Phoenix won’t block star’s travel plans
Wellington Phoenix will not stand in the way of star player Ulises Davila’s return to Mexico for the birth of his first child, but could limit the club’s community engagement due to the growing coronavirus threat.
Davila will travel to Mexico following next Sunday’s A-League match against Newcastle Jets, which will be the third of three games the Phoenix play during a demanding eight-day period.
There have only been 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Mexico and five in New Zealand, but 122 in Australia where the Phoenix play all their away games.
The pandemic has caused significant disruption to the international football calendar and Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay admitted it was a ‘‘concern’’ , despite the FFA confirming that round 23 will go ahead as planned this weekend.
‘‘I know the clubs are in discussions with the FFA at the moment and we’re just waiting on what it’ll look like and what decisions will be made looking forward.
‘‘We’re very fortunate that in the country that we’re living in that it’s not chaotic at the moment. The boys are still handshaking but more fist bumping now than anything else.
‘‘We make sure the boys have got their individual sanitiser that they carry around with them but they’re professionals, they’re eating healthy and drinking right.’’
Davila’s wife is due to give birth during the March international window, meaning he is unlikely to miss any games while he is overseas. However, Talay said that the club would be flexible if she went into labour early.
‘‘It’s the birth of his first child so he wants to be there,’’ he said. ‘‘Whenever it happens, it happens and if he needs to go then he’ll go.’’
Davila has been a revelation for the Phoenix in his first A-League season, leading the team with 10 goals and five assists.
Although he missed Tuesday’s training session due to a slight illness, Davila was back on the pitch on Wednesday and Talay was confident his star player would be healthy enough to face Melbourne Victory in Wellington tomorrow.
‘‘He’s all good. He’s done yesterday’s session with us as well, so it’s just one of those ones where he felt like he had a slight flu. But he’s OK, he’s all good.’’
While it’s business as usual for the A-League, the Phoenix have taken some precautionary measures to limit the threat of Covid-19 by supplying players and staff with hand sanitiser.
Talay said they might also cut back on some of their community engagement activities.
Riding a three-game winning streak, the Phoenix will be looking to further cement their place inside the top four when they host the underperforming Victory, who have won just one of their past eight games.
Victory have been boosted by the addition of Marco Rojas but the All Whites star is under an injury cloud after taking a knock to his ankle last week.
‘‘It’s a big game for them, it’s a game for them that they need to win to keep their season alive,’’ Talay said. ‘‘But for us it’s great, I like challenges and it’s going to be a great challenge.’’
As tomorrow’s game is taking place on the one-year anniversary of the Christchurch shootings, the Phoenix have planned a tribute to honour the 51 victims by dressing 51 seats in black. They will also observe a moment’s silence before kickoff.