assists in MLS play, putting him among the league leaders in both categories. Luis Suárez has added 12 goals and eight assists, while Rodrigo De Paul has four goals and 11 assists.

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San Diego comes to Miami headed in the opposite direction.

After finishing atop the Western Conference during its inaugural season in 2025, San Diego sits ninth this year with an 8-11-6 record and 30 points. The club has lost three consecutive matches and is coming off a 5-0 home defeat to the Philadelphia Union, the largest loss in its short history.

“Ultimately, this is an unacceptable situation, an unacceptable result, and I take full responsibility at the end of the day,” San Diego coach Mikey Varas said afterward. “For whatever reason, this group has not found any sort of consistency.”

Still, San Diego remains in the ninth and final playoff position in the Western Conference, adding importance to each match as the regular season enters its final stretch.

Forward Marcus Ingvartsen has led San Diego with 11 goals and five assists in 21 appearances. Anders Dreyer, who was named MLS Newcomer of the Year during San Diego’s inaugural season, has added nine goals and 11 assists and remains one of the club’s biggest attacking threats.

San Diego’s commitment to playing out of the back has also created one of its biggest vulnerabilities. The system asks its center backs to initiate attacks while pushing numbers forward, leaving space behind when possession breaks down.

Varas acknowledged after the Philadelphia loss that San Diego has struggled with turnovers and its positioning when trying to prevent counterattacks.

That could be an area González looks to exploit Sunday, using the pace and creativity of Miami’s attacking stars to strike before San Diego can reorganize defensively.

For Miami, Sunday presents a chance to end its three-match league winless streak and continue building on what has already been an eventful first week under González.

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