Orlando City, Inter Miami Set for First Florida Derby of Season

Orlando City SC and Inter Miami CF will face off in the first Florida Derby of the season Sunday.

The last time the two teams met, the result was a controversial 3-1 win for Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup semifinals. Orlando City, upset with the officiating, went on to file an official complaint against the Leagues Cup organizing committee, according to ESPN.

Orlando will go into Sunday’s match with a chip on its shoulder and look to hand Miami its second loss of the season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Inter & Co Stadium on Sunday

Mike Gramajo, an Orlando City beat writer for WESH 2, has covered the team for several years. He believes the rivalry game will be heated.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of bad blood,” Gramajo said. “[With] the likelihood of Messi coming to Orlando, I think Orlando is going to want to kind of take a result out of that.”

Inter Miami is looking to come back from a tough 3-0 loss against Los Angeles FC last week. The defending champions currently sit at 14 in the Eastern Conference standings and will look to log their first win of the season.

Lionel Messi is expected to start for Miami.

Orlando will need to focus on being strong defensively if it hopes to topple Miami, Gramajo said.

A win over their biggest rivals could put the Lions back on track after they lost their home opener last week. The Lions lost 2-1 against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday and could use some momentum going into a road game against New York City FC on March 7.

Following Sunday’s loss, Orlando defender Griffin Dorsey emphasized the importance of regrouping and focusing on defeating Miami.

“The season’s here and there’s no excuses going into next week,” Dorsey said at the postgame press conference.  “We need to put a performance together to beat Miami.”

Category: Inter Miami, MLS, Orlando City SC, Soccer