Special Olympics Unified match took place at Chase Stadium today and Inter Miami CF is proud to present its inaugural game. Inter Miami & CF Special Olympics Unified team of the Year 2024 played against Chicago Fire Special Olympics Unified team and tied 2-2. Therefore, the event captured the spirit of Inter Miami CF’s slogan, Freedom to Dream, by offering people the freedom to come together in the name of football and support inclusiveness and diversity.
“Inter Miami CF is all about access and inclusion to the beautiful game of football for people of all walks of life. That is why 4 years ago we adopted Special Olympics, and today it is a celebration to have our Special Olympics Inter Miami Team playing at home for the first time at Chase Stadium,” said Chris Allan, Inter Miami CF VP of Fan Strategy & Experience.
Special Olympics Unified Team ‘First Game’ To Be Held With Inter Miami CF
Before the actual game started, our Special Olympic Unified Team goalkeepers underwent their warm-ups, and Inter Miami’s Goalkeeper Coach Sebastián Saja oversaw the drill.
“As for me, which has been my case, it has been a beautiful experience, I was very happy that they called me to help warm up our Special Olympics Unified Team goalkeepers. ” “It is good to see Inter Miami CF hosting such events. “One of the goalkeepers who has had a chance to go through the overview of some of my matches that I played earlier told me that he recognized some of the matches. I think that was the most heartening statement that any goalkeeper could have said to me, let alone those who did not identify the matches. ”
People that supported the Special Olympics Unified Team, along with the players’ families and La Familia, ensured that the atmosphere was highly energized and filled with fantastic football, spirit, and passion as far as competition and enjoyment of our players. Julian Gressel from our team was also seen being part of the coaching team on the technician line, motivating our team.
The goalkeepers involved were Patrick Hicks and Iván Cadavid, and the field players were Eduardo Márquez, Alan García, Alain Figueroa, Peter Reece, Yoseline Mendoza, Kenny Gould-Papili, Andrés Baptiste, Sky Carrizo, Darian Sierra, Gabriel Carrizo, Daniel Alonso, who was the captain of the team, Julissa Vargas, Nico Hernández Vidal, and Andre
The match was begun by champions Inter Miami CF with a clean shot of the ball by Inter Miami captain Daniel Alonso in the second minute, making it one goal to nil for Inter Miami. Since the year 2021 to this year, today was the last game of the team for a member who just joined the squad and will be proceeding to college next semester as the team’s captain. The activity of the game remained tilted towards getting a favorable result for Inter Miami when Peter Reece jolted the cross bar with a great shot. The two teams had a fairly even split in the first half; however, tonight Chicago would take a 1-2 lead on the scoreboard by the end of the half.
In the second half, Reece made an attempt for the goal, which brought the result to 2-2 shortly before the final signal. Not only is the wearer of the number 5 jersey part of the founding members of the squad, but he is also the Deadlift State Record holder, so he is not only a strong player, but a strong man, if you will.
The very first Unified home match ended with Gressel presenting medals to our players, which gave this match a fun and festive atmosphere for the participants.
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