There’s a crucial game between the Red Bulls and Toronto FC Wednesday night in Toronto that could go a long way in determining how things shake out in the Eastern Conference. Strangely, the most important factor affecting the game may come tonight, when several key players from both teams suit up for international play.
For the Red Bulls, midfielder Lloyd Sam received a long-awaited call-up to play for Ghana, which will face Canada in a friendly tonight at RFK Stadium in Washington. Red Bulls defender Karl Ouimette is among the players called up for Canada.
For Toronto, midfielder Michael Bradley played for the United States national team in the gut-wrenching 3-2 overtime loss to Mexico Saturday night in Pasadena, Calif., a defeat that will keep the U.S. from participating in the Confederations Cup in Russia in the summer of 2017. Bradley, the U.S. captain who played all 120 minutes in the game, was one of eight players U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann released from the team following the game and he will return to Toronto.
Meanwhile, Toronto forward Jozy Altidore, who played 98 minutes against Mexico before being replaced by Bobby Wood in the first session of extra time, remains with the national team, which takes on Costa Rica tonight in Red Bull Arena.
Toronto’s other big name, forward Sebastian Giovinco, was called into the Italian national team camp for the final two qualifiers for the 2016 European Championship. Giovinco, one of the leading candidates for MLS MVP this season, only played the final 11 minutes in Italy’s 3-1 victory over Azerbaijan on Saturday that clinched a tournament berth.
Italy plays its final qualifier tonight against Norway in Rome. It’s a huge game for Norway, which sits in second place, two points ahead of Croatia for the final automatic qualifying spot. Croatia is at Malta, so Norway needs a strong result to avoid the playoff round. The eight third-place teams play off for the tournament’s final four spots.
So who will play tonight and who doesn’t may go a long way toward what happens Wednesday night.
“We’re a little bit unsure on exactly where Michael Bradley is at,” Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said. “We hear he’s picked up a little bit of a knock. Jozy will still be in with the national team, playing Costa Rica the night before, Giovinco’s playing Norway in Rome. All three of those guys will be a little bit of a question mark, but we’ll be prepared to play if they’re on the field.
"If they’re not, it’s never easy on the road, so whoever plays, it’s going to be a tough game, and they need points because they think they can position themselves yet for the second seed in the East, which they’re still in good position for, so this game, point-wise, table-wise, means a lot.”
The Red Bulls (16-9-6) will clinch their second Eastern Conference title in three years with a win or a tie. Toronto (14-13-4) is in fifth place but can jump into second place with a victory. Marsch will wait and see if Sam or Ouimette play, then make a decision. Both are scheduled to fly to Toronto Wednesday morning.
“We’ll bring in a couple of extra guys on the trip just in case Karl and Lloyd put in major minutes,” he said. “We’ll access where’s they’re at after the Tuesday game. They’re planning to fly in on Wednesday morning, so if we need them to be available, they can be, and it’s just a matter of where they’re at physically.”
Sam has been on Ghana’s radar for a number of years but there were paperwork issues and the timing just never seemed to work out. When Sam finally got the call, Marsch said it was a bit of a surprise.
“He had said that they contacted him once before but he wasn’t able to go in last year at some point,” Marsch said. “But I was thrilled for him when he called me, and we talked about it. Lloyd’s had a great year and I’m glad that Ghana’s realized that he’s a great potential player for them. I think it will be great for him to get some international experience.”
Ouimette has filled in nicely on the Red Bulls back line this year, but with Matt Miazga still with the U.S. Under-23 team, Ouimette would be important to have at the game should either center back, Damien Perrinelle or Ronald Zubar, get hurt. Just 22, Ouimette could be a player Canada builds around, so it’s possible he could see action tonight.
“A draw would clinch it,” Marsch said. “… I think we’re all but clinched as a top two. We’ve put ourselves in a good spot for the postseason, but there’s still things for us to play for and we just need to keep going. If we start to think now that we can take it easy or slow down, that will start to let a poor mentality slip in, so we’re going to keep our foot on the gas pedal and keep going.”
As for Miazga, Marsch said it was disappointing the Under-23 team failed to clinch one of the two automatic Olympic berths from CONCACAF. To qualify, the Americans, who lost to Honduras, 2-0, in the semifinals, will have to beat Canada in the third-place game tonight, then defeat Colombia in the CONCACAF-South American playoff game in March.
“The hardest part about the Olympic team is it’s a thrown-together team,” Marsch said. “They don’t get much time to prepare. They don’t get much time to train together. They’re put in a big competition right away and get tested right away when they’ve only spent a minimal amount of field time together, so that’s a big challenge from a logistical standpoint, from a soccer standpoint, to figure out ways to make sure that that team can compete internationally.”
Though Marsch felt bad for the Olympic team, he thought Miazga played well.
“I watched the (Honduras) game. I still think he’s played well each game there,” Marsch said. “Obviously they’re in a desperate situation now. … He’ll be available after (the Canada) game and then he’ll start serving out the two-game suspension (for the red card Sept. 25). He’ll be ready for (the season finale in) Chicago.
“Not ideal, obviously, but he’s gotten good games there and hopefully, just physically, he gets through that the right way and then we’ll get him back here and then get him ready to go.”
