Mascherano Critiques Suárez Ban Ahead of Decisive Playoff Match

On Friday, Inter Miami’s head coach, Javier Mascherano, expressed his dismay regarding the one-game suspension handed to Luis Suárez for their crucial final game in the Round 1 of the MLS playoff best-of-three series against Nashville. He described the decision as “very strange.”

Suárez was penalized for kicking Nashville’s Andy Nájar in the second half of a match on November 1 at Geodis Park, which ended in a 2-1 loss for Inter Miami. Notably, the referee did not issue any cards during the incident.

Mascherano reiterated the club’s respect for the disciplinary committee’s ruling, while simultaneously voicing his disagreement. “In my personal opinion, it seemed very strange, very strange because it’s a play that was reviewed by VAR at the time in real time, and it didn’t suggest any sanction from either the referee or the VAR official,” he stated.

He further added, “But well, the MLS rules are this way. We accept it, as the club stated. We don’t agree, but we accept and respect the decision. We just hope the regulations are applied to everything in this same way.”

The coach revealed that Suárez’s appeal against the suspension was denied. “I got a call, I think it was Monday night. The club called to inform me of the sanction and that they would determine the specific penalty in the following days. I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday; it moved pretty quickly here in the United States,” he remarked.

“Yes, there was an appeal. The player appealed because, in this case, we were told that the club couldn’t appeal. So, obviously, the player used the club’s resources, but the appeal was denied within a couple of hours.”

Mascherano noted that Suárez was left “very surprised” by the ruling, emphasizing that such incidents occur in games and that dwelling on them is unproductive. “If we were to dwell endlessly on these situations, there are quite a few, but it is what it is,” he added.

Now, the team is preparing to host Nashville in the decisive third match on Saturday at Chase Stadium without their key player, Suárez. The outcome of this match will determine which team advances to the Eastern Conference semifinal.

By securing a victory, Inter Miami could create history by advancing past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since joining MLS as an expansion franchise in 2020.

“Obviously, he’s an important player on the team, one of the key figures, but it’s not very helpful to focus on how we react, what’s going to happen,” Mascherano remarked.

“We can’t control that, but we can control preparing for the match in the best way possible and going out there tomorrow for a victory that will secure our qualification,” he concluded.

Inter Miami won the first game of the series 3-1 but suffered a setback in the second game, losing 2-1 to Nashville, which has now led to this decisive third match.