https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MILJ9qqBUTE
The international competition window was not kind to Orlando City. Not at all.
The loss to New England (maybe not 3-0 bad) was somewhat expected without three of Orlando City’s key players for the game — including its striker Cyle Larin and offensive engine Kaka. What was hoped for and unexpected was the potential for injuries.
It seems things are going from bad to worse for Orlando City as the remnants of this international break are going to remain with the team as it prepares for Sunday’s important game against Sporting Kansas City. The already slim playoff hopes for the Lions appear to be slipping even further away and missing out some key players is only going to make things worse.
Kaka’s injury is a little less severe. But he reportedly injured his hamstring during training with Brazil. Orlando City is listing him as day-to-day with a minor muscle injury.
“We are incredibly disappointed with this recent development for Kaká and for our fans,” Orlando City general manager Paul McDonough said in a news release. “He has played 25 games for us so far this season, over 2,100 minutes, without any major issues or concerns. To the contrary, he undergoes one training session and match with the Brazilian National Team and he is injured.
International call-ups have been a challenge for us as we are also evaluating an injured Darwin Cerén following his participation with El Salvador. It’s the same thing we faced with Brek [Shea] earlier in the year after he returned from play with the U.S. National Team. Unfortunately, we are obliged to release these players according to FIFA rules, and then are left to deal with the fallout after the fact. Again, I am very disappointed for our fans and for our injured players.”
Christian Bruey of WFTV reports Kaka has a strained adductor and is doubtful for Sunday’s game.
Asked source to give me @KAKA status for Sunday vs @sportingkc in NFL terms and got the dreaded "doubtful." He suffered an adductor strain.
— Christian Bruey (@ChristianBruey) September 10, 2015
The situation with Ceren is much more dire and different. Orlando City is not even sure at this point what his injury is. Ceren is expected back in Orlando for a physical and evaluation Thursday.
Ceren was taken off on a stretcher during El Salvador’s 1-0 win over Curacao. The extent of the injury was not known and not even Orlando City staffers could get information on his status. Coach Adrian Heath told Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel they were left completely in the dark.
“I’d like to be able to say yeah, we’ve had a thorough examination, unfortunately that’s not the case. We’re trying to get more information daily, we tried to get him home straight after the game. … It’s very frustrating when someone you pay for, you buy, we pay the salary and we’re still a little bit in the dark three days later with the extent of the injury.”
Orlando City fans might be right to be upset with the whole international window. They have lost countless numbers of players at inopportune times to international duty. Brek Shea is still out after an injury he suffered playing for the U.S. national team. He could be back Sunday, actually.
It has raised questions from soccer neophytes about loyalty and the primacy international soccer takes on the calendar.
Every MLS team has to deal with that and it is not anything new for the league. The league itself has to decide whether it can afford to take international breaks like most soccer leagues do around the world. Orlando City has just been snakebitten by the natural risks that come with this schedule.
This international break just hit Orlando City harder than the other ones.
The Lions will have to march on and hope to find some momentum to end the season.
