Philadelphia Union completed their first week of preseason training in Spain with a match against FC Nordsjælland at the Marbella Football Center on Friday. The teams agreed to extend the game to 135 minutes, allowing for more playing time across both squads.
Head Coach Bradley Carnell and Nordsjælland’s Jens Olsen decided beforehand to add an extra 45-minute period to the standard match duration. “To get this deep already in terms of minutes, progression is really vital for us,” Carnell said after the match. “To get everybody in and out, as we did, that’s first and foremost, and then to compete against a really quality opponent was excellent learning for us.”
A total of 25 players featured for Philadelphia Union during the extended match. Goalkeepers Andre Blake, Andrew Rick, and George Marks each played 45 minutes. Most field players were on the pitch for 67 minutes. In the final period, Indiana Vassilev and Sal Olivas made way for Eddy Davis III and CJ Olney Jr., two 19-year-old products from the Philadelphia Union Academy.
Nordsjælland won the contest, but Carnell emphasized that gaining experience was more important than the result. Defender Olwethu Makhanya described the game as demanding: “I’m not gonna lie, it was a really good challenge. We ran a lot, it was a very good opponent, they kept us shifting.”
Carnell used different combinations of players throughout the match but noted that individual partnerships are not his current priority. “‘Im not looking too much at that right now. It’s two mixed groups. Everyone’s competing for a couple of positions here,” he said. “Probably over the next couple of days, we’ll start going through the individual process of game reflection for each guy, and really then trying to lay out a plan for them to succeed and excel in each of those positions. But right now, it’s really about guys getting the volume, the minutes, the load, and I thought both sets of groups gave a really good account of themselves.”
According to Carnell, Philadelphia Union generated about 35 shots during their time on the field by moving forward into attacking areas and creating opportunities in front of goal. Their only goal came late in the third period when Milan Iloski delivered a corner kick that Olwethu Makhanya headed home against his former club.
“In the second half, it was a good response, and the guys came in taking the instructions, and we got one goal back,” Makhanya said. “It’s always good to score such goals from a set piece because it’s something that we always practice… if we’re able to come in a game and be able to execute it, then it’s always a good feeling.”
The team will have five days before their next preseason fixture against FK Budućnost Podgorica on Thursday.
