After months of waiting, New York finally will have one of its teams play a real game Thursday.
NYCFC return to action against the Philadelphia Union Thursday morning. It will be the second game of the “MLS is Back” tournament, taking place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando.
The tournament, which was announced on June 10, will attempt to uphold a bubble in Orlando – similar to the NBA’s planned restart. The integrity of the bubble, however, already has been called into question.
Ten FC Dallas players immediately tested positive for coronavirus, and the team was subsequently kicked out of the tournament. Nashville FC had five positive tests, while the Colorado Rapids had one, but both teams will remain in the tournament. NYCFC entered the bubble on July 2.
NYCFC head coach Ronny Deila trusts the league’s safety procedures.
“It’s been a long time now without playing,” Deila said. “I almost can’t remember the last time we played games. We want to play, that’s why we are here… We have to do everything we can so that the focus is on the games and nothing else. I think the group has been great so far. They are of course concerned, they are looking around, getting information about what’s happening, but we all agree that we think so far it has been good here [the bubble]. Hopefully we can keep on doing that. If everything is safe, like we are now, then we focus on playing football. I can see that the group is really looking forward to playing.”
Each team will play three group-stage games before 16 teams advance to the knockout rounds. NYCFC will be without goalie Brad Stuver, who opted out of the tournament to stay with his family.