Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Communications

The least important detail of a preseason scrimmage is the score. Philadelphia hit the net four times and prevented the opponent from doing so.

Olwethu Makhanya opened with a header from a corner served by Milan Iloski in the 33rd minute. Bruno Damiani finished a feed from Frank Westfield in the 54th with Iloski getting the hockey assist. Iloski finished a defensively failed clearance in the 62nd that started from a Damiani feed. And in the 93rd Ben Bender tallied from a feed by Alejandro Bedoya.

Much more importantly the group that will probably be Philadelphia’s strongest alignment ran for 75 minutes. And the top ten behind them did the same for 45.

Carnell will further hone the conditioning in Florida next week.

 In advance

 In an article posted on the Union’s official website (click here), head coach Bradley Carnell made comments that imply his strategy to prepare the team for the schedule they face at the beginning of the season.  He is structuring preseason scrimmage time to condition his top 20 players equally (our words).

Lineup combinations have varied from scrimmage to scrimmage. But none of the top 20 field players have been planned to get more minutes than any other, although reality intervened to change the plan last Thursday.

In theory upon arrival in Port-of-Spain February 18th he will have 20 equally ready field players at his disposal. He is thoroughly enabling the “next man up” philosophy. In terms of conditioning, Carnell’s approach should give him two fully interchangeable squads. They will not be fully interchangeable in other ways. But to borrow a phrase from Carnell’s 2025 Union preseason, no opponent should be able to outrun and outwork Philadelphia.

Judging by when the goals were scored, FK Buducnost Podgorica got outrun and outworked by Philadelphia. The in-game decision to cut the scrimmage’s last 15 minutes reinforces that idea.

The match

The match lasted 120 minutes. It was played in three segments: 45 minutes, 45 minutes, and then 30 more. The last segment had been announced in advance as 45 but was negotiated down during the event.

We are assigning players’ positions based on the previous two 2026 scrimmages we eyeballed. Only in the defensive line do the sides of the pitch matter positionally.  Elsewhere, Carnell’s principle of interchangeability supersedes location.

Both Union Lineups

• Bueno replaced Jean Jacques in the 60^th 
• C Sullivan replaced Vassilev in the 72^nd
• in the 75^th minute:
  • Rick replaced Blake.
  • Sundstrom replaced we think Makhanya.
  • Mbaizo replaced we think Sery Larsen.
  • Bender replaced Westfield.
  • Trialist (Sequera we presume) replaced Harriel.
  • Rafanello replaced Lukic.
  • Olivas replaced Alladoh.
  • Korzeniowski replaced Damiani.
  • Bedoya replaced Iloski.
• Jakupovic replaced Olivas in the 95^th.

The players below did not play, although we do not know why. Injury or coach’s decision are two immediately obvious explanations. We do not know whether they dressed.

• George Marks GK
• CJ Olney AM
• Markus Anderson AM/S
• Eddy Davis S

If our guesses at the alignment of the defensive line are correct, here are possible reasons why:

• Sundstrom would be evaluated as the left CB, a useful discovery-and-exposure exercise. [Can he do it? What does he learn from it?]
• Mbaizo would play where he did in the last 15 minutes of a preseason scrimmage last year.
• Sequera would stay in the position he is still learning. (He has now played 17 games there.)
• Bender would stay in the position he is trying to learn. (He has now played three games there.)

Goals

1. Olwethu Makhanya scored a goal in the 33^rd. The video clip posted by the Union indicates it was a header from a corner kick served from the left by Milan Iloski, as previously against Nordsjaelland (see photo above).
2. Bruno Damiani scored in the 54^th minute from a feed by Frank Westfield, presumably during the run of play.
3. Milan Iloski scored in the 62^nd minute from a feed by Bruno Damiani.
4. Ben Bender scored in the 93^rd minute on an assist from Ale Bedoya.

Whimsical Postscripts

We think we have noticed that within the team Ezekiel Alladoh may go by the nickname “Izzy,” and that Japhet Sery Larsen may go by “Jeff.”

The caption on the photo when the Union first posted it on Twitter was “Big Mak got hops!”