The Union resume their season after three weeks off, with four players gone to the U.S. U-20s

When the Union resume their season on Saturday against FC Cincinnati at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., PHL17), it will have been three weeks since their last game — and a month to the day since their last home game.

The players and staff will be in a good mood. Dániel Gazdag is just back from scoring a goal against England for Hungary in UEFA’s Nations League, and Andre Blake helped Jamaica earn a tie with Mexico in Concacaf’s edition.

Players who weren’t with national teams got a healthy amount of rest, a luxury in a long campaign, with plenty of evidence on Instagram. Sergio Santos went to get a green card, too, meaning he won’t need an international roster slot anymore.

So the mood in Chester should be upbeat this weekend, buoyed further by Philadelphia’s new status as a 2026 men’s World Cup host city.

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Things might be a little spicy, too. It’s the Union’s first game against Cincinnati since the visitors hired Pat Noonan from the Union to be their manager and Chris Albright to be their technical director, then convinced Ray Gaddis to come out of retirement and play again.

But not everything will be ideal for the home team. Santos is out because he had to go to Chile to get his green card paperwork finished, and isn’t back in town yet.

More importantly, the Union will be without Paxten Aaronson, Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, and Brandan Craig, all of whom are with the U.S. under-20 men’s team at Concacaf’s age-group championship in Honduras.

The tournament runs from Saturday through July 3. If the Americans go all the way in the tournament, the Union’s players will miss four games: Saturday, then June 26 vs. New York City FC, June 29 at Chicago, and July 3 at Columbus.

A lot of people, even with the Union, hope the Americans do go all the way. The tournament also serves as qualifying for the 2024 Olympics, and the U.S. men haven’t played in the Games since 2008. That drought is far too long.

The Union get it, having long understood the value of their players competing for national teams. So they made the sacrifice.

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“We had good, open dialogue with U.S. Soccer, [and] good, open dialogue with [coach] Mikey Vargas,” Union manager Jim Curtin said. “The back-and-forth was such that these guys were identified as key contributors for the group. ... I think we’d be contradicting ourselves if we prevented that from happening.”

Curtin said he probably won’t have a fully stocked bench Saturday night. Rarely-used reserve midfielders Jesús Bueno and Cole Turner will likely be on call this time, and Matt Real could play at left midfield instead of left back.

“It’s a risk we’re willing to take,” Curtin said. “We have had dialogue and open conversations, and healthy conversations, that in the event of an emergency — if we lost a starter or two, maybe a guy or two could be called back. ... We’ll play it week by week, but as of right now, we were able to support the national team, and with the players that are here, we’re fully confident that we can get results through these next few games.”

There might also be emergency call-ups from the Union’s reserve team to fill out the bench if needed. But one player who won’t be involved is Jack de Vries, a Union academy product whose yearlong loan to Italy’s Venezia has ended.

Venezia was reported in late May to have been near a deal to sign de Vries permanently, but it has not become official yet. Whether or not it does, Curtin made it clear that de Vries is going somewhere that isn’t Subaru Park.

“He is not with us right now, I’ll put it that way,” Curtin said. “There’s still some things that are being finalized. I think we’ll have official word on that pretty soon for you. But he won’t play a role.”

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Three months after signing him to a reserve team contract, the Union promoted forward Chris Donovan to the MLS team. A Paoli native who left Drexel after his junior season, the 21-year-old was a third-round draft pick by the Columbus Crew in January. But he did not sign, and the Union brought him in.

Donovan has played 10 games for the Union’s reserve team, with 3 goals and 1 assist.

“Chris has truly capitalized on an opportunity at this club and has made incredible strides since arriving in Philadelphia,” Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement. “His mentality and dedication to his development is a perfect example of what can be achieved in our system and what the Philadelphia Union stands for. We brought in a solid MLS Next Pro player, and we now believe Chris can immediately contribute to our first team.”

Because of MLS’s complex roster rules, the Union had to move him through the league’s waiver system and pay the Chicago Fire $50,000.

As part of a league-wide commemoration of Juneteenth, the Union and all teams in MLS will wear specially designed jersey numbers this weekend.

The black, green, red, and yellow design was created by Judah “Tip” Middleton, a Black artist from Alabama who now lives in New York City. Game-worn jerseys will be auctioned by the league online from June 20-July 5.

Proceeds will benefit Black-focused organizations in each team’s home market. The Union’s recipient is Design FC, an after-school arts program in Chester that has a soccer focus. It was co-founded by former Union player Warren Creavalle.

Juneteenth is a holiday honoring the emancipation of enslaved Black people in the United States. This year, it is an official federal holiday for the first time. June 19 is the date of the holiday, and because it falls on a Sunday, June 20 is the federal calendar day off.