Jim Curtin quashes questions of the Union holding players back from the USMNT
The Union also learned their draw for the Leagues Cup group stage, with two Mexican teams set to come to town in late summer.
When no Union players were called up to the U.S. men’s soccer team’s January camp, it raised some skepticism among outsiders. Were Jack McGlynn, Leon Flach and Andres Perea simply passed over, or did the Union not want them to go?
On Friday, Jim Curtin settled the matter. He confirmed that the players were not invited, and said “of course” the Union would have let them go had they been.
“It was very close, and obviously, I pushed for those guys as best that I could,” Curtin said in a news conference from training camp in Clearwater, Fla. “Regardless of how it hurts our numbers here, we’re always going to be a group that believes very much in supporting our U.S. national team.”
He elaborated on each of the players.
“Leon was on the preliminary roster, just didn’t get that final call, which is unfortunate,” Curtin said. “Andres [was] a guy that was just on the outside looking in, and Jack McGlynn also. I know that there was real discussions internally with the U.S.: Do we take him [McGlynn] with the full team, [or] do we bring him with the U-20s, where he’s a big leader and important to have in that camp as well?”
» READ MORE: Paxten Aaronson, Brandon Vázquez headline USMNT January camp roster
McGlynn ended up on the U-20 roster for its camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., as that age group prepares for its World Cup in May and June. Quinn Sullivan and Brandan Craig are also on the camp squad.
Coincidentally, IMG is where the Union will play Austin FC on Saturday in their first preseason scrimmage of the year (no broadcast). The U.S. camp started Thursday, and the Union and U.S. Soccer agreed to a deal to let the trio play half of the scrimmage.
Contract talk
With the news out that Curtin and the Union are in talks for a new contract, Curtin was asked what he’d like to say about it.
“I love Philadelphia, I love the Union, I don’t think my time and job here is done yet,” he answered. “I’d like to continue. So we’ll see what happens.”
» READ MORE: The Union and manager Jim Curtin have started talks on a contract extension
Leagues Cup draw set
The Union will host Mexico’s Querétaro and Club Tijuana this summer in the new Leagues Cup tournament between teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.
The group stage draw for the 47-team field was announced Friday, with as many quirks as you’d expect from an odd number.
Some of them were already known, including that reigning MLS champion Los Angeles FC and reigning Mexican champions Pachuca get to skip the group stage and go straight to the round of 32.
The remaining 45 teams were drawn into 15 groups of three teams, via a combination of geography and last year’s league-wide regular-season standings. But the geography part only factored in for the MLS teams, which is why Tijuana — just across the U.S.-Mexico border from San Diego — will fly across the continent. Querétaro is 140 miles northwest of Mexico City, which is much further east and south. (Mexico City is just about parallel with San Antonio, Texas.)
Each team in the group will play the other once each. Most groups have two MLS teams and one Mexican team. The top-seeded MLS team in each group gets to play both games at home, while the lesser-seeded MLS team in each group gets to host its Mexican opponent. The site of the Tijuana-Querétaro game isn’t known yet, but every game in the tournament will be played in the U.S. or Canada.
(If you think that sounds like a cash grab for MLS, you aren’t alone.)
“We don’t have to travel, I think that was a big reward,” Curtin said. “I’m sure there’ll be questions [on] what teams are going to take the Leagues Cup seriously — we’re certainly going to be one of them.”
There will be no ties in the group stage. Games that end level after 90 minutes will go to penalty kicks, with the winning team getting two standing points and the losing team one. The knockout rounds will be single-elimination. And there are proper stakes: The tournament’s champion, runner-up and third-place finisher qualify for next year’s Concacaf Champions League.
The exact schedule is still to be confirmed, but we know the tournament will run from July 21-Aug. 19. Both leagues will stop their competitions to play in the event. All of the games will be on Apple’s streaming platform in the U.S., with some games televised on FS1 and various Univision channels.
» READ MORE: MLS announces a limited TV package to go with its big Apple streaming deal