Philadelphia Union: Who could play in "a little tournament in Russia"?

The Philadelphia Union could have some familiar faces pop up in Russia.

One of the biggest selling points when the Philadelphia Union signed Rais M’bohli to be there new goalkeeper was that the Algerian national had played in a “little tournament in Brazil”. Of course, this was at the time referring to his play in the 2014 World Cup which almost saw his Algerian side stun Germany in the round of 16 after finishing second in their group, much like the United States. Rais was perhaps a misguided pick up for the Philadelphia Union.

He was almost as swiftly gone from the side as he had been picked up. The player was not a favorite of coach Jim Curtin, and made many mistakes that led to his eventual departure.

Now multiple years later the Philadelphia Union have had more international type players on the roster, including a wide number of players called up to the United States national team. Most notably, Alejandro Bedoya, whom also played in “a little tournament in Brazil”.

With players like Bedoya, Chris Pontius, Keegan Rosenberry, Derrick Jones, and Auston Trusty as part of the current US set up at different levels, and international stars such as Haris Medunjanin and Andre Blake seeing call ups to their respective national teams, it seems likely that the Union could see a player or two shown off in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. *Blake cannot play in the World Cup with Jamaica already eliminated.

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One of the biggest pushes from Earnie Stewart since his takeover of the sporting side of the Philadelphia Union is that they want to push to have their players play for the United States, and growth through the academy. We see this with players like Derrick Jones and Auston Trusty playing for the U20’s in the World Cup. We also see this in full national teamers like Alejandro Bedoya, the recent call-up of Keegan Rosenberry, and the use of Chris Pontius as part of the current Gold Cup squad along with Alejandro Bedoya.

The question is will the Union see one of their players in the next World Cup? The answer to that is most certainly yes. Alejandro Bedoya has been a jack of all trades over the years for the national team. Since his return to the United States he has continued to be called up both under Jürgen Klinsmann and returning national team Manager, Bruce Arena.

Bedoya will almost certainly be one of the 23 players on the plane to Russia barring injury, or a sudden dip of form. He might not play as much, or start as he did in the 2014 event, but he seems very certain to be a big part of the squad moving forward. He continues to be a veteran member of the squad and is one of the most consistent national team players over the past few years. His form in the Gold Cup was also rather remarkable with multiple assists, and being a captain of the B squad.

But the real question is if more than one of the Union players might see the field or be a call up to a national team. For much of the 2016 season Keegan Rosenberry was a revelation and this earned him a January call up under Bruce Arena, but much like his 2017 form that was apparently not a great performance for the young defender.

Once considered a big part of the backup Right Back and fullback options, Rosenberry has not started for the Union in months and a return of form would have to be miraculous for the Lancaster County native to return to the national team picture. Especially with Eric Lichaj’s Gold Cup performance, and Graham Zusi’s resurgence in the position.

The other obvious hope for the United States is Chris Pontius. Once again though it seems like the call ups have come a year late, while Pontius’ MLS form in 2016 was incredible, he has since degraded in 2017 and while a favorite of Bruce Arena’s it seems unlikely he can push his place into the first team after this Gold Cup with little more than cameos.

Arena has praised the player’s defensive work, but with Bedoya, and others like him on the roster another defensively sound winger is not necessarily needed. Further Pontius has had little scoring this year, and while he has of recent been getting more assists it would be a major dark horse pick for the Russia team. He could however work his way into the preliminary roster of 30 for the tournament with an impressive early 2018.

Beyond those 3 it seems unlikely that any US player would get called up. Derrick Jones is in a position of relative need at CDM, but Kellyn Acosta, and Dax McCarty sit in the way of a call up behind Michael Bradley. He is also majorly defensively raw.

Auston Trusty does not have a single appearance in a real MLS or Cup competition and seems far off from being called up. Potentially Fafa Picault could return to the national team fold, but much like CJ Sapong it would take a lot from the two forwards in the scoring department to see them even scrape the bottom of the top 6 current national team strikers.

There are two major possibilities outside of the United States. Haris Medunjanin was called up to the Bosnia and Herzegovina squad for a June qualifier against Greece. While he did not see the field in the match it shows that the Bosnian boss still sees him as an option and the Bosnian side looking for their second straight qualification could use the in-form midfielder to qualify.

With their 0-0 tie against Greece the team sits 1 point out of the playoffs for qualifying from the UEFA region and this could potentially see Haris also heading to Bosnia, or at least seeing himself as a preliminary squad member.

The other possibility is Joshua Yaro who could be called up by Ghana if he returns to his pre-injury form during the 2016 MLS campaign. Yaro was a big part of the last season, and due to injury has missed much of this year. He seems likely a big part of the Union squad moving forward and should likely push to start alongside Jack Elliot in the back 4 before next season.

Further his return could also expedite the return of Keegan Rosenberry, his college teammate, to the Union starting lineup. While Yaro has not been called up by Ghana before, they are no strangers to calling up American based players and looking at various and young options. That said Ghana sits precariously in the bottom half of their African qualifying group, and would have to see a major turnaround to catch up to Egypt at the top of the group.

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With all that said it seems likely that the Union will see a member of their squad in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It also seems possible that the team could get at least 2 players in the World Cup. Barring a big change the Union could go from no major call ups to a World Cup previously to multiple in the span of a few years. While this does not mean much for the squad now, moving forward it could be a big part of attracting pieces for the Union’s attempts to win trophies in the future.

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Philadelphia Union: “A little tournament in Russia”

By Ricky Zellefrow | Jul 23, 2017

The Philadelphia Union could have some familiar faces pop up in Russia.