Mario Suarez Enjoys Ideal Debut as Fiorentina Pip Benfica in Heated ICC Battle

At the very least, it was an ideal debut for new Fiorentina signing Mario Suarez.

Having flown from Madrid to Florence to complete his transfer to the Italian club and then on to Connecticut to join up with his new team-mates, the former Atletico Madrid midfielder was still feeling fresh enough on Friday night to make a second-half cameo appearance in the International Champions Cup meeting with Benfica. He then went on to score what would prove to be the decisive spot-kick as his side won 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

In a game stunted by a raft of substitutions throughout the game (perhaps the star attraction, Giuseppe Rossi, came on at half-time and was then substituted 15 minutes from the end after picking up a knock), neither side was really able to learn too much about the ins and outs of their preferred playing style ahead of the new season.

But the game at Rentschler Field was certainly competitive, and at times brutally hard-fought, witnessing as it did one of those pre-season rarities—a red card. For the two managers perhaps the main positive was the obvious level of intensity of the whole affair, which saw 41 fouls, and how their players reacted to that pressure

"There was lots of dynamic play by both teams,” Fiorentina head coach Paulo Sousa said, per the local Hartford Courant. “Both were attacking.

"At the end, my team had the better decision making, and we came back to dominate the second half."

The Serie A side had to go to penalties to finally steal the win, however, with Suarez proving to be the hero of the hour. But perhaps the most noteworthy element for Sousa was the performance of his goalkeepers: With back-up Luca Lezzerini making a smart save to deny Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez and win the shootout after new signing Luigi Sepe had proven generally impressive in his 75 minutes on the pitch.

With replacing the club's departed No. 1, new Juventus signing Neto, perhaps Sousa’s biggest selection decision heading into the new season, the performance of his two most obvious contenders (with Sepe the front-runner) will have boosted confidence in both of his options.

DON EMMERT/Getty Images

Not that Benfica will be unduly disappointed at their defeat, despite playing more than 25 minutes of the game with 10 men after the experienced defender Luisao picked up his second card of the game.

Benfica head coach Rui Vitoria will undoubtedly be concerned about the Brazilian’s lack of discipline, but in a way the numerical disadvantage perhaps only served to give the rest of the defence a more intense workout over the final phase of the game—something that may well benefit them in the long run.

"Nothing worries me at this point of the preseason," Vitoria said, again per the Courant. "We did have some problems…we had to reorganize after we had 10 players."

Luisao’s dismissal was perhaps the key moment in the game, even if it appeared to have been entirely preventable. His first yellow card came in the first half, after he protested too vociferously about a stamp from Fiorentina’s Gonzalo Rodriguez that admittedly looked worthy of a red itself.

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A agressão do capitão da Fiorentina, Gonzalo Rodríguez a Talisca. pic.twitter.com/9iJNMQPsXp

— BOLA 24 (@bola24pt) July 25, 2015"

Rodriguez's challenge on Anderson Talisca seemed to heighten the robust, physical nature of the game, but it was Luisao left walking the tightrope for his dissent. After that the 34-year-old was always going to be in trouble for any reasonable infraction and, when he pulled back Josip Ilicic (arguably the game’s most influential attacking player) in the 66th minute as Fiorentina tried to break forward, he was already looking nervously at the officials.

Another referee might have let the infraction go, but this was not to be Luisao’s lucky night.

Prior to that, Benfica had been using the game to experiment, with the coach switching formation and personnel to try to hit upon a dynamic that might serve the team well in the upcoming defence of their Portuguese title.

After the red card, however, they focused on keeping a clean sheet—something they managed with relative ease, with Ilicic’s shot off the crossbar the clearest moment of danger.

“We tried some different tactics today,” Vitoria added. “It's normal. In the second half, we were more organised.”

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Fiorentina went away the winners on the night, but in truth both teams learned the same things. Plenty of players were given valuable playing time to improve their match fitness, with further pre-season games likely to offer more of the fine-tuning that both coaches will be keen to undergo before competitive fixtures start.

Removed of any possibility of winning the competition, Benfica will now complete their ICC participation with games against the New York Red Bulls and Club America in New Jersey and Mexico City, respectively.

Fiorentina also have two games remaining, but the North American part of their campaign is now complete, as they return to Europe in advance of the new Serie A season with testing meetings against Barcelona (in Florence) and Chelsea (in London) to prepare them.