Miami, Florida — The pieces are officially starting to settle for Inter Miami. The club, which will make its debut this upcoming MLS season, tabbed Diego Alonso as their first manager. Alonso, a native of Uruguay, comes to Miami with plenty of coaching experience.
His most recent bout in charge was with Monterrey, spending one season with the Mexican club. However, it wasn’t his first time in charge of a Liga MX club. Alonso was the manager of Pachuca during the days of Omar Gonzalez. He has also coached Olimpia in Paraguay and began his coaching career with Bella Vista in 2011.
Paul McDonough, Inter Miami sporting director, said that Alonso fits the club’s culture.
He brings a lot of experience and championship-winning mentality as we begin our drive to be among the best clubs in the Americas,” McDonough said, via a press release. “We have big aspirations for our club and believe Diego has the right drive, passion and leadership to accomplish our goals.”
Alonso is the only head coach in CONCACAF history to win the Champions League with two different teams. He’s also the second coach to win the CONCACAF Champions League that is currently coaching in MLS.
As a player, Alonso featured as a striker for 12 different clubs. He began his career in Uruguay, and has been on rosters in Spain, China and Mexico. He has over 110 goals in 325 competitive appearances. For the Uruguay National Team, Alonso made eight appearances from 1999-2004.
Alonso retired from playing in 2011 and went straight into coaching. His final club was Peñarol in Uruguay. He also coached there in 2013.
🔊 Nuestro DT ya está aqui 🔊@AlonsoDT bienvenido al #InterMiamiCF! pic.twitter.com/u80PzHUQJd
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) December 31, 2019
Inter brings in Román Torres as a free agent
Román Torres has a new home.
After spending the last five seasons with the Seattle Sounders, Torres decided to become a free agent. Seattle attempted to make a deal for him, but Torres wanted a new location. He formally said goodbye to the Sounders and fans in a social media post earlier in the offseason.
Torres made 66 appearances for Seattle in five regular seasons. He lost the starting job last year when Kim Kee-hee and Chad Marshall found chemistry. However, this season, Torres started to see more minutes, starting 12 out of 17 appearances. During the MLS Cup playoffs, he started three of the four matches, including the MLS Cup Championship.
Torres’ departure means that Kelvin Leerdam is, so far, the only defender from the starting lineup of the championship to return to Seattle.
Torres scored his first goal of his MLS career for Seattle this past season. His game-winning tally against Minnesota United FC gave the Sounders a boost in the standings.
“Román is an established leader whose quality, winning mentality and experience have led him to win multiple MLS titles, become the captain that qualified Panama to their first-ever World Cup and earn numerous individual recognitions,” McDonough said. “He will solidify our backline and add leadership to Inter Miami ahead of the historic inaugural season.”
Internationally, Torres captains Panama, who went to their first-ever FIFA World Cup last year in Russia. He has been the captain for the last five years and still features for the program. So far, he has 119 appearance with Panama, including two goals and two assists.
Inter Miami opens against LAFC
It’s a tough opening match, but Inter Miami begins their MLS journey against Los Angeles FC. The favorites to win the MLS Cup last year, LAFC bowed out against the Sounders in the Western Conference Finals.
The two sides will compete on March 1 at 5:30 p.m. ET in California. Inter Miami’s first home match will take place on March 14 against the LA Galaxy in Fort Lauderdale.
Welcome, @JuanAgudelo!
27-year-old Colombian-American forward adds #USMNT experience to inaugural #InterMiamiCF squad.
🗞️https://t.co/gVThaGM7hK pic.twitter.com/UnC5czINtZ
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) December 28, 2019
