The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stars travel world, return for playoffs
National teams called up 4 on United, 8 Red Bulls.
Because of the MLS schedule and FIFA calendar, several key players for Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls could be less than 100 percent for the first leg of their playoff series Nov. 25 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Four Atlanta United players, Josef
Martinez, Miguel Almiron, Hector Villalba and Brad Guzan, and eight from the Red Bulls were called up by their respective national teams for exhibition games this week and part of next week.
By the time the games are played, Mar- tinez, the league’s leading goal scorer with 31, and his Venezuelan national teammates will have flown all the way around the world — Atlanta to Japan where he played less than 60 minutes Friday, and then to Dubai to play Iran next Tuesday — before returning to Atlanta around Wednesday, four days before the opening leg.
Almiron, with 12 goals and 14 assists, and Villalba, with seven goals and nine assists, flew to South Africa to play for
Paraguay next Tuesday.
Almiron and Martinez are among the finalists for MLS MVP.
Guzan, the team’s starting goalkeeper, flew to England for the U.S. game against England on Thursday, and will travel to Belgium where the team will play Italy on Tuesday.
The Red Bulls may experience something similar.
Midfielder Tyler Adams and Aaron Long, the MLS Defender of the Year, are with the U.S. Kaku is with Paraguay. Fidel Escobar and Michael Murillo are with Panama for games Friday and next Tuesday. Derrick Etienne is with Haiti for two games. Kemar Lawrence is with Jamaica for a game. Cristian Casseres is with the U.S. Under-20 team.
Time for recovery: Atlanta United’s players are getting healthier in a hurry ahead of the coming playoff series against the Red Bulls.
Manager Gerardo Martino on Friday said that midfielders Jeff Larentowicz (muscle injury) and Andrew Carleton (flu) would return to training Friday. Midfielder Darlington Nagbe (hamstring) and fullback Chris McCann (quad strain) may return next week. Atlanta United will host the Red Bulls at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Nov. 25 in the first leg. The second leg will be played Nov. 29 in Harrison, N.J.
McCann didn’t play in the semifinals series against NYCFC after suffering his injury in the regular season finale at Toronto. Larentowicz, who has 33 starts this season, didn’t play in the second leg of the series at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Nagbe, who has 23 starts during the regular season, played in both games, but it was announced after the second game that he sustained a strain. He was supposed to join the U.S. men’s national team for its games against England and Italy, but instead stayed in Atlanta to rehab.
Additionally, midfielder Brandon Vazquez, who has missed several weeks, trained Friday. Fullback Sal Zizzo (knee) is in the last stage of his rehab and may return as early as next week. Fullback Mikey Ambrose (knee) won’t return this season, though his rehab is going well.