Happy Friday. Soccer is coming back to Chester tomorrow and while there will be some wind, temperatures will be in the 50s for the home opener at Subaru Park. The Union will have some new faces in the lineup with Bruno Damiani and Indiana Vassilev both available for selection and Nathan Harriel could also see his first minutes of the season with FC Cincinnati coming to town.

In the email today:

1. 👨🏻 Damiani, Harriel and Vassilev available for selection Saturday

A right back staple and two additional newcomers to the Philadelphia Union will be available for Saturday’s home opener at Subaru Park.

Head coach Bradley Carnell said Nathan Harriel has been training “all full go” and will be available for Saturday along with new designated player Bruno Damiani and recent acquisition Indiana Vassilev.

All three players were not in the squad for the season opener in Orlando last Saturday, paving the way for Frankie Westfield to make his MLS debut in place of Harriel. Olwethu Makhanya also made his MLS debut in the starting XI along with offseason acquisition Jovan Lukic.

“He definitely belongs to the available roster this coming weekend,” Carnell said of Harriel, who did not feature in preseason after picking up an injury the first day of training camp. “Bruno is right back from his work visa engagement so he’s back training with us, eligible for the roster as well this coming weekend.”

Carnell will have more decisions to make this week with FC Cincinnati coming to town off a mid-week Concacaf Champions Cup draw on Wednesday at home. FC Cincinnati advanced in the competition with a 5-2 aggregate score over Honduran side FC Motagua.

Will Makhanya get the start again or will Ian Glavinovich – who made his Union debut as a late sub in Orlando – slot in to pair with Jakob Glesnes? Will Westfield get another run or will Olivier Mbaizo get the nod and Harriel be available off the bench? Damiani is likely an early sub off the bench for Carnell along with Vassilev, who figures to be a kind of Swiss Army Knife for his new club.

“He arrived here like he’s been playing with the team for six months already so he’s easy to integrate within a new group and he’s a good player within the philosophy,” Carnell said of Indiana. “And he’s available, ready to go.”

Saturday will of course be Carnell’s first time at Subaru Park as the coach of the home side. One big difference this time around will be his reaction to the team’s goal song: Scooter’s “Maria (I Like it Loud).”

“I always hated the Doop song,” Carnell said. “Now I can’t wait for the Doop.”

2. 📋 Philadelphia Union Roster Profile Released

Major League Soccer deserves credit for being more transparent this year and providing information that in the past has been either hard to nail down or been inconsistent across the league. Yesterday they released roster profiles for all 30 teams, giving fans a glimpse into the detailed make-up of every team’s roster.

The Union’s profile includes a couple interesting nuggets beginning with Bruno Damiani’s status as a young designated player. The Uruguayan turns 23 next month so he just gets in under the threshold for the designation, which Julian Carranza previously occupied.

The profile also confirms that Jesus Bueno’s green card cleared the way for compliance on international spots. The Union are using all 7 of their available spots; the 8th was traded to Nashville SC.

Two players on the roster won’t be available this season with Nick Pariano occupying the season-long loan spot (Union II) and Nelson Pierre off on loan to Vancouver Whitecaps II. Four other homegrown players are considered off-roster, including Eddy Davis, Sal Olivas, Neil Pierre and Frankie Westfield. Both Pierre and Westfield were with the first team last week on short-term agreements.

3. 🐉 Social Post of the Day: Game of Thrones

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Player Ratings Results

Tai Baribo is the first Man of the Match for 2025 as voted on by readers. The striker received an average 4.83 rating out of 5.

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Todd Lewis of The Free Kick is back with his goal breakdown videos and fortunately the Union had four goals in their opener to discuss. 

• West Chester United and Kensington SC play tonight at 8 p.m. at YSC to kick off the second half of the Delaware River Conference for the recently rebranded America Premier Soccer League. West Chester is one of four teams left in the EPSA Frank Giancroce Open Cup. They’ll play the Ukies and VE will take on Colonial SC next Sunday at Bryn Athyn College.

• Penn Fusion and Conestoga star Keira Kemmerley recently joined Gotham FC for preseason camp.

• Ahead of their March 9 season opener, the Philadelphia Union II roster is starting to fill out with pro signings announced this week for academy standouts Kellan LeBlanc and Willyam Ferreira.

• Philadelphia Union Academy grad Lukas Burns (Cinnaminson, N.J.) is prepping for his first pro season with Portland Timbers 2.

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