Philadelphia (United States) (AFP)
Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain, new head of the North American Football Championship (MLS), had a difficult start with Inter Miami: he missed a penalty, was chambered, was annoyed and lost heavily (3-0) in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Arriving from Juventus, Higuain was only cleared to play on Saturday after leaving Turin earlier this month, didn't really show why David Beckham's American franchise decided to make him one of the highest paid players in the league.
In the 75th minute, he had the opportunity to reduce the score to 2-1 from the penalty spot, but he missed the target and the Union players around him were not asked to be laughed at.
He took it rather badly, pushing one of them with his chest and exchanging words with another.
Without follow-up, however.
Higuain, who had not played since the elimination of Juventus by Lyon in the Champions League in August, was legitimately lacking in rhythm.
His start to the match was promising, however, after a strike from the left above (13th), he managed a recovery in return which went to die on the base of the post (20th).
After which Philadelphia opened the scoring by Anthony Fontana (25th) and mastered the meeting, without Inter, which also had Blaise Matuidi in its ranks, could not offer the Argentine other opportunities to reverse the trend.
"He has shown that he is in good shape, but he needs more games to gain pace and then he will feel more comfortable," said coach Diego Alonso.
"He really wanted to play. As for the missed penalty, it can happen to anyone," he added.
After this 9th defeat in 14 matches, Inter Miami occupies the penultimate place in the Eastern Conference.
© 2020 AFP