Olivier Mbaizo’s ready for a tough assignment in Union’s playoff game at Cincinnati

Union fans are long accustomed to right back Olivier Mbaizo being part of a group of players who leave town periodically during the season to play for national teams. And no matter how many Aaronsons, Sullivans, or other families make their names in the Union’s youth academy, Mbaizo will forever hold the title of the first active Union player to make a World Cup roster.

So it was a bit surprising when Cameroon didn’t call Mbaizo up for this month’s World Cup qualifiers, the Indomitable Lions’ first games on the road to the 2026 tournament in North America. (Imagine Mbaizo, whatever club he’s at by then, playing for Cameroon in Philadelphia.)

Though Mbaizo has played 14 times for his senior national team, he isn’t always a starter. That led to questions about whether his absence meant he’d been demoted.

In fact, he hasn’t been. His absence is related to an injury he suffered while playing for Cameroon in an Oct. 12 friendly at Russia, a hit to the back of his right knee that took him off the field just four minutes into a start.

“Given the injury, I didn’t want to play extra games, because I want to be able to train and be healthy for the Union’s next game,” Mbaizo told The Inquirer after Tuesday’s practice, speaking in his native French. “It’s not a big deal that I didn’t go.”

The initial diagnosis of the injury said he could be out for up to six weeks. Fortunately, it proved to be less severe, and he was in a sufficient place to play after 10 days.

“Now I’ve been working hard, and I feel good physically,” Mbaizo said.

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So why not go to his country’s games, a 3-0 home win over Mauritius last Friday and a 1-1 tie at Libya on Tuesday? To borrow a phrase from the other famous Cameroonian athlete in town, the 76ers’ Joel Embiid, call it load management.

Like everyone else on the Union, Mbaizo has had to endure the team’s bear of a schedule this year. He’s played in 33 of the team’s 50 games, plus three for Cameroon, with all the travel that entails. Had he gone abroad, he wouldn’t have been back in town until Thursday.

“There have been a lot of games this year,” Mbaizo said. “It’s normal that guys feel heavy, and it’s easy to get injured if you aren’t careful.”

Consider that when he went to Russia, he spent a day-plus flying to Moscow, arrived at 3 p.m., practiced at 7 p.m., and played the day after.

“I was still tired,” Mbaizo said. “I started the game, and my second touch of the ball, I felt something behind my thigh.”

That’s not a complaint, since soccer players are paid well for their travels, but it’s a statement of fact. Players around the world are playing too many games, with players in MLS as over-taxed as everyone else.

“There are too many games,” Mbaizo said. “It’s hard for everyone in the world. We’re fortunate here [at the Union] because we have a young group, and there’s a lot of rotation. That helps us. If there was only a little bit of rotation, everyone would be injured.”

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When Mbaizo next takes the field for a game, in Saturday’s playoff quarterfinal against FC Cincinnati (8 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled), he’ll have as big a role as ever as the Union try to take down this year’s Supporters’ Shield winners for MLS’s best regular-season record.

Cincinnati left wingback Álvaro Barreal is one of the league’s best at the position, and is never afraid to get up into the attack. He has eight goals and 12 assists this year, and some of his strikes have been spectacular.

“I played against him often during the season and last year, I know his qualities,” Mbaizo said. “He’s a very good player, decisive and not to be taken lightly. It’s a one-game playoff — we can’t make mistakes, we have to concentrate, and whatever happens will happen.”

The Union usually have their own left-sided weapon in Kai Wagner, but he’ll serve the second of his three-game suspension for using racist language in the playoff opener. Nathan Harriel will presumably start there again Saturday, as he played quite well in Game 2 of the Union’s playoff series against New England.

Harriel doesn’t bring the same creative threat to the left side of the Union’s attack, but he brings a different kind of helpful threat: his aerial presence. That gives Mbaizo another target to aim crosses at when the Union get forward.

“He’s great at heading, and he’s a fighter — he doesn’t let anything go,” Mbaizo said. “Kai’s absence penalizes us a bit, but we have to stay strong, because that’s what a strong team does. When we’re missing someone, someone else has to step up and fight so we don’t feel the missing player’s absence too much.”