Javier Mascherano finds it remarkable that there are question marks about the character of his Inter Miami team.
Despite the absence of Lionel Messi as a result of injury, Miami sealed their place in the semi-final of the League Cup while beating Tigres Uanl 2-1 on Wednesday.
Luis Suarez scored a few penalties to book a last four match against Florida Rivals Orlando City.
Prior to that collision next week, Miami will return to MLS promotion with a trip to DC United.
Miami won the shield of the supporters last year, but is fifth in the Eastern Conference with the run-in approaching, while DC is at the bottom of the pile.
And before Saturday's game, Mascherano greeted the power of his team in the midst of a debilitating season.
He said: “We have played 40 games, more than anyone, and we are still competing.
“You cannot accuse the character of this team.”
Sights set on dc pic.twitter.com/O05MMIYCRN
– Inter Miami CF (@intermiamicf) August 22, 2025
Mascherano confirmed that Messi, together with colleague -for example Barcelona star Jordi Alba, would miss the collision with DC
“Leo will not travel,” said Mascherano.
“The idea is to take care of him because of the wear of the journey and because the most important thing comes on Wednesday [against Orlando].
“Jordi beat that, thank goodness, was not too serious. But it is the best he does not travel and recovers for what is going on.”
Mascherano also had to defend himself after being demonstrated that he communicated with his bank with the help of a phone after he was sent over Tigres during the victory.
“The truth is that the stands in our stadium are very close to the field, so I tried to stay as close as possible to help the team,” said Mascherano.
“It is something that happened many times in football and will continue to happen. I have not violated rules – instead I could have been in the suite of an owner. The team needed me in the neighborhood. I accept the consequences.”
Players to watch
DC United – Jackson Hopkins
Last time-out Hopkins scored his first goal for DC in his 56th performance in the regular season for the club. Only Dejan Jakovic (63), Bryan Namoff (84) and Junior Moreno (90) had to wait longer among players who scored at least once for DC in MLS game with regular season.
Can he follow that with someone else this time?
Inter Miami – Luis Suarez
Messi may be out, but Suarez has been regularly performed this season in the absence of the Argentinian.
Mascherano may be able to choose to give the veteran striker a rest from the start, but it would be no surprise to see Suarez that he has a significant impact of the bank if necessary.
Match forecast: Inter Miami Win
Miami has won seven of their last eight games in the regular season in which Messi has appeared (L1) with Messi who contributes to 21 total goals (13 goals, 8 assists) in those competitions, with at least two target contributions in all seven victories, so his absence is certainly noticeable here.
However, the Opta model still supports the herons to get away with all three points.
DC's All-Competition Winless Run extended last week to 11 games (D2 L9) with a 1-1 draw against CF Montreal. DC has not had any longer series of competitions without a victory in all competitions since a stretch of 13 games during the 2013 season.
Miami won both meetings with DC during the 2024 season after they had only achieved one victory in their first seven meetings with DC (D2 L4).
Opta wins probability
DC United – 16.5%
Inter Miami – 64.5%
Drawing – 19%