Earthquakes absorb MLS chaos ahead of tournament opener
Music blared from a thirdfloor balcony for nearly a week, but none of the hotel’s guests was about to complain.
The heavy beat rocking the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort came from FC Dallas players dealing with two outbreaks: the coronavirus and cabin fever. On July 1, Major League Soccer announced that six Dallas players had tested positive for the virus since arriving in Orlando on June 27, prompting all of the team’s players to quarantine themselves in their hotel rooms.
Their opening game against Vancouver in the MLS is Back tournament, which begins Wednesday, was still slated for Thursday, so the team’s
healthy players stayed connected via loud Zoom workouts in their rooms on the third floor.
The number soon grew to 10 infected players and one staff member. On Monday, MLS announced that Dallas had withdrawn from the tournament, which ends Aug. 11.
“It sucks to see your friends in the league and other guys you know get sick. It shows how real this virus is,” said Earthquakes backup goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, who is from Alamo. “It’s not like it just affects the people who are highrisk; it can affect anybody at any time.”
Monday’s announcement reinforced lingering unease for a San Jose team that was the first to arrive in Orlando on June 24. Thanks to rigid protocols, players say they have barely crossed paths with anyone from the other 24 remaining teams at the huge hotel, but recent developments with FC Dallas and Nashville SC have added a layer of uncertainty to a Disney bubble in flux.
On Tuesday, MLS postponed Wednesday’s game between Nashville and Chicago after confirming that five Nashville SC players have tested positive since arriving in Florida. Four other suspected cases are awaiting followup, and a player from the Columbus Crew also tested positive. LAFC, one of the last teams to arrive, came without 2019 MVP Carlos Vela, who opted to stay home with his pregnant wife.
“I’m here already, so I’m like, ‘Let’s get these games knocked out,’ but at the same time, having (10) players test positive from Dallas — that’s pretty concerning,” San Jose midfielder Shea Salinas said. “At some point, there’s going to be a decision made that says, ‘Is this really worth it?’ ”
Despite creeping doubts, the Quakes’ experience in Orlando has been largely positive. They have enjoyed occasionally raucous team meals in their firstfloor banquet room. Two days into their stay, midfielder Carlos Fierro bought a dart board on Amazon, and daily tournaments in their game room have grown fierce. And each trip to the massive conference room dedicated to coronavirus testing — something they do every other day — has produced negative test results.
It’s a stark contrast to the chaos surrounding them.
Florida reported 7,347 more coronavirus cases Tuesday with a record high percentage of positive test results. Orange and Osceola counties, where the hotel and the ESPN Wide World of Sports are located, respectively, both reported singleday highs Friday before declining over the weekend.
Still, San Jose’s players are happy to train together for the first time since the league shut down March 12. Santa Clara County’s cautious approach to the epidemic kept the Earthquakes confined to their Bay Area homes even as other teams around the country eased back into training sessions in recent weeks.
FC Dallas’ predicament tempered some of that enthusiasm, but players understand that restarting sports leagues amid a pandemic is a risky endeavor.
“For me, we’re living in an imperfect world,” Quakes defender Tommy Thompson said.
“I think it’s impossible to create a perfect environment in the current conditions.”
The hardest part for Salinas is being away from his wife and kids for six weeks. He’s grateful that the Earthquakes’ catering service is delivering them three meals per week, but it was bittersweet to receive photos of his 1yearold daughter showing off her first ponytail. His son, meanwhile, reported his first loose tooth over the phone.
“I was like, ‘Don’t eat any apples, don’t eat any corn. Wait till daddy gets home,’ ” Salinas said.
Confusion reigns on the eve of San Jose’s tournament opener Friday against defending MLS Cup champion Seattle. With fellow Group B member Dallas now out, league officials still don’t know whether San Jose will play a third group game after it faces Vancouver next Wednesday. That’s a problem, because those three firstround matches are supposed to count toward teams’ regularseason records.
All the Quakes can do is take everything in stride.
“I think when you’re on the outside looking in, it’s definitely a lot worse than what it is,” Marcinkowski said. “I mean at the end of the day, we’re at a Disney World hotel.”