With both teams playing on less than two days rest, Atlanta United will host San Jose on Tuesday at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The 11 who started Atlanta United’s 2-0 win over Columbus on Saturday haven’t kicked a ball since the game ended that night and won’t until Tuesday, which is when manager Gerardo Martino said the final 11 will be selected. San Jose is coming off a 2-1 victory over L.A. Galaxy that started at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and a flight of 5-plus hours across the country.
“Both teams have to deal with it,” Martino said.
But there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the game.
Whether the players are fully recovered or not, Atlanta United’s defense will attempt to post its third consecutive shutout after a 1-0 win against Colorado was followed by the victory over Columbus.
Increased focus has been the key to the good form, according to fullback Greg Garza, Martino and midfielder Carlos Carmona .
“We’ve stepped up our concentration in our end of the field, which is important,” Carmona said. “This will be a tough game against San Jose, but that’s something we have to keep up that level of concentration and hopefully we can keep the streak going.”
Though the Earthquakes have scored just 20 goals – 15 less than Atlanta United, which is tied for the league lead – they have opportunistically won seven games, one less than Atlanta United.
Garza said San Jose keeps winning despite its dearth of goals because of Chris Wondolowski. The 34-year-old has seven goals and five assists this season, increasing his career totals to 128 and 31 in 277 appearances in MLS. Garza and Wondolowski have participated in U.S. national team camps together.
“That guy can score with his head, shoulder, eye, nose, hip, whatever it is,” Garza said. “He’s a goal-scorer. He’s probably our main threat to watch out for.
“We will have to keep that concentration to a max tomorrow and the fans will push behind us as they’ve done every single game.”
There’s also the new coach factor.
San Jose recently fired coach Dom Kinnear and promoted Chris Leitch, who has been in charge for two games. The Earthquakes defeated Seattle 2-1 in the U.S. Open Cup in his first game.
“We’ve been able to get a good idea … of how they like to play,” Martino said.
If the possibility of winning three consecutive games as well as moving past Orlando City and into fourth in the East weren’t motivation enough on Tuesday, there’s also the holiday factor.
Martino, a native of Argentina, and Carmona, a native of Chile, expressed optimism about how the crowd might be on Tuesday, the Fourth of July.
“I know it’s a really important day in the U.S. and I’m imagining the stadium is going to be beautiful with a really supportive crowd,” Carmona said. “We are going to do everything we can and be motivated to get a win on Tuesday.”
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