It’s about time that things start back into the swing of the match preview — it’s been a while, and perhaps a bit of a break (if a week between matches counts as a break) was necessary, both for fans and for the team. It’s been an exhausting season, and it’s far from over, so I suppose a quick breather is necessary. Have at it now, will you?
In terms of upcoming matches: Portland got one over on Chivas USA last night in a 1-0 win in the Pacific Northwest, leaving the Goats with five points and one win from their last five matches. We’re not particularly better off, so it won’t be a simple case of motivation for either side.
In terms of injuries: Things aren’t looking good. We may very well be handing Tim Melia his first start for the club (don’t let us down, Tim!) on Saturday if Nick and Kyle aren’t fit, and our squad depth is looking like an early-season myth. It’s not — we’ve been particularly unlucky with injuries, and if it weren’t for this depth, things could be even worse. Yes, that’s possible.
Callin’ on Up
- Will Johnson has been called into the Canadian National Team squad for World Cup qualifying matches on Sept. 2 and Sept. 6. The matches will take place in Toronto and Puerto Rico, respectively.
- Other potential call-ups include Arturo Alvarez for El Salvador, Kyle Beckerman for the U.S., Alvaro Saborio for Costa Rica, and Jean Alexandre for Haiti. It could potentially leave our squad looking rather threadbare.
As you can see, we could be looking very depleted come September. Let’s hope everything smooths out by then and we end up not looking so bad. We’ve got the playoffs to reach and win.
A short one today, but I’ll be back tomorrow with a full-fledged match preview. Up the RSL!
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