Miami FC made a successful debut at the Orange Bowl Friday night defeating the Minnesota Thunder 1-0 in a hard-fought match




Miami, May 18, 2007 - Looking to change his team’s fortunes, Miami FC Head Coach Chiquinho de Assis introduced some new faces into the starting lineup, most notably Gerghiny Obas and Julio Cesar. The move paid dividends right away as Miami FC put the Minnesota Thunder under pressure immediately. In the 11th minute, a Walter Ramirez cross found the head of Zinho who powerfully nodded the ball towards goal. Thunder goalkeeper Joe Warren made the stop, however.



Nifty combination play between Sean Fraser, Julio Cesar and Luchi Gonzalez in the 24th minute led to Gonzalez being hacked down by a Thunder defender just outside the box. Zinho stepped up to take the kick and struck the ball well. His left-footed bender went over the wall and looked like it was headed for the upper right corner. The Brazilian playmaker did not quite texture the ball enough as it sailed just a smidgen high and wide of the goal.



The Brazilian would not stop there, however. In the 40th minute a great individual display of dribbling moves saw Zinho cut by three defenders before unleashing two yard shot. Warren was again up for the challenge as he scooped up the low shot from the turf.



Two minutes later, it looked like Minnesota would take the lead. A shot from inside the box had Miami FC goalkeeper Pat Hannigan beat but a recovering Cristiano Dias was able to sweep the ball clear of the goalmouth.



Both teams headed into the locker room for halftime scoreless.



In the 51st minute, Miami FC won a corner kick which would prove to be a game-changing event. Gonzalez drove the corner kick in and JP Rodrigues flicked it on towards the back post where an unmarked Zinho finished the play by heading the ball into the open net.



Miami FC substitute Nico Mosquera almost doubled the score in the 80th minute finding himself behind the defense in a one-on-one foot race to the ball the Warren. Mosquera stretched and beat Warren to the ball but the shot was not enough to get around the visiting goalkeeper.



Miami FC did well to kill off the game dominating possession in the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time. Pat Hannigan was stellar in goal on the night keeping the cleansheet for the homeside.



Miami FC moves to 2-3 on the season and must turnaround quickly as its next match is Sunday, May 20 at 6:00pm at the Orange Bowl.