How The Philadelphia Union Can Approach Leagues Cup Quarterfinal Without Daniel Gazdag

The Hungarian midfielder has a Grade 1 knee sprain and will miss Friday's clash with Queretaro at Subaru Park.

CHESTER — The Philadelphia Union will not have Daniel Gazdag available for selection for Friday night’s Leagues Cup quarterfinal against Queretaro.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that Union head coach Jim Curtin revealed on Thursday that Gazdag may just miss Friday’s game with a Grade 1 knee sprain.

“Daniel got an MRI. It’s a Grade 1, which is about as good news as you can get. It’s in his knee. It’s a little bit of a sprain,” Curtin said.

“He’s feeling better and better each day. I think tomorrow will be too quick, but I don’t think Tuesday is ruled out,” Curtin continued. “He’s a competitor and I don’t think he’ll want to miss that game if we’re fortunate enough to advance. It’s our job now to pick up in his absence and have a little extra in the game for him because he’s won a lot of games for us individually. Fortunately for us it’s not a long-term injury and it’ll be about how quickly he can recover and get back in the group.”

The Union build their attacking setup around Gazdag, and the Hungarian rarely misses games, so Friday presents a new challenge to Curtin, his staff and the players available.