Inter Miami CF head coach Javier Mascherano said his players showed soul and fight to come back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to draw 3-3 against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night at Subaru Park.
Lionel Messi helped inspire the rally with a spectacular free kick and an assist on the game-tying goal for a team that has been trying to get out of a recent funk that included losses in five of the last seven games.
«I think we showed character, personality. It was another difficult start of the game for us because in the beginning we conceded the goal and the situation that we are in when you concede it's difficult, you know, because you start to think that you have to come back again,» said Mascherano. «But the guys showed a lot of character. They showed that they want to fight to get out of this situation.»
«I think we showed that we have soul and we have to fight.»
Despite entering the match trying to turn things around, Miami struggled to contain the Union early in the game and the hosts took a 2-0 lead into the break. Mascherano tried to rally his team at halftime, urging players to forget about the consequences of a negative result and focus on tactics.
«I told them at halftime that we are in a situation that is s--t. And the only way to see the sun is to give everything, and forget the result,» Mascherano said. «The result is my fault, it is my responsibility. They have to play because football is a game and we have to play.
»I said 'play, don't think about the result.' The result is the coach's fault, the responsibility of the coach. But we want to have the ball, to move the ball to one side, to the other side, try to play on the opposite side. This is for me the way to start a game, winning games and be in a
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