Nashville SC coach Gary Smith spoke to the press ahead of the final of Leagues Cup 2023 against Inter Miami CF which is set to take place on Saturday, August 19th. With the conclusion of the month-long tournament coming on home soil, Smith spoke about the achievement of Nashville to reach the final against the odds, and what it would mean to lift the trophy on Saturday evening.
The Englishman started on a personal note, being asked to talk about his experience in previous cup finals. Smith elaborated on his MLS Cup win with Colorado Rapids in 2010, and drew similarities with his current campaign managing Nashville SC. “It’s been a great opportunity to build a group as we have done with this team. There is an organisation and a club in general that has got a similar feel to that Colorado team that won in 2010.”
“There’s a togetherness, and an appreciation for each other, and you can see that out on the field when there are difficult moments for us,” said Smith. The Englishman joined Nashville in 2017, and is ready to savour the chance to win another trophy in his career. “The simple fact is that cup finals don’t come around that often - if you look, my last cup win was 13 years ago and I haven’t had an opportunity since to try and win something.”
“We have to look at the fact that we’ve done a very good job here to get us into a position where we could lift a first trophy for the club,” Smith continued.
With the game set to be played on home turf at GEODIS Park, Smith is relishing the chance to win a historic first trophy for the club, “The players would love nothing more than to walk around the field after the game and thank the fans for how they’ve supported us with some silverware.”
The final showdown of Leagues Cup 2023 is set to take place on Saturday, with kick-off set for 21:12pm ET in Nashville, Tennessee. All the eyes of the world will be on Music City, and whether they can bring it home.
