By: Jack McLane
The Covid 19 Pandemic is a subject that everyone on the planet remembers, not in a good way. I’m sure I don’t have to explain what it is to you, but long story short the pandemic paused all sports and school and basically everything in the world. With sports starting up again Men’s Soccer Friendlies have been being played for the past couple months or so, and the US has been a team that everyone has wanted to see play mainly because we have so many young and talented players nobody has seen play at the national level. But, even with games being played again those players we cannot see due to covid restrictions. Some of our most exciting players in Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic are overseas in Europe, and can’t come back here to play. That doesn’t sound like a big deal but when we have to play our games in America, then it is basically playing with our B team. Our best players are playing overseas because the best football is overseas.
Right now the Covid 19 Pandemic is finally slowly starting to be cured after a vaccine was deployed January and February. But, it is still a very bad problem when a player gets covid because they have to quarantine for 2 weeks. Not only that but if a team in Europe allows one of our players to come to America to play then they could get Covid and shut down the entire team for 2 weeks. And not to mention Covid is much worse in the US than it is in all of Europe. A simple solution would be to play all the games in Europe and other countries you may think, but there are very many players who are good who play in the US. Just because they’re here, doesn’t mean they can’t play overseas.
To put it simply, the Covid 19 Pandemic is hiding some of the best US players potential. Konrad De La Fuente (above) is a perfect example of what I am saying, he plays at a very strong club that could easily beat the US Men's National Team. The “bar” is so high there that he doesn’t start or play very much at Barcelona but when he is available to the US, he could start. That doesn’t mean much but if his Manager is watching that game, and he sees De La Fuente absolutely tear up and play amazing and play the way he coaches his team to play, then he might get a shot at Barcelona. My point is that the international games are not only extra exposure but also the chance to play for your nation and help try to bring home the world cup trophy (Jules Rimet). Sure, self accolades should not be your biggest priority, but it is a very large plus.
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