{"id":355889,"date":"2026-07-29T06:13:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/355889\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T06:13:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:13:26","slug":"yannick-bright-rides-inter-miami-wave-into-mls-all-star-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/355889\/","title":{"rendered":"Yannick Bright rides Inter Miami wave into MLS All-Star season"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2013 Yannick Bright<\/a>\u2019s path to professional soccer is one less traveled. But that hasn\u2019t stopped the Inter Miami CF<\/a> midfielder from enjoying every minute of it.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Milan, Bright spent time in multiple lesser-known youth academies before debuting for Arconatese in Serie D, the highest level of semi-professional soccer in Italy.<\/p>\n

At 18 years old, he was faced with a difficult choice about his footballing future. Ultimately, he decided to leave his home and travel to the United States, enrolling at the University of New Hampshire to continue his playing career.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say Bright\u2019s decision worked out about as well as it possibly could have.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more original, I would say. There\u2019s way fewer people that do it this way,\u201d Bright grinned when speaking with MLSsoccer.com following MLS All-Star training at Charlotte FC<\/a>\u2019s Atrium Health Performance Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho would\u2019ve thought six years ago when I decided to come to the U.S. that one day I\u2019d be playing with the best of all time and being selected as an All-Star? It\u2019s just a dream come true, and I work every day towards new goals and new heights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful, thankful and very honored.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Midfield engine<\/p>\n

After an extremely successful UNH career that included a host of individual awards, Bright was selected by the Herons in the first round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, swapping college teammates for legends of the game such as\u00a0Lionel Messi<\/a>, Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a>, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.<\/p>\n

And as the stakes grew higher, Bright grew with them, quickly becoming a key piece of Miami\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n

The tenacious holding midfielder has experienced a breakout campaign in 2026, becoming a cornerstone in the center of the park, starting all but one game he\u2019s been available for.<\/p>\n

It may have been a long journey, but it hasn\u2019t stopped him from reaching the MLS mountaintop.<\/p>\n

In three seasons with the club, Bright has lifted Supporters\u2019 Shield (2024) and MLS Cup (2025) titles. Now, for the first time in his career, he\u2019s an MLS All-Star.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to be here. It\u2019s been a really nice season for me so far, and I\u2019ve got the support of every single teammate, coaching staff, everybody,\u201d Bright said ahead of Wednesday’s match vs. the LIGA MX All-Stars at Bank of America Stadium (8 pm ET | Apple TV<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody believes in me, and they make sure to let me know I\u2019m supported every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Combining with Casemiro<\/p>\n

Bright has become accustomed to taking the field alongside plenty of superstars since his professional career began, specifically leaning on experienced midfielders to help him develop his game.<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, the Herons added another world-class talent to their roster, bringing in Brazilian legend Casemiro<\/a> to bolster an already-stacked midfield unit.<\/p>\n

A five-time UEFA Champions League winner at Real Madrid, Casemiro wasted no time illustrating his winning pedigree and desire to take the field for his new club, making his debut just three days after signing<\/a> for Miami.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell that he\u2019s class. He\u2019s class on and off the pitch,\u201d the 24-year-old said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great dude, a great guy and a great teammate. On the field, he sacrifices a lot for the team. And obviously, this guy has won everything and is one of the best in his position of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bright hopes, as he did with legendary former FC Barcelona metronome Sergio Busquets, that his new midfield partner will push him on the pitch while guiding him along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I\u2019ve played with Busquets already, and he [Casemiro] is another mentor,” he added. \u201cSomebody I need to learn from and hopefully follow his path one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Legendary inspiration<\/p>\n

Of course, when it comes to Inter Miami, two names typically headline the team sheet: Messi and\u00a0Rodrigo De Paul<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pair, who were initially named to the 2026 MLS All-Star Roster, have combined for nearly 1,500 professional club appearances and won countless trophies. With both enjoying such illustrious careers, it\u2019s difficult to think of two players better suited to help a young and aspiring midfielder develop.<\/p>\n

Bright certainly hasn\u2019t taken their guidance for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cListening to them and doing what they tell me to do makes everything easier,” he said. “Especially with their experience and where they\u2019ve played and what they\u2019ve been through. So, I just follow what they say and try to do my job the best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The duo spent the last month and a half competing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a>, playing pivotal roles in Argentina\u2019s journey to the final, where they ultimately fell to Spain, 1-0<\/a>. Bright made sure to keep close tabs on his club teammates throughout.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good run. I made sure to text Leo after he broke the World Cup goals record,\u201d the Italian midfielder said. \u201cI mean, it was heartbreaking to see him crying after the [World Cup Final]. I grew up watching him and he was my idol, forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it was just heartbreaking, but I think they had a great tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching his teammates play on international soccer\u2019s biggest stage also reaffirmed Bright\u2019s belief that one day he could do the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I say to everyone, it\u2019s God\u2019s plan. Obviously, I have my goals and everything. The first being representing my country,\u201d Miami\u2019s All-Star asserted. \u201cSeeing these people at the World Cup, these guys, a lot of them have been at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttending these games was very special, and I feel like it would be an honor and a dream for me to represent my country at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n

It may be considered a lofty goal by some, but Bright isn\u2019t dissuaded by the odds. After all, he\u2019s used to taking the road less traveled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2013 Yannick Bright\u2019s path to professional soccer is one less traveled. But that hasn\u2019t stopped the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[145210,5429,123,125,124,145209,4959,18569],"class_list":["post-355889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-2026-mls-all-star-game","tag-inter-miami-cf","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-mlsvslmx-07-29-2026","tag-sendtonews","tag-yannick-bright"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}