San Diego FC’s training facility sits in a bowl of hills in East County, and this week they’ve been practicing with a skeleton crew of players with several out injured, others transferred out of the club and three others at the Major League Soccer All-Star Game in Austin, Texas.
“One of the most thin rosters I’ve ever been a part of,” midfielder Luca de la Torre said.
The cavalry isn’t riding over the hill to save them — not yet at least.
Next up for the reeling squad is a Friday night date at Snapdragon Stadium against Nashville SC, which sits second in the Eastern Conference with 47 points, four more than SDFC’s total that tops the Western Conference.
“It’s definitely a challenge, because we have to see how they come back from the travel and the game,” coach Mikey Varas said of All-Stars Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, Anders Dreyer and Jeppe Tverskov. “Also, we don’t have the most numbers on the field.
“But we never use anything like that as an excuse. … It’s going to be another massive challenge, but these are what we love because we want to be tested by the best. That’s how you grow.”
Two games ago, SDFC had only five field players on the bench. Last game, it had four while starting a pair of rookies in central defense.
The injuries and departures are taking their toll, too. After averaging nearly two points per match through its first 20 games, SDFC (13-7-4) has just four points from its last four — and only one point from its last three at home. There was a 4-3 loss against Houston, a 1-0 loss against Toronto and a fortunate 1-1 draw against Vancouver that likely would have been another L had star Whitecaps forward Brian White not missed a pair of sitters.
It’s not all bad news, however. Varas said the crew of injured players “are all progressing” and veteran defensive midfielder Anibal Godoy, a key figure in SDFC’s fast start, has been cleared to play Friday — although likely not for a full 90 minutes.
The MLS summer transfer window opened Thursday, meaning 19-year-old outside back Aiden Harangi, acquired on a short-term loan from Eintracht Frankfurt’s reserve team in the German fourth division, is eligible to suit up.
SDFC sporting director Tyler Heaps is expected to add more bodies.
Already linked to SDFC is Pedro Soma, a 19-year-old central midfielder who belongs to Cornelia in the Spanish fifth division and recently completed a loan spell with Barcelona B in the Spanish fourth division; and David Vasquez, a 19-year-old striker from the Philadelphia Union’s reserve team who has one career MLS appearance.
All three fit what is becoming a common profile for SDFC: young, inexpensive players from soccer’s netherworlds whom Varas is familiar with from his time with U.S. Soccer’s youth national teams. All three are members of the under-20 national team, as is current SDFC left back Luca Bombino. Their market values, according the transfermarkt.us website, are $100,000, $200,000 and $75,000.
Two other youngsters, Ian Pilcher and Manu Duah, started in central defense against second-place Vancouver last Saturday. Duah was credited with an own goal on a deflected shot, but Pilcher scored the second-half equalizer off a corner kick.
“I think the most important thing is just to trust them,” de la Torre said. “They’re here for a reason, they have quality, they’ve been doing well in training, they deserve their chance.”
The challenges don’t stop. At 14-5-5, Nashville has the 30-team league’s second-best record. The 6-foot-3 English striker Sam Surridge is tied with Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi for the MLS scoring lead at 18 goals.
“I would say they’re better than pretty good,” Varas said. “They’re really well coached. They have really mature players, a really balanced team across the board in all moments of the game. They’re well trained, disciplined, and they have talent that can make the difference.”
San Diego FC (13-7-4) vs. Nashville SC (14-5-5)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Streaming: AppleTV
Radio: 760-AM (English); 1700-AM (Spanish)
Originally Published:
