Philadelphia Union: 5 Must See Games this Season
By Chuck Booth
These are the games that didn’t quite make the cut. While they will still be great games to watch they narrowly missed out on the top five.
Check out the honorable mentions below:
4/8 vs Orlando City SC at Talen Energy Stadium-
Who was the last player other than Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d’Or, given to the best soccer player in Europe. None other than Kaká in 2007 while he was a member of AC Milan in Serie A. This is a matchup focused on star power and what more does Orlando need? They have the reigning MLS rookie of the year in Cyle Larin who scored 17 goals to break the rookie scoring record last season, global superstar Kaká, and an American angling to get back into national team consideration with Brek Shea. Orlando should be in playoff contention during the season making this game a good litmus test for the Philadelphia Union as part of their brutal slate to open the season.
6/22 vs The Chicago Fire at Talen Energy Stadium-
Led by former Philadelphia Union player, Veljko Paunovic the new-look Chicago Fire have been an exciting team to watch this season. The Fire are a sure bet for two things, they’re going to score a lot of goals and give up a lot of goals. While the Chicago Fire don’t have much of a shot to make the playoffs it may be some of the more exciting soccer that we watch all year. It has the potential to end with a 4-5 scoreline especially since the fire are testing out an entirely new back line. That line has surrendered a league-high 5 goals through 2 games, joint worst with FC Dallas.
Another thing to watch in this game will be how left back Brandon Vincent (who some think the Union should have drafted) performs against right back Keegan Rosenberry (who the Union actually drafted).
Next: Number 5 vs the San Jose Earthquakes