The Union won their season opener in a blowout, but Bradley Carnell won a gamble in it
Carnell made a number of surprising lineup choices to start the game. His players made sure they didn't backfire, with Cavan Sullivan and Frankie Westfield among many strong performers in a 5-0 rout.
When the Union kicked off their season opener on Wednesday night, they were the fourth MLS team to take the field in this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup.
The previous three — San Diego, Nashville, and Los Angeles FC — outscored their opponents by a combined 12-3 over four games.
LAFC accounted for six of those goals, with star forward Dénis Bouanga scoring three and superstar Son Heung-min tallying one and three assists. San Diego’s biggest name, last year’s MLS Newcomer of the Year Anders Dreyer, led his team to an outstanding 4-2 aggregate win over Mexico’s Pumas UNAM.
You needn’t have walked through much slush around Philadelphia this week to wonder which MLS team would be first to fall. But surely it wouldn’t be the Union, with such a talent advantage over Trinidad’s Defence Force FC?
Then the Union’s starting lineup was revealed, and the mood turned to shock. Manager Bradley Carnell chose to start Stas Korzeniowski at forward, Alejandro Bedoya at right attacking midfield, Nathan Harriel at centerback, Andrew Rick in goal, and most surprising, attacking midfielder Jeremy Rafanello at right back.
Bruno Damiani, Indiana Vassilev, Japhet Sery Larsen, and Andre Blake were all on the bench. Geiner Martínez and Olivier Mbaizo weren’t on the game squad in the first place. Nor was Jovan Lukić, though at least Carnell had signaled that was coming due to an injury.
» READ MORE: Union open 2026 season with 5-0 rout of Trinidad’s Defence Force in the Champions Cup
Right after kickoff, Concacaf’s world feed broadcast hinted at another unusual circumstance. Jesús Bueno had issues getting a visa to enter Trinidad. He spent Tuesday night in nearby Antigua, got the visa Wednesday morning, and only arrived in Port-of-Spain at lunchtime Wednesday.
Later in the game, a source with knowledge of the matter told The Inquirer that Martínez also had a visa issue. That helped clarify things a little more.
But it was still a surprise to see this lineup. Was Carnell taking the opponent lightly? He spoke repeatedly after the game about his respect for Defence Force, but his lineup choices also said something.
Some watchers recalled that another of Bedoya’s teams made choices in Trinidad in 2017, 20 miles down the road in Couva. He was stuck on the bench for the U.S. men’s team’s infamous loss to Trinidad & Tobago that knocked the Americans out of the 2018 World Cup.
» READ MORE: An analysis of the Union’s roster at the start of the season, with many new players in the mix
At the final whistle, all those thoughts were long gone. The Union won in a 5-0 rout, with Milan Iloski’s 29th-minute free kick opening the floodgates. Ezekiel Alladoh scored his first goal for the Union off a superb Frankie Westfield cross, Olwethu Makhanya slammed in a header off an Iloski corner, and Bruno Damiani scored twice as a substitute.
Cavan Sullivan also made his first goal contribution for the Union’s first team, with a terrific assist on Damiani’s first goal. The 16-year-old had multiple nifty moments on the ball in his 25-minute run as a substitute, one of which earned a penalty kick after a nice combination play with Westfield. Damiani stepped up to score it.
On the same night that Westfield’s brother Rocco led Father Judge to a second straight Catholic League boys’ basketball final at the Palestra, Frankie was a strong nominee for the Union’s player of the game. He recorded 39-of-46 passing, five scoring chances created, four clearances, one block, and seven duels won of the 12 contested.
Unfortunately, that was almost all overshadowed in the 70th minute, when the cameras showed Westfield holding his right hamstring. With Harriel off the field, the only other left back option available was midfielder Ben Bender on the bench.
» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan looks ahead to what should be his biggest year yet with the Union
Westfield shook off the pain for a while, but he exited in the 84th minute for Vassilev. That meant both outside backs were attacking midfielders. At least at that point it didn’t matter anymore.
“Rafa’s a guy who is very versatile, he can play anywhere,” Carnell said afterward. “This was just more by need, and we knew he could do the job. We just needed positive guys to give energy, [to] want to do what’s best for the team, and that’s what Jeremy is.”
The gamble paid off, and with some style in the end. Carnell was rightly pleased at the final whistle, praising his team for surviving Defence Force’s early-game surge before imposing its will.
“I think we did have a challenge for sure, and I think through the second half performance of our guys — give them credit,” he said. “We showed a real professional performance in the second half.”
But he still had gambled, and it’s a good thing he won.