Earthquakes restart season today.
The San Jose Earthquakes restart the 2020 season today in Florida with questions and more questions.
Of primary concern is how a World Cup-like tournament at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex will unfold as Major League
Soccer officials address a fluid situation because of a novel coronavirus that continues to spread uncertainty across the United States, with Florida as a hotspot.
On the eve of today’s Quakes’ tournament opener in Group B, the schedule changed with the addition of the Chicago Fire, which will face San Jose on July 19. The change came about because MLS executives withdrew Nashville SC from the tournament on Thursday after nine of its players tested positive for COVID-19.
On Monday, Group B opponent FC Dallas was withdrawn after 10 of its players tested positive for COVID-19 at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando.
Without Dallas, Group B had only three teams whereas Chicago was part of a six-club Group A. Once Nashville was withdrawn league officials moved the Fire into Group B to even out the bracket.
As it stands, the Earthquakes open Group B
against defending MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC with a 6 p.m. broadcast on ESPN. Another Group B team, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, announced five of its players would not play in Florida because of coronavirus concerns.
But Earthquakes players said they feel they are being protected from the virus.
“The league is doing a great job in making us safe,” midfielder Cristian Espinoza said in Spanish.
Originally all 26 MLS teams were guaranteed three tournament games in their groups that would count toward the regular-season standings. Now it’s a 24-team tournament, and the league hasn’t said whether Dallas and Nashville will make up their missed games later in the season.
Here is the outlook as the first major American men’s professional sports league returns in the face of a global pandemic that has hit the United States the hardest.
Tournament format
The top two teams from each group will advance along with the four best third-place finishers to the single-elimination knockout stage. It will follow a World Cup format: a round of 16 on July 25-28, quarterfinals on July 30-Aug. 1, semifinals on Aug. 5-6 and the championship game Aug. 11.
One departure from the World Cup is that instead of playing overtime periods, ties during the knockout stage will lead directly to penalty kick shootouts. In another change, teams will be allowed five substitutions per game instead of the traditional three. Also, teams can include up to 23 players on each official game-day roster instead of 18.
How the Quakes look
San Jose players open the tournament confident they have acclimated to the heat and humidity of Florida after arriving in Orlando two weeks ago. The Quakes also feel safe the way they have been isolated from other teams at their hotel.
“We’re in a bubble inside of a bubble,” midfielder Shea Salinas said by phone as he walked past a group of opponents.
Salinas, 34, said the quality of soc
cer will not be the same as during a regular year because of a lack of game fitness. He said the 3½-month layoff was perhaps the longest time players have been away from soccer since they were kids.
“It could lead to more scoring in the second half,” Salinas said.
The Earthquakes entered the season with questions under second-year coach Matias Almeyda. They missed the postseason last year, losing their final six games. But they looked like one of the league’s best teams for an extended period last summer and expect to build on that.
MLS career scoring leader Chris Wondolowski returns but might play a secondary role as Almeyda relies on Danny Hoesen, Cade Cowell, Cristian Espinoza, Valeri Qazaishvili and Andy Rios for an offense.
The team also is expecting a big year from U.S. national team midfielder Jackson Yueill and newcomer Oswaldo Alanis, a Mexican international central defender.
What’s shaking in Group B?
SEATTLE SOUNDERS >> The Sounders might be the tournament favorite with the likes of Jordan Morris, Raul Ruidiaz, Nicholas Lodeiro, Christian Roldan, Joao Paulo and Yeimar Gomez Andrade. They paused the season just two games into their defense of the 2019 MLS Cup.
Seattle reloaded in the offseason by acquiring Brazilian midfielder Paulo and Colombian center back Yeimar Gómez Andrade.
Ruidiaz has 22 goals in 38 games with the Sounders and Morris, a former Stanford star, has proven to be a formidable goalscorer in MLS and with the U.S. national team. VANCOUVER WHITECAPS >> The Whitecaps seemingly will be at a disadvantage without the services of forwards Lucas Cavallini, Tosaint Ricketts and Fredy Montero. Also sitting out are midfielders Andy Rose, whose wife is due to give birth this summer, and Georges Mukumbilwa, who was not cleared to travel outside of Canada.
Coach Marc Dos Santos told reporters he has belief in the players on his roster.
“I think it’s going to open doors for young players who are going to have the availability to showcase themselves, and I don’t have a doubt from what I’ve seen in training and what I’ve seen from them that we’re still going to be a hard team to play against and beat,” he said. CHICAGO FIRE >> The Fire is one of MLS’s most interesting teams to watch this season after losing 14 players from last season, including its three designated players. The technical staff also is new, starting with coach Raphael Wicky, a former Swiss international player.
How will the team jell during the tournament with new arrivals such as Gaston Gimenez, Ignacio Aliseda and Luka Stojanovic having little time to fit in? But Chicago has possibilities with a potentially strong midfield behind Gimenez and Stojanovic with returners Djordje Mihailovic and Przemyslaw Frankowski. If the midfielders can connect with new forward Robert Beric, an experienced striker from Europe, it could bode well.
How to watch
All games will be broadcast on MLS’s U.S. media partners ESPN, Fox Sports and FS1, TSN and TUDN. Some games will be live-streamed on Twitter in addition to the broadcasters’ streaming services.
San Jose’s game July 15 against Vancouver that kicks off at 7:30 p.m. is scheduled to be shown on Spanish-language TUDN and Twitter with English commentary. The Quakes’ final group game is against Chicago at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 19, on FS1 and TUDN.
San Jose executives said they will plan host to free drive-in viewing parties at Earthquakes Stadium during group play.