Tai Baribo is still adjusting to his new life with the Union

We haven’t seen much of new Union striker Tai Baribo yet, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change soon.

“He’s still in preseason,” manager Jim Curtin said at a news conference Tuesday before the team left town for Wednesday’s game at Toronto FC (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, free).

That was a reference to Baribo having not played a game from June 5, his last action with Austrian club Wolfsberger AC, until his debut against Monterrey in the Leagues Cup. The 25-year-old Israeli was a last-minute cameo in a game that had long since been decided.

“He’s building fitness, getting used to his new team, getting used to his new culture, a new city, a new town,” Curtin said. “It’s going to take time. So that’s kind of where we’re at on that.”

» READ MORE: Union sign forward Tai Baribo from Wolfsberger AC

The Union signed Baribo in early August, but he didn’t become eligible to play until his visa paperwork was settled a few weeks later. The Monterrey game was the first for which he was eligible, and is his only appearance for the team so far.

“The system we play here at the Union, it’s the same like I played in Austria: two strikers that all the time run deep,” Baribo told The Inquirer on Tuesday after practice. “What I like about this team is that all the time, it thinks offensive. Immediately when you get the ball, you’re starting the buildup. Immediately, you’re thinking how to attack the goal. ... This is the type of striker that I am.”

Baribo didn’t play with or against any of his new teammates over the years. But he started paying attention to MLS last winter, when he got an offer from the Vancouver Whitecaps. Though it didn’t lead to a deal, he kept an eye on the league.

“I saw that the Philadelphia Union were a very good team, and I started to follow the good teams here,” he said.

» READ MORE: Union takeaways: Jack McGlynn and Leon Flach played key roles in the win at D.C. United

José Andrés Martínez was a full participant on the field Tuesday, three days after leaving Saturday’s win at D.C. United after just 26 minutes with a hamstring injury.

Martínez was right in the middle of the short-sided scrimmage drills that were the focus of the day, and Curtin said the star midfielder should be good to go Wednesday.

“He was kind of just proactive, made that good long run, set up the second goal, and then just didn’t feel quite right,” Curtin said. “But hasn’t had any pain from then [on]. We got tests done and everything’s positive there. So, yeah, we dodged a bullet, for sure.”

But it might still be worth not giving Martínez a full run in Toronto. The Union will come right back home to prepare for a Sunday night showdown with the rival New York Red Bulls, before taking next weekend off because it’s a FIFA national team window.

» READ MORE: The Union’s José Andrés Martínez gets a multi-year contract extension

Martínez and Jesús Bueno will be with Venezuela’s national team during that period for the start of South America’s qualifying marathon for the 2026 World Cup. It’s a round-robin tournament with all 10 of the continent’s teams, and it won’t be done until September 2025. The top six teams will qualify directly, and the seventh will go to an intercontinental playoff.

It’s Bueno’s first senior national team call-up, and Curtin congratulated him on the honor.

“Jesús is a great example of a kid that has really put his head down, worked hard, a real professional, pushed guys in training even when he wasn’t called to play or start — still was a great teammate,” Curtin said. “And now he’s getting his reward, not just from us with minutes, but also now with the Venezuelan national team. Which is the ultimate honor for him, to represent his country.”

» READ MORE: Union’s first-half romp propels a 3-1 win at D.C. United in return to regular-season action

Curtin took a moment to lament the state of the team’s practice field next door to Subaru Park. The team has been reduced to one field instead of the usual two while the Union are building the major expansion of their training facilities. So the grass has taken a beating from constant use, instead of the squad alternating which pitch it uses.

“Just got off the training field, which has kind of reached its tipping point,” Curtin said. “It’s taken a lot of wear and tear, has become almost unplayable and really compact, and the players are complaining about different soreness and muscle tightness that maybe leads to injury.”

Fortunately, he added, the surrounding construction has progressed enough to where the players should be able to resume a more expansive setup soon.

“I’ve thanked them for their patience with the fields, and hopefully, that’s our last session on that field as they build the new complex,” Curtin said. “I apologize for the state of things.”

It’s not his fault, as polite as that was. And the players surely know.

» READ MORE: Crystal Dunn looks forward to the USWNT’s next chapter as she returns to the NWSL

Philadelphia’s rich but dormant indoor soccer history will get a new chapter next month when the U.S. men’s national futsal team holds a training camp in town.

Futsal is the world’s version of indoor soccer, played on a hardwood court with five players per side. The next FIFA Futsal World Championship is set for Sept. 14-Oct. 6, 2024, and Concacaf will have a qualifying tournament sometime before then.

The U.S. program just hired a new coach, Hewerton Moreira, who played 16 years of professional indoor soccer in U.S. leagues from 2004-20. He never played for the Kixx, but he had extended stops in Milwaukee, San Diego, St. Louis, and Utica, N.Y.

He’s now the head coach of that Utica team, which shares ownership with the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets. The organization’s president is former Flyers goaltender Robert Esche.

» READ MORE: Before the Union, the Kixx were Philly’s soccer team, and former USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski played for them