Touchline Talk
Inter Miami narrowly fell 1-0 on the road to Charlotte FC this Saturday. Despite the result, it was a memorable afternoon for defender Ryan Sailor, who made his MLS debut in Bank of America Stadium.
“It was just a great experience; I’ve put a lot of work in to get to this point. To walk out onto the pitch and look around and see all the fans and the stadium is a pretty sweet experience. It would’ve been better if we got three points, but I’m proud of what I did, proud of our team.”
Despite previously racking up a handful of appearances for Inter Miami CF II, it was Sailor’s first test at the highest level of the game, something that the 23-year-old relished.
“It’s an experience that you don’t know how it’s going to be like until you step into it. When I ran out there to warm up, I just started smiling,” he shared. “It was just a really cool experience. I am happy to have it under my belt and hopefully going forward I can keep being more confident every game.”
Head coach Phil Neville praised the debutants performance, one that he should be proud of.
“Ryan Sailor I thought had an amazing debut. Last year we had the same type of performance with Aimé Mabika and the Red Bulls. We scouted him, we looked for him, we trained him. We have big high hopes for this kid. I thought he [Sailor] was outstanding today. He should be very proud of himself.”
Sailor then dived deeper into today’s center back partnership alongside McVey and overall relationship with the First Team squad.
“Chris [McVey] is awesome, him and everyone else has done a great job of helping me learn this week, helping me feel really comfortable in the game and I love play with them, they are great players. I took everything they said seriously. They had a lot of good advice for me. I was very thankful to have those guys surrounding me,” he concluded.
Inter Miami will face a quick turnaround as it returns to South Florida to take on South Georgia Tormenta FC in the first-ever U.S. Open Cup match at DRV PNK Stadium on Tuesday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET. Tickets are available for Season Ticket Members and members of La Familia for as low as $5, and to the public for only $10, while parking will be free on a first-come, first-serve basis.
