Free Headers: Seattle trips and other international duty

Minnesota United heads to Seattle on Saturday for a must-win game between two teams near the bottom of the Western Conference - and they'll do it without three, and potentially four, players.

Loons attacking midfielder Joaquín Pereyra did not participate in Friday's training session, and according to Minnesota head coach Cameron Knowles, picked up a quad strain in training.

It remains to be seen what that means for the Loons lineup on Saturday. "Tomás [Chancalay] is a guy that's found himself on the outside looking in, once we went to the two strikers," said Knowles. "Aziel Jackson has shown really good quality so far in training and probably hasn't seen the field as much as possible."

The Loons will also be without three other regular squad members, all of whom are on international duty: Carlos Harvey (Panama), Nectarios Triantis (Greece), and Alec Smir (Jordan).

Every year, right about the time autumn hits, the soccer world gets hit with the only two-week international break of the calendar. It's ridiculous, but if it's any consolation, starting next fall this will be an early-season blip rather than a pennant-race indignity.

Triantis and Greece have four UEFA Nations League games to play, which began with Serbia on Thursday. The Loons midfielder wasn't in the 23-man squad, and Greece won 2-1.

Panama, meanwhile, has the most absurd-sounding fixture list. They've got a friendly against India in India, then they play New Zealand in Japan, and then either a game against Japan or Ecuador, also in Japan.

I'm sure Harvey will recover more quickly, but if it was me, I'd have jet lag until Thanksgiving.

Jordan, meanwhile, plays two home friendlies, against Syria (makes sense) and Venezuela (does not). These Central and South American countries sure earn the frequent flyer miles during international breaks, don't they? They're the MAC football teams of international soccer.

Valerius arrives, picks a lineman number

New right back / right center back Cherrion Valerius trained with the team Friday, and according to Knowles, will travel with the team to Seattle. It might be too soon for Valerius to make a real impact, but he's at least a possibility to make the squad.

Also, I'm told that Valerius will wear number 52 for the Loons, which has to be a first (if you remember another, please drop it in the comments.) Presumably he will be lining up at linebacker or center.

Future Team America?

Two of the youngest Loons are also headed for international duty - with the U.S. U-20 National Team.

Goalkeeper Kayne Rizvanovich, who backstopped the squad at the Concacaf Championships earlier this year, is once again on duty - and for the first time, winger Darius Randell will join him.

It's a really positive sign for Minnesota, which has not been famous for its youth development over its first decade in MLS. Randell and Rizvanovich have regularly featured for MNUFC2 this year, and between this and the emergence of Marcus Caldeira as a genuine option up front for the first year, it's been rather a good year for the Doubloons, in terms of development. Maybe Fanendo Adi is a miracle worker?

The U-20s are headed for a training camp in Spain, and will play friendlies against Brazil and Denmark. It's part of the preparations for the 2027 U-20 World Cup, which is being hosted by Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, which is "historic" because it's the first time two teams in different confederations have hosted.

Your homework assignment: Which two confederations are involved, and which country is in which confederation?

More Aurora pros

Minnesota Aurora midfielder Skye Leach is the latest Aurora alum - Auroralum? - to sign a pro contract. Leach, who had three goals and two assists in 2026, is headed Down Under, with the Melbourne Victory of the A-League. At this point, if you're a young women's soccer player who hopes to go pro, I'd advise playing for Aurora, because it seems to be a pathway right to pro soccer.

I learned from Wikipedia that Melbourne plays its home matches at the Australia women's national team training facility, better known as the Home Of The Matildas (HOTM). Every time I think, "Boy, there's simply no way that [name of stadium] can ever be topped as the name of a stadium," I find another one that climbs to the top of the rankings, and it's happened again today.

(Tied for last: every field named for Fifth Third Bank, a rolling list that seems to include every professional ballpark in the Rust Belt.)

MNUFC2 gets chosen

The Doubloons are into the MLS Next Pro playoffs, as well, and though they don't start until mid-October, they already know their opponent.

And have the bulletin board ready to go, presumably.

MLS Next Pro lets top seeds pick their playoff opponents, and Ventura County - the Galaxy's second team, and the number 3 seed - chose to face MNUFC2, the number 5 seed, instead of taking on sixth-seeded LAFC 2.

Forget that playing a team that has to travel halfway across the country, rather than a team that can take buses to get to the "away" game, just makes sense. The disrespect! The dishonor! Ventura County* has made a mortal enemy!

*More homework: Do you think Ventura County is a real place? Why or why not? Please write your essay in the blue book and turn it in before the end of class.

Podcast

This week's episode of the podcast is available now, and includes the first-ever Loons Quiz, courtesy of site supporters Fifty Hats Games. Also, if you want to hear my two terrible pie-in-the-sky ideas for Loons signings, those are available as well.