The Major League Soccer startup tournament in Orlando now has a second team that is absent due to coronavirus. On Thursday, Nashville SC withdrew from the MLS is Back Tournament after nine of its players tested positive for the disease according to Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press. Nashville SC follows FC Dallas, which had 10 positive tests, and pulled out on Monday. It is not known at this time the identity of any of the players on the two squads.
There have been three games in the tournament so far. Orlando City SC defeated Inter Miami CF 2-1, Philadelphia Union defeated New York City FC 1-0, and the New England Revolution defeated the Montreal Impact 1-0.
Even though we now see six groups of four teams each in the tournament, the MLS is Back event loses its luster by not having all 26 teams participating. With the Florida coronavirus numbers increasing every day, it will be interesting to see how long it will take before another team pulls out. There have been 232, 718 cases of coronavirus in the state of Florida alone, with 197, 802 active cases and 4,009 deaths.
This was to be the first season for Nashville SC in MLS play. Midfielder Dax McCarty of Winter Park, FL is the team’s captain for 2020.
Professional soccer continues to be played in Europe. In some intriguing matches over the last couple of days, Sheffield United defeated the Wolverhampton Wolves 1-0 in English Premier League action on Wednesday, while Verona and Inter Milan tied at two goals apiece in Serie A action on Thursday.
Sheffield United got their lone goal from John Egan of Cork, Ireland. With the win, Sheffield United improved to a record of 13 wins, nine losses and 12 draws for 51 points. Wolverhampton dropped to a record of 13 wins, eight losses, and 13 draws for 52 points. Wolverhampton is in sixth place and Sheffield United is in seventh place in the English Premier League.
In the game between Verona and Inter Milan, midfielder Miguel Veloso of Coimbra, Portugal scored the game-tying goal with four minutes left. Verona is now tied with Sassuolo for eighth place in La Liga as each team has 43 points. Inter is currently in fourth place with a record of 19 wins, four losses and eight draws for 65 points.
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