PHILADELPHIA – The injury was minor but the impact proved to be major.
Shortly before the start of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in Jamaica, Philadelphia Union midfielder Zach Pfeffer sprained his MCL. And even though he feels fine now, Pfeffer couldn’t get healthy enough to earn the call-up to Jamaica to help the Americans in their quest to advance to the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
“I think I would have been there if I wasn’t injured,” Pfeffer told MLSsoccer.com. “It’s a little frustrating, but that’s part of the sport sometimes.”
A longtime member of youth national teams, Pfeffer has worked his way through the ranks, playing for the USA's U-14s, U-15s, U-17s and U-18s. And the Philly-area native has been a part of the U-20 squad since late 2013, scoring a goal in the Dallas Cup in April and another against Argentina in September.
Pfeffer was called into a U-20 camp as recently as December, before the injury left him watching his longtime teammates in Jamaica this month rather than playing alongside them.
“I’ve known some of the guys since the U-14 national team all the way through, and I had been to just about every U-20 camp this cycle,” Pfeffer said. “I feel like a part of the team, so it’s unfortunate. I just have to move on from it.”
The 20-year-old Union midfielder said he’s watched all of the games, and noted that he didn’t think they “deserved” the frustrating tie to Guatemala and the loss to Panama to start group-stage play. But he’s confident the team will qualify for this summer’s U-20 World Cup, where he hopes to be able to rejoin them.
In the meantime, he’ll prepare for Union preseason, which officially opens next Monday. And after finishing the season with his first career MLS goal in Philly’s 2014 regular season finale, the midfielder is anxious to finally earn a regular place in the rotation in 2015.
“I came into the preseason last year and did very well,” he said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get too many opportunities in the beginning of the year. My goal is to come into the preseason again, play very well, show the coaching staff I can help the team and basically give them a tough decision and make it almost impossible for them not to put me on the field. That’s my goal.”
Union head coach Jim Curtin is hoping that’s exactly what will happen.
“I’ve been in touch with Zach and he’s kind of gutted he missed [U-20 qualifying],” Curtin said. “My advice to him was to make sure he’s 100 percent before he goes out there because the last thing you want is to have it be a reoccurring thing for the rest of your career. We expect to get him going full-go for the preseason … and we’re hoping he’s a guy who comes in and makes an impact and makes it hard for us not to put him in the lineup.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
