Amid a Union injury bug, Cavan Sullivan will stay a little longer before the under-17 World Cup
With Quinn Sullivan out and Indiana Vassilev and Jeremy Rafanello banged up, the Union were facing a lack of depth at attacking midfield heading into the playoffs.
The Union had planned to let teen phenom Cavan Sullivan go to next month’s under-17 men’s World Cup, the biggest stage he’ll have played on yet.
But between Quinn Sullivan’s ACL injury and other players being banged up — including fellow attacking midfielders Indiana Vassilev and Jeremy Rafanello — the club faced a lack of depth entering the playoffs.
The Union still wanted to let Cavan go to the tournament. But they also knew they might need him for their first-round playoff series against the Chicago Fire, who topped Orlando City 3-1 in the Eastern Conference wild card game on Wednesday.
Multiple sources told The Inquirer that, with Sullivan’s agreement, he will stay with the club for the first two games of the best-of-three set. Game 1 is Sunday at Subaru Park (5:55 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes, and Apple TV), and Game 2 is Nov. 1 in Bridgeview, Ill. (5:30 p.m., Apple TV).
Sullivan won’t actually miss any of the tournament, as the U.S. team’s opener against Burkina Faso isn’t until Nov. 5. He’ll mainly miss the pretournament camp, which will take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, before the tournament is played in Qatar. That undoubtedly made it easier to reach a deal.
There are no bad feelings between the Union and U.S. Soccer. They get along on many levels, including a coordinated plan for Sullivan’s participation on the under-17 team.
» READ MORE: The Union’s Frankie Westfield was one of the U.S.’ breakout players at the recent under-20 men's World Cup
The Americans’ group games after that are against Tajikistan on Nov. 8, then the Czech Republic on Nov. 11. The tournament runs through Nov. 27, so if the U.S. goes on a long run, Sullivan could be gone until the MLS conference finals.
Though the U.S. has played at every under-17 World Cup but one since the event started in 1985, the program has not reached the quarterfinals since 2017 and hasn’t gone further since 1999 — when Landon Donovan led the way to the only semifinal in team history.
Donovan won the tournament’s Golden Ball award as the most outstanding player, and was one of many famous names on that U.S. squad. It also included DaMarcus Beasley, Kyle Beckerman, Oguchi Onyewu (who finished his pro career with the Union 18 years later), and Philadelphia native Bobby Convey.
This team has the potential for a deep run. Sullivan is one of its top names, along with forward Mathis Albert of Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and the New York Red Bulls’ Julian Hall. There are also three players from the Union’s youth academy, defender Jordan Griffin and forwards Jamir Johnson and Kellan LeBlanc — the last of them the son of former Union reserve team coach Marlon LeBlanc.
Fox and Telemundo have the broadcast rights, in English and Spanish respectively, with games being televised on their cable channels and streaming platforms.
» READ MORE: The full schedule for the first round of the MLS playoffs