‘It brings out the best in players’ - Inter Miami’s Ian Fray praises Javier Mascherano’s fiery passion for sparking MLS Cup run, eyes Jamaica’s World Cup push

GOAL: MLS Cup is this Saturday. What are your emotions as you head into this match against Vancouver?

FRAY: This is exactly what we all dream of for all season. Eleven months and yeah, super excited.

GOAL: You’ve been here since 2021 and seen almost everything with this club. What does this journey mean to you, especially as someone from the area?

FRAY: I grew up 15 minutes down the street from the stadium, you know, I lived, lived and grew up in Coconut Creek. Went to high school. I went to elementary through high school, all the way here. I've lived here my whole life. And just to see the stadium, even this stadium being built, you know, going from the academy, the second team did the whole process here and now to see it all come to fruition. Look, we're in MLS Cup. This is exactly what I've dreamed of since joining the academy.

GOAL: You play with some well-known legends, you know, ranging from Lionel Messi to Jordi Alba on defense. What is that whole experience like? For someone who doesn't get to see the locker room, what are the things you can share about that experience?

FRAY: I don't know if it's something [about the game] that they don't know. It just shows in their game and they hold you to the highest standard possible. And a lot of people will crumble under that and say it's too intense or whatnot, but they, they do all this, and they're hard on you because they want you to be right there with them. They want you to compete just like them. And that's the best thing you could want. You want someone who has been at the highest level, like kind of forcing you to be on their level as well. And it just brings the best out of the players. 

GOAL: Can you share an example of how they keep the team accountable?

FRAY: Yeah, I can. Even for the last game against New York City, as I came in, I lost two balls I shouldn't have lost. And all them kind of just look at you, and they're like, 'Come on, let's go. This isn't a joke.' When they show that intensity, and then you can either crumble or you can go above that.

GOAL: There are so many different cultures in your locker room. How do you guys, kind of, you know, come together and make it, you know, communicate and just build that, that chemistry that you need as a team?

FRAY: Yeah, I feel like it's more just like [finding ways to get] laughter, even though a lot of us can't understand each other, it's more just like laughter. They say a couple of words that you know, and you can say a couple of words that they kind of know, and [it all clicks]. It's all at practice too. You know, it brings everyone together. Training on the field. Everyone's in the heat, training, all this, everything we've been through, just brought the team closer.

GOAL: You've played for a lot of high-profile managers here, Phil Neville and Tata Martino, and now you have Javier Mascherano. What makes him unique and special?

FRAY: All of them [who you mentioned] are great managers, by the way. I think Mac brings this, like fresh, like young, he's a he's a defender too. So you can tell, and I'm a defender, I love to defend. And he's just, he has a lot of love for the game. And it just, it shows in practice he's really passionate. And that brings out, if your manager is passionate, and you can see it every day in practice, it brings out the best of the players.

GOAL: Now, when he was a player, he was seen as, like, a combative type of, you know, lack of better word, a little crazy, right?

FRAY: [Laughs] We need that! It fires everybody up.

GOAL: What's a pep talk from him like?

FRAY: I don’t fully understand the Spanish parts, but you get it when he’s yelling, and his face turns red. You get fired up, even if you don’t totally understand. You get fired up!

GOAL: You’ve fought through injuries before, suffering three torn ACLs. How do you stay mentally strong and keep moving forward when setbacks happen?

FRAY: So yeah, I've been through a couple of those, and I always knew what I wanted to do ever since I was younger. And I've been through things maybe not like that before. And it's just I always know if I get past this, then nothing's gonna be able to stop me. And then it happened again, I'm okay, but if I get past this one, then nothing's gonna be able to stop me. So I think that's just more of what just more of what it is. I'm not gonna let anything stop me from my dreams.

GOAL: Is there a ritual, tradition, or a mentality you have to help you navigate through that all?

FRAY: I always, usually look back to something that I overcame before, like, for all the injuries. And when I had the first one, it was like, 'OK, maybe I got cut from Weston when I was 15, and I ended up at inter Miami.' Yeah, that's what I looked at....I overcame that. I can overcome this ACL injury. And then the other ones, I just looked back at the first one, okay, I went through the first one. Why can't I do it again?

GOAL: Let's dive into Jamaica a little bit. You decided to join the Jamaican national team. What's that whole experience been like?

FRAY: I had dual citizenship between the U.S. and Jamaica. And recently, Jamaica has been going through a lot, and my Dad's whole side of the family is from Jamaica, and a lot of my family still lives there. I have a lot of love for the country, so I decided, yeah, to go with Jamaica. And it's honestly been, it's been amazing. We're going to try to qualify for the World Cup in March. 

GOAL: When you visit there what makes Jamaican culture unique? 

FRAY: Everything. Jamaicans are the friendliest people. You can go there without knowing anything, any race, and they're welcoming you. They're showing you their culture.

GOAL: You play for a high-profile team. When you come to the Jamaica national team, do you get peppered with questions about what it's like and getting signed jerseys?

FRAY: I mean, it's what you expect from anyone. Anyone on any team in the world, even if you went to the Spanish national team, they're going to be asking for autographs of these guys, too [Laughs]. So it's not unique to Jamaica, but yeah, of course.

GOAL: What's the funniest question you've ever gotten from a Jamaican teammate about Inter Miami?

FRAY: Funniest question? Yeah, they'll ask me for anything like, 'Oh, can you get a pair of socks [from Messi and Co.]? It's just jokes, you know, like Jamaicans, they're full of jokes.

GOAL: Last one about Jamaica, the World Cup draw is Friday. Are you paying attention to that at all? And like, when you look ahead to, you know, your qualification hopes, like, what is the expectation there? How do you get to where you guys want to be?

FRAY: Yeah, I'm not so much paying attention to the draw, because we're not in it yet, but for March, the goal is to qualify. And yeah, we will qualify.