Because of the MLS schedule and FIFA calendar, several key players for Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls could be less than 100 percent for the first leg of their playoff series Nov. 25 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Four Atlanta United players, Josef Martinez, Miguel Almiron, Hector Villalba and Brad Guzan, and eight from Red Bulls were called up by their respective national teams for exhibition games this week and part of next week.
By the time the games are played, Martinez, the league’s leading goal scorer with 31, and his Venezuelan national teammates will have flown all the way around the world -- Atlanta to Japan where he played less than 60 minutes Friday, and then to Dubai to play Iran on Nov. 20 -- before returning to Atlanta around Nov. 21, four days before the opening leg.
Almiron, with 12 goals and 14 assists, and Villalba, with seven goals and nine assists, flew to South Africa to play for Paraguay on Nov. 20.
Almiron and Martinez are among the finalists for MLS MVP.
Guzan, the team’s starting goalkeeper, flew to England for the U.S. game against England on Thursday, and will travel to Belgium where the team will play Italy on Tuesday.
The Red Bulls may experience something similar.
Midfielder Tyler Adams and Aaron Long, the MLS Defender of the Year, are with the U.S. Kaku is with Paraguay. Fidel Escobar and Michael Murillo are with Panama for games Nov. 16 and Nov. 20. Derrick Etienne is with Haiti for two games. Kemar Lawrence is with Jamaica for a game. Cristian Casseres is with the U.S. Under-20 team.
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