Now, the teams meet once again in the Eastern Conference semifinals, this time at TQL Stadium on Saturday, and Cincinnati enters as the favorite having won the regular-season title. Fourth-seeded Philadelphia suffered a 1-0 loss to FCC in April and dropped points from a winning position in a 2-2 draw in September, but the Orange and Blue still carry a chip on their shoulders from the knockout loss last fall.
“We have a little bit of that revenge feeling,” forward Brandon Vazquez said. “We want to win, and we want to knock them out and doing it at home, there’s no place better, so that’s all we have in mind.”
FCC hasn’t played a game in three weeks, thanks to a sweep of New York Red Bulls that made Game 3 unnecessary in the best-of-three first-round series and then the international break delaying the start of the conference semifinals.
The Union also were impacted by the long layoff following their series win over New England in two games, but Cincinnati especially is anxious to get back to competition after dealing with a handful of distractions and other challenges during the break.
Center back Matt Miazga, the MLS Defender of the Year, officially will be out Saturday due to yellow card accumulation, and it’s unclear if there will be additional punishment coming after he entered the officials’ locker room following the last game Nov. 4 at Red Bull Arena. MLS launched an investigation into the matter and a pending ruling has been hanging over FCC in the meantime.
“It’s difficult because you’re missing a key piece,” FCC coach Pat Noonan said. “Whether he’s Defender of the Year or not, he’s a key piece to our group and not available for Saturday.
FCC also had to deal with forward Aaron Boupendza’s dismissal from the Gabon national team bringing into question an apparent pattern of tardiness and disregard for rules. Gabon’s soccer federation reported Boupendza did not report to camp on time ahead of last week’s World Cup qualifiers, despite arriving in the country several days early, and FCC had just punished the player last month for reporting late in his return from international duty.
Noonan said the two incidents were unrelated, Boupendza came back ready to help FCC “in a good way” and there is no concern on the club’s part moving forward.
The team will need Boupendza in top form in order to have its best chance of advancing in the playoffs. He accounts for six goals in 12 league/playoff games since joining FCC this summer on a $7 million transfer fee, and the Orange and Blue already have other concerns with Obinna Nwobodo and Santiago Arias questionable due to injury.
Those two were among a number of players nursing injuries during the break, and training sessions were disjointed the past few weeks with so many individuals recovering or away for national team duty. Lakota West graduate Nick Hagglund also is out following season-ending hamstring surgery.
“It’s hard to gauge (how sharp the team is) because like I said, we’ve had so many guys that have been consistent starters either away or in recovery, so up until the last couple of days, we haven’t had our full group together,” Noonan said Wednesday. “… I would say that the last two days have been, it felt more like the week leading up to an important game.”
Philadelphia also will be dealing with the loss of some key players, as center back Jakob Glesnes and midfielder Leon Flach are out due to sports hernias requiring surgery, and left back Kai Wagner is still serving his suspension for using racist language toward New England’s Bobby Wood.
Both Noonan and Vazquez said Philadelphia will be a tough matchup, regardless, but FCC has eyes on MLS Cup.
“We know what to expect, we know what it takes to beat a team this good,” Vazquez said. “We know they are going to bring their ‘A’ game, and so are we. ... They have a tough, quality group, just like us and play them is always a battle, it’s always a close game. They’ve got a good coaching staff, and it’s a great matchup for us, … but we’re looking to play three more games.”
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