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Can the Miami-Nashville rivalry match Hell Is Real, El Trafico, or the Cascadia Cup?

It may not get the attention some rivalries do but Inter Miami and Nashville supporters look forward to the Coyotes-Herons matches with relish. If only it had a clever name....
ByKen Garner|
Inter Miami CF players toss a joyous Lionel Messi into the air while, in the background, yellow-clad Nashville SC fans head for the exits at Geodis Park after the Herons won a penalty-kick shootout to claim the 2023 Leagues Cup.
Inter Miami CF players toss a joyous Lionel Messi into the air while, in the background, yellow-clad Nashville SC fans head for the exits at Geodis Park after the Herons won a penalty-kick shootout to claim the 2023 Leagues Cup. | CHANDAN KHANNA/GettyImages

Tonight's pivotal matchup between Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC doesn't have a sexy name like "Hell is Real" or "El Trafico" or "the Hudson River Derby," but that doesn't make the meetings between the Herons and Coyotes less fun.

The teams, which entered the league together in 2020, meet for the 15th time at 7:30p.m. ET tonight in Miami. The Herons lead the series with a 5-4-4 record and haven't lost since Lionel Messi arrived in South Florida in June 2023.

Why it matters

Catchy name or not, this meeting will attract plenty of attention; Nashville (41 points, 12-4-5) are unbeaten in 15 straight and are the second-best team in Major League Soccer, a point behind Eastern Conference top dog FC Cincinnati. Inter Miami (35 points, 10-3-5) is fifth in the East but has played three fewer matches than any of the teams ahead of them. The Herons are on a run of good form themselves, having lost just one of their last nine matches, a 4-0 butt-kicking from European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup. It's immaterial whether Inter Miami played well or not, in no universe were they going to be close to this PSG team; the Herons were so far outclassed it's like the loss doesn't matter.

Brian Callaghan has the Coyotes clicking on all cylinders. Golden Boot leader Sam Surridge (16 goals, 3 assists) is helping 2022 MLS Most Valuable Player Hany Mukhtar (9, 8) carry the offensive load, resulting in Nashville having scored 37 goals through 21 regular season matches, one fewer than it scored in 34 contests last year. And while the Coyotes have the fourth-best goal total in the league, they haven't sacrificed their trademark defense. Nashville has conceded 23 goals, about 1.1 per outing. That's tied for second fewest with New York City FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps, behind just the Philadelphia Union (1.0).

Miami has the league's most prolific attack; the Herons have scored 42 goals in just 18 matches, a whopping 2.34 average. San Diego has 44 goals in 21 outings, or 2.1 per match. Defense, though, continues to be the Pink's Achilles Heel. Miami has allowed 29 goals, or 1.6 per match. Miami can't always depend on outscoring its opponents.

Messi, the league's reigning MVP, has scored two goals in each of his past four MLS matches, a record, lifting him to second behind Surridge in the Golden Boot chase. The icon leads the league with 21 goal contributions (goals and assists). Tadeo Allende has seven goals, Luis Suarez has five goals and eight assists, and Telasco Segovia has five goals and five assists.

Herons grow into Nashville rivalry

This nameless derby -- rivalry -- frenemy-ship? -- started in 2023. The squads met four times that year, most notably in the Herons' dramatic, 1 (9)-1 (10) penalty shootout win Aug. 19 at Nashville to claim the first-ever Leagues Cup title in 2023. The Pink & Black also had eliminated Nashville from the U.S. Open Cup earlier with a 2- win May 23.

The last Coyotes' win in the series came May 17, 2023, when Fafa Picault -- the journeyman winger now on the Herons' roster -- and Lucas MacNaughton scored for the home side. The sides played to a scoreless draw on Aug. 31 in the MLS regular season meeting in Miami.

Last year, the Herons again played Road Runner to Nashville's Coyotes, eliminating them in the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup; after a salvaging a 2-2 tie at Geodis Park, Los Garzas beat the Black and Yellow 3-1 at Chase Stadium to claim the tie with a 5-3 aggregate score. Inter Miami also won both MLS regular-season meetings, 3-1 at home and 2-1 at Nashville.

What should Herons fans expect against Nashville?

A healthy dose of the Barca Boys: I've been hoping Javier Mascherano would start managing his key players' minutes a little better, but not when this match (and Wednesday's road match in Cincinnati) are so crucial. Michelle Kaufman, the Miami Herald soccer writer, reported on coach Javier Mascherano's dilemma with Messi, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez. The team's four most important players are also four of the oldest (all 36 or older) and all four are among the leaders in minutes played.

Nashville running the break: Mukhtar, Sturridge and the Coyotes' wingers will be anxious to test Miami's inexperienced and smallish backline. Defenders Ian Fray, Noah Allen and Gonzalo Lujan are injured, leaving Mascherano to choose between Toto Aviles, David Martinez and Ryan Sailor to work beside Maxi Falcon, who's become more of a leader in the last handful of matches. If Sailor takes off his warmup, we're either winning or losing handily.

Herons' projected lineup: Ustari; Weigandt, Aviles, Falcon, Alba; Cremaschi, Busquets; Picault, Segovia, Messi; Suarez.

Coyotes' players to watch: Mukhtar is one of the most exciting playmakers in the league and a proficient scorer, Surridge is a rising star, and defender Walker Zimmerman is back from U.S. Men's National Team duty.

Prediction: 2-2 draw

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