Inter Miami CF: The First Class
A look into the first injection of youth talent from the Academy.
What's up everybody?!? It's time for another edition of your favorite newsletter to ever hit your inbox, Pink Smoke! (Insert Alex's excited and abundant use of the air horn here 📣📣).
This week, we are going to take a look at our youth system and the three players that the first team has decided to call up. Any fan of the beautiful game can come to appreciate when a player grinds at the Academy level, shows his dedication to the club and prowess for the tactical and physical demands that top tier fùtbol demands. The three players below are the first class to do so for Inter Miami which is not only a huge honor for themselves but their families as well. No matter how their careers shape out, they will go down in history as this first class. So let's jump in and take a look….
Edison Azcona
Edison Azcona enjoyed a successful 2020 campaign with our USL side Fort Lauderdale CF and has his sights set on an even better 2021. The 17 year old Dominican Republic native notched 3 goals and 3 assists in 16 matches played but, more impressively, attained an 82% passing percentage across all matches. On the defensive end, Azcona led the charge and won a team high 22 tackles. Azcona had this to say about the 2020 campaign,
“I’m very happy to be awarded a place on the All-League Second Team. I’m very thankful to the family we have created here at Fort Lauderdale CF and Inter Miami CF. I’m blessed to be a part of it.” “I had a really fun and exciting first year playing professionally. I’m happy with the team and excited for an even better season next year. I’m going to keep working hard to be able to help my team even more and be the best I can be.”
The end of year awards distributed by the USL were also kind to the youngster. Azcona racked up a League One All-Second Team honors and bring a finalist for League One player of the year. This impressive display earned Azcona a call up to the Dominican Republic senior team for friendly matches against Puerto Rico and Serbia in January. Azcona is no stranger to the big stages of national team play with a previous call up in 2020. We look for Edison to continue to build on his 2020 campaign and continue to grow while learning from some of the world’s best talent.
Ian Fray
Ian Fray was a key component for Fort Lauderdale CF during the 2020 campaign. During his rookie campaign, Fray made nine appearances in which he racked up 23 clearances and 12 interceptions. He was fourth highest on the defensive line with 86.5% passing accuracy. What impressed the coaching staff the most was his ability to comfortably pull the strings from the back line and bring a calming presence to the rest of the back line. The others teams and coaches in the league recognized this as well which resulted in Fray picking up a spot on the USL All-League Second Team.
Build up from the back seems to be a calling card at FTLCF so with a player like Fray helping lay a solid foundation, we look forward to what the future holds for Ian. Unfortunately, we will have to wait to see him on the first team pitch after suffering a devastating ACL injury.
Felipe Valencia
If you have even remotely followed Inter Miami, then you already know the hype surrounding Felipe Valencia. Felipe burst on the scene in August of last year and became the youngest ever scorer in USL history at 15 years old surpassing the mark ofAlphonso Davies from a little club nestled in the heart of Germany called Bayern Munich.
You know, no big deal, to be matching and surpassing some of the marks a Treble winning player has done.
Felipe went on to notch two more goals for a total of 3 goals in 12 appearances. This earned him a contract with the first team squad which made him the 15th youngest player to sign an MLS contract. This puts him up there with players like Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Bryan Reynolds (AS Roma) which are two great, young talents to be compared to. This also lead Felipe to be honored as the clubs first ever homegrown talent signing from the Academy. A major honor and well deserved for our budding superstar.
We hope Felipe continues down his humble path to success, learns from some of the first teamers and continues this positive arch of development.
We want to hear from you! What are your thoughts, concerns over the signings from our youth system? Who do you think will have the better career? Let us know in any of the following places….
Instagram: @intermiamipodcast
Twitter: @InterMIAPodcast
Facebook: Inter Miami Podcast
Email: intermiamipodcast@gmail.com
If you enjoyed this edition of “Pink Smoke” and want to hear more from Jay and Alex, click the link here to find where you can listen to more of the Inter Miami Podcast. Subscribe so that you won’t miss an episode and feel free to drop a comment or review to let us know what you thought!
As always….
VAMOS MIAMI!!
✌️IMPC