Andre Blake to return for the Union’s rivalry rematch with New York City FC

Andre Blake was back on the practice field Friday for the Union, and manager Jim Curtin said his team’s star goalkeeper will be back in net at Subaru Park when New York City FC visits Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled).

Blake helped Jamaica reach the semifinals of the Gold Cup before the Reggae Boyz’ momentum ran out Wednesday in a 3-0 loss to Mexico in Las Vegas. Now the country’s captain turns his attention back to MLS.

“It’s good to be back,” he said, though it’s fair if he’d rather have been in Los Angeles preparing for Sunday’s final. Mexico will face Panama, which beat the United States on penalty kicks after some stylish play.

“I’ve been away for a while,” Blake continued. “It’s more mental than anything else. So just got to clear my head. This is however many times doing this — it’s not like it’s the first.”

» READ MORE: Panama upsets U.S. 5-4 on penalty kicks after 1-1 tie to reach Concacaf Gold Cup final

It certainly isn’t. Jamaica reached the finals of the 2015 and 2017 Gold Cups, the latter with Blake in net; and this year’s squad looked good enough to finally win the title. But instead, there was more disappointment, following the nation’s failure to qualify for last year’s World Cup and Jamaica finishing as runner-up to Mexico in the group stage of the recent Concacaf Nations League.

“Bittersweet,” Blake said. “It’s always good to go down to the last four — obviously we thought that we had the team to go all the way. But that’s life, that’s football. We’re still a relatively young team, and we just have to keep going.”

If Jamaica can keep together an attack led by the Premier League-based trio of Michail Antonio, Leon Bailey, and Demarai Gray, the 2026 World Cup could be the moment when the Reggae Boyz return to soccer’s biggest stage for the first time since 1998. With the tournament field expanded to 48 teams and Concacaf getting at least six of them (including cohosts the U.S., Canada, and Mexico), the pathway certainly will be there.

“I thought they played some of the best soccer in the competition,” Curtin said of Jamaica’s Gold Cup run. “You’re going to see them become a team that’s going to be, with the way that things are set up, I think, the top team qualifying for the World Cup from Concacaf. ... The way they play, the players they have, I think they’re starting to build something really special there.”

» READ MORE: Dániel Gazdag’s goals and a wild amount of luck give the Union a 2-0 win at Nashville

Damion Lowe also is back from Jamaica duty, though he wasn’t on the field Friday because of an infection. Curtin said he hopes Lowe will be ready to play Saturday night.

José Andrés Martínez should be back too, before heading to Washington for Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game against England’s Arsenal (8 p.m., Apple TV, free). The Venezuelan midfielder missed Wednesday’s 2-0 win at Nashville with an illness.

» READ MORE: Dániel Gazdag’s goals and a wild amount of luck give the Union a 2-0 win at Nashville

Curtin revealed that Quinn Sullivan was already set to start vs. New York City FC, even before Julián Carranza’s red card in Nashville opened up a starting spot. But the 19-year-old Bridesburg native raised his stock further with a strong performance Wednesday against Nashville: two shots, another chance on a breakaway with Carranza, four defensive recoveries, and a perfect 9-for-9 passing performance in 61 minutes.

“I thought he performed really well: did a good job of mixing it up and running in deep, and then also coming underneath the striker, underneath the centerbacks and finding some time on the ball,” Curtin said. “I think you guys saw his ability to, with a pretty quick release, get a shot off, and he shoots the ball well. He was unlucky to not get a goal on the night.”

The Union thought about appealing Carranza’s red card, earned in a fracas with Nashville’s Shaq Moore. But the team decided against it when the tape clearly showed Carranza with his arms around Moore’s neck.

“We did not appeal because we wouldn’t have won,” Curtin said.

» READ MORE: Jack Elliott had a big role in the Union's win at Nashville