RECAP: FC Dallas hands Inter Miami first MLS loss

Playing a largely reserve squad to rest key veterans before Wednesday’s decisive Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal, the Herons lost 4-3 after leading 3-1 in the second half.

Inter Miami striker Allen Obando, 18, watches his shot elude FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes in the 29th minute of Sunday’s match in Fort Lauderdale. PHOTO: bigdsoccer.com

Herons turn focus to Champions Cup

The unbeaten streak is over; FC Dallas scored three unanswered second-half goals Sunday to nick a 4-3 win against Inter Miami at Chase Stadium and end the Herons’ eight-match undefeated string in league play.

In the bigger picture, Sunday’s loss is a hiccup. Inter Miami (5-1-3, 18 points) has 25 more matches to build its playoff resume, but just one long-shot opportunity to overcome the Vancouver Whitecaps’ two-goal advantage in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal. The teams will kick off at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday at Chase Stadium.

What’s at stake

Only three U.S.-based teams have won the Cup since the competition began in 1962, and most observers believe the Cup is Inter Miami’s top priority in 2025. And, oh by the way, the Champions Cup winner will earn $5 million and qualify for the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.

With that in mind, first-year Miami coach Javier Mascherano started a heavily rotated side for the first time in 2025, gambling that a squad of little-used reserves and role players could get a result against FC Dallas.

Mascherano gave three of the “Fantastic Four” — Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez — the day off; Sergio Busquets, the fourth of the former Barcelona teammates, was available on the bench but didn’t play.

Miami’s makeshift 11

The Herons started Drake Callender in goal, relieving Oscar Ustari, with a five-man defensive backline of Ian Fray, Tomas Aviles, Gonzalo Lujan, Maxi Falcon and David Martinez (Fray and Martinez played right and left back, respectively).

Fafa Picault and Leo Afonso played on the wings, with Benjamin Cremaschi and Yannick Bright as the central midfielders. Recently acquired Ecuadorian striker Allen Obando started in place of Luis Suarez.

Rally and counter-rally

The strategy almost worked; Dallas right back Shaq Moore punished Miami’s defensive confusion to boot a loose ball into Miami’s net in the eighth minute, but the Herons controlled the next 60 minutes.

Picault (16th), Obando (29th) and Martinez (56th) gave Inter Miami what seemed like a commanding 3-1 lead.

Osage Urhoghide started the Dallas comeback off a set piece in the 65th minute, Anderson Julio scored on a breakaway four minutes later, and Pedro Martins (Pedrinho) flicked in the winning goal in front of net in the 81st minute.

Mascherano: ‘I take the blame’

Mascherano took responsibility for the loss, telling reporters his second-half substitutions weren’t up to stopping Dallas when it went to a five-man attack.

“I told the players they had nothing to feel bad about, there were a lot of players in the lineup who had not played many minutes this season; it’s not easy to come in like that, a bunch of players who had not played together,’’ Mascherano said. “They gave their maximum and for 65 minutes the team was doing well. Unfortunately, at 3-2, when everything was in our favor, I made mistakes and I take the blame.”

FC Dallas (4-3-3, 15 points) is sixth in the Western Conference; Inter Miami (5-1-3, 18 points) is fifth in the East.

Up next: Cup clash

Vancouver (7-1-2, 23 points), the Herons’ foe in Wednesday’s decisive second leg of the Champions Cup semifinal, has the league’s best record. Because Concacaf uses away goals as a tiebreaker and Whitecaps won the first leg 2-0 in Vancouver, the Herons must win by three goals to advance (a 2-0 Miami win would force two 15-minute extra periods and, if needed, a penalty shootout.

“Vancouver comes into the game with a 2-0 lead, so we have to show up with the feeling that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Mascherano said. “We have to take control of the game from the start, try not to think too much about the situation and try to focus on what we can do and score the first goal and go from there.”

The Miami-Vancouver winner will face a Mexican side, either Tigres UANL or Cruz Azul. The Liga MX sides tied 1-1 in Monterrey in the first leg of their semifinal; Cruz Azul will have the away-goal advantage Thursday when it hosts Tigres in Mexico City.