Inter Miami CF Takes On Orlando City SC In Opening Of "MLS Is Back Tournament" In Orlando
ORLANDO (CBSMiami/CNN) - Inter Miami CF will hit the field Wednesday night for the first time since the pandemic shut down the season in March.
The team will take on Orlando City SC for the opening of Major League's Soccer's "MLS is Back Tournament" at Walt Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The match is set for 8 p.m.
Inter Miami lost the first two matches of its inaugural season before things got shut down.
The Orlando competition will be missing at least one team and a star player.
With 10 players and one staff member testing positive for Covid-19, MLS has pulled FC Dallas out of the tournament.
Carlos Vela, the Mexican superstar who signed with Los Angeles FC in 2018, has decided against playing as his wife is pregnant. Vela is the biggest name thus far to opt-out.
MLS is only the second major sports league in the US and Canada to resume play, after the NWSL and its ongoing Challenge Cup in Utah.
With the exception of FC Dallas, the other 25 teams will meet in a cup style competition, with a group stage and then knockout games.
Group stage results will count in the standings for the regular season which MLS hopes to resume after the tournament has concluded.
The final will take place on August 11 pitting the top Eastern and Western teams against each other.
The winner of the tournament will have an automatic berth into the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League, the regional club tournament across the Americas and Caribbean.
In keeping with nearly all the football leagues around the world which have resumed, due to health concerns, no fans will be allowed inside the venues for the matches.
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