Inter Miami won 1-0, but the lasting image of Casemiro's MLS debut was G. Berterame being taken to hospital after a head injury. Berterame was hit by Efraín Morales' elbow to the head with 21 minutes remaining, an ambulance came onto the pitch and he was taken off by stretcher. Guillermo Hoyos said afterwards that he was conscious and recovering well.
Berterame's injury stopped the game
Hoyos called it a “very, very hard blow” and said, “The most important thing is that he is okay, and he is okay now.” He also said the players helped rush the stretcher over and that the ambulance response was quick. Another line from the manager was even starker: “We didn't know what to do. It was a very desperate situation.”
That was the point of the night. Casemiro completed 90 minutes and finished with 77 touches, which tells you he was involved, but the debut barely registered beside the medical emergency. Luis Suárez still decided the match with an 81st-minute panenka from the penalty spot, and Inter Miami's win was their sixth straight MLS victory.
Miami still got the result
The result matters for the table and for Miami's momentum, but not as much as the update on Berterame. He arrived in form too, with four tracked matches showing a scoring run before the collision interrupted it.
For Miami, the football side of the night was straightforward enough. Suárez keeps delivering, Messi's club keeps winning, and Casemiro has now had his first look at MLS in a match that no one will remember for the football alone.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
