Photo Paul Rudderow

Wednesday evening Concacaf drew the Philadelphia Union against Club Saprissa of Costa Rica in Round One of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup, the new name for the expanded Concacaf Champions League. Other noteworthy teams on the Union’s side of the bracket are Liga MX powerhouses Club America and Pachuca.

Initial reporting has emphasized the Union’s defeating Saprissa 5-0 on aggregate in 2021, 1-0 in San Jose and 4-0 at home. But a deeper dive reminds us all that Saprissa was dealing with several injuries and suspensions and played in an empty stadium  because of COVID. Jim Curtin will be respectful and cautious in his comments, and his caution should be heeded. A proud Central American side may be seeking payback against upstarts. Frustration boiled over during the fracas at the end of the first match.

We do not yet know exactly when the home-and-away matches will take place. The earliest possibility is Wednesday, February 6 and the latest is Friday, February 29.

In the worst case scenario were the match to fall on February 6, it would happen 27 days after Philadelphia’s preseason opened. Customarily, both weather and Concacaf’s club rankings would  indicate the opening leg should be in Costa Rica and the closing one in Philly, but that is unconfirmed speculation.

Were the Union to prevail they would most likely face  Club America, to whom they lost 4-0 on aggregate back in 2021 in the semifinals. Should they advance from the America matchup, they would most likely face Pachuca.

Were the seeding scheme that was used for the draw, (see Appendix) be validated by actual results, the Union would play only four extra Champions Cup matches total and be finished by the Ides of March.

But such prediction is premature until Philadelphia’s roster is closer to completion.  Kai Wagner, Alejandro Bedoya, Julian Carranza, a new back-up goalkeeper (see Appendix redux), Andres Perea, Joaquin Torres, David Vazquez, and Jose Riasco are all roster questions needing answers.

None of the seven named are in the two-stage re-entry draft (14-Dec & 21-Dec) save possible candidates for acquisition as the back-up keeper. But Wagner and Bedoya are both eligible for free agency (which began 13-Dec) along with aforementioned potential keeper acquisitions.

Beyond the recently announced signing of Duke attacking midfielder Nick Pariano  as a homegrown player, the actual Superdraft itself (19-Dec) can be ignored as it is unlikely to affect the first team’s roster as much as it might Union II’s.

Appendix

 Appendix redux

Free agent, re-entry draft, and waiver list goalkeepers

* Qualifies as a free agent but is not listed as such. Has perhaps opted out of being listed as a free agent since he is in talks?