Pizarro could be available for playoff game
Rodolfo Pizarro could be available for Inter Miami CF’s first playoff game after all.
ESPN reported Tuesday afternoon that Major League Soccer will allow players on international duty to use charter flights for their return to the U.S. so they’ll be available in time for the MLS Cup playoffs.
Inter Miami (7-13-3, 24 points) is set to start the playoffs with a play-in match against Nashville SC (8-78, 32 points) at 9 p.m. on Friday at Nissan Stadium (ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes).
Pizarro was originally expected to miss Friday’s playoff matchup due to being on international duty with Mexico’s national soccer team. The Mexican midfielder was in Austria as of Tuesday afternoon and started in Mexico’s friendly against Japan after playing as a reserve in a friendly against South Korea last Friday.
FIFA’s international window was from Nov. 9 through Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the competitions the country was playing in.
Pizarro, like other MLS players returning from international duty, would’ve had to quarantine for nine or 10 days after returning to the U.S. dueto the league’s COVID-19 protocol.
But ESPN’s report stated the league would allow players to avoid the quarantine period if they took charter flights back stateside — as long as they continued testing negative for COVID-19.
ML S reported Saturday that seven players in the league tested positive for COVID-19 between Nov. 5 and Nov. 11.
“While we understand details are still being finalized by MLS, this is a very positive development ,” an Inter Miami spokesperson said in a statement .“to All the clubs South are Florida looking Sun forward Sentinel to having players rejoin their respective teams thisweek.”
Pizarro’s been one of Inter Miami’s better attacking threats. He’s recorded four goals and five assists—both the second best marks on the team— through 19 games.
Pizarro missed four of Inter Miami’s matches in October due to obligations to Mexico’s national teams and an ensuing quarantine period after returning to South Florida. His inclusion in Friday’s lineup would be crucial for an Inter Miami team that could miss some key players against Nashville SC, which it played to a scoreless draw and lost to, 1-0, during the pair of regular-season matchups between the two expansion teams.
Center back Andres Reyes is suspended for Friday’s game after being given two yellow cards and disqualified during Inter Miami’s final regular-season g am ever sus FC Cincinnati on Nov. 8.
Nico Figal’s status for the match against Nashville is unknown. Inter Miami coach Diego Alonso said at the end of October that the Argentine defender will be out for “a few weeks” after sustaining a muscle injury in his left leg during the team’s game against FC Dallas on Oct. 28.
Brek Shea, who scored four goals in 13 games for Inter Miami, missed the team’s last three matches of the regular season — two due to injury andthe regular-season finale against FC Cincinnati because he was “not medically cleared,” which is the same language ML S clubs have used on injury reports for players who tested positive for COVID-19.
Inter Miami reportedly had an unnamed player test positive for COVID-19 before the match against FC Cincinnati and it’s unknown if he’ll be cleared to play Friday.
Nashville SC could also benefit from players not having to go through a quarantine period once returning to the U.S. from international duty. It could have Randall Leal available against Inter Miami, as the winger played for the Costa Rica national team against Qatar last Friday in Austria.