Phil Neville Played His Son And Romeo Beckham In Inter Miami's 'Biggest Match' - With Zero MLS Minutes
Neville defended the decision in his post-match press conference.
Inter Miami manager Phil Neville has defended his decision to play son Harvey and Romeo Beckham in Tuesday's 6-0 defeat to Barcelona.
Neville called the pre-season friendly the 'biggest match' in Miami's short history prior to kick-off and that infuriated fans.
They were then thrashed by the Catalan giants and Neville decided to play his son and the son of co-owner David Beckham, despite the duo never making an appearance in the MLS.
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Both players are a part of development squad Inter Miami II and play in MLS Next Pro.
Neville spoke passionately about their performances in his post-match interview and stressed it is a 'learning experience' for his side.
The former Manchester United defender explained: "I was super proud of them both. Romeo only got on for the last five or six minutes, which is difficult, but they’d earned the right to get on.
"They both showed really good temperament and I think tonight we learned an awful lot. It was a big challenge for us, as you could see. We were playing against world-class players, two world-class teams in each half really.
"So it was a brilliant occasion to play in, you could feel the buzz in the air, the supporters – we’ve now experienced what a sold out Drive Pink (DRV PNK Stadium) feels like.
"I think from a playing point of view, the game was always going to be something for us to really enjoy."
Barcelona opened the scoring inside 19 minutes through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was assisted by summer arrival Raphinha.
Six minutes later, the former Leeds United winger was on the scoresheet himself thanks to a lovely volley.
Ansu Fati made it three just before halftime and it was Raphinha who once again turned provider, splitting the Miami defence open with a lovely ball.
Gavi, Memphis Depay and Ousmane Dembele scored in the second half and Depay's effort was the pick of the lot.
The 28-year-old, who could be leaving the Camp Nou in the coming weeks, sent defender Damion Lowe the wrong way with a bit of skill before coolly slotting home.
Miami are currently ninth in the MLS Eastern Conference and won their last fixture against Charlotte 3-2.
Meanwhile, Barcelona return to action with a friendly against Real Madrid in Las Vegas in the early hours of Sunday.
Topics: Inter Miami, Phil Neville, Romeo Beckham, Barcelona
Daniel Marland