Inter Miami Boss Phil Neville Insists His Son And Romeo Beckham Deserved To Play Against Barcelona

Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville has defended his decision to give game time to his son and Romeo Beckham in Tuesday's friendly against Barcelona.

Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville has defended his decision to give game time to his son in Tuesday's friendly against Barcelona.

Harvey Neville, 20, and 19-year-old Romeo Beckham, who is the son of Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham, both made substitute appearances in the 6-0 defeat.

Right-back Neville replaced DeAndre Yedlin at half-time before striker Beckham, wearing no.37 on his back, came on for Bryce Duke in the 86th minute.

Romeo Beckham pictured playing for Inter Miami against Barcelona :: IMAGO/Icon Sportswire/David Rosenblum

Neither player has yet made a single appearance in a Major League Soccer match, but coach Neville was adamant that they deserved their shots against the 26-time champions of Spain.

"I was super proud of them both," said Neville Snr, as quoted by The Mirror.

"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.

Harvey Neville (pictured left) played 45 minutes for Inter Miami last night against Barcelona! 🇮🇪#COYBIG pic.twitter.com/gU53MdMJKw

— Football News Ireland (@FootballNewsIRE) July 20, 2022

"And we've got a lot of young players in there that will have taken some real valuable experiences about the level that you need to be at to play at the top, top level. DeAndre has played at the top, top level, we’ve got players that want to go to World Cups, play in the Champions League etcetera and they’ve experienced tonight what the best do.

"I thought it was a brilliant learning experience for us all. It was difficult, we had to dig in, we had to fight, we had to accept that they were going to have a lot of possession of the ball and really to keep it to 6-0 was a real positive for us.

"It's a great learning experience for everyone in the team and everyone got onto the pitch that we wanted to, got valuable experience, and they will have learnt an awful lot."

Barcelona named two completely different XIs in each half but still managed to dominate and win both 3-0.

New signing Raphinha was directly involved in all three of Barca's first-half goals.

He assisted the first which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finished with a deft left-footed chip from the corner of the six-yard box.

Raphinha then scored the second via a controlled volley at the far post.

Raphinha pictured (right) after scoring his first goal for Barcelona in a 6-0 win over Inter Miami :: IMAGO/Icon Sportswire/David Rosenblum

The former Leeds star assisted goal no.3 by playing a first-time pass into the path of Ansu Fati who belted home a fierce shot from just inside the penalty area.

Barca made 11 substitutions at half time but maintained their rhythm and scored again 10 minutes into the second period.

Memphis Depay fizzed in a low corner straight to Pablo Gavira who cooly swept a stylish shot into the net.

Depay scored Barca's fifth goal himself after a sublime piece of individual skill that bamboozled Miami center-back Damion Lowe.

The final goal of the night was also a product of individual brilliance. Ousmane Dembele picked the ball up on the right wing, just inside the Miami half, before dribbling forward and placing a low shot past the keeper from 18 yards.