Fort Lauderdale, FL (Sunday, March 26, 2000) - The MetroStars opened the 2000 MLS regular season with a 3-1 road loss against the Miami Fusion at Lockhart Stadium Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 10, 482 fans. The opener marked the MLS playing debuts of Lothar Matthäus, Alex Comas, Adolfo "El Tren" Valencia, Steve Shak, and Orlando Perez. Head coach Octavio Zambrano and Thomas Dooley made their Metros debut.

"It is always tough to lose, especially with the fact that our first game has been anticipated for such a long time with the new players," said head coach Octavio Zambrano." I thought Lothar played well, but he obviously needs more time to find himself with his new teammates. Those things take time. We will get back to practice to prepare for DC this upcoming weekend and look to improve."

The Miami Fusion got on the board first in the 16th minute when Diego Serna picked up a deflected pass near the box, and sent a through pass to Roy Lassiter, who beat Mike Ammann with a shot for the first goal. The goal by Lassiter was his 13th career goal against the MetroStars in 16 career MLS games as a member of the Fusion, DC United, and Tampa Bay Mutiny.

The Metros tied the score in the 27th minute when Mark Chung sent a pin-point pass through the Fusion defense to Alex Comas, who beat Tom Presthus one-on-one for the goal.

The second half saw the Fusion push the attack. They were rewarded when Eric Wynalda knocked in a corner kick in the 51st minute, despite the Metros protest that Diego Serna committed a handball on the play. The Fusion put the game away 14 minutes later when Serna took a through pass from Roy Lassiter to score for the 3-1 lead.

"I thought the team put forth a good effort, but we still must improve our play, said Matthäus. "I never like to lose, but Miami to their credit, played a good game tonight."

The MetroStars will host their home opener next Saturday night (8:00 p.m. ET), when DC United visit Giants Stadium.

Courtesy MetroStars