CHESTER, Pa. – Throughout the second half of the 2014 MLS season, Rais Mbolhi shuttled back and forth between the United States and Africa to play for the Algerian national team.
It appears the Philadelphia Union goalkeeper is trying to scale that back a bit in 2015.
According to head coach Jim Curtin, Mbolhi turned down a callup from the Algerian national team for tomorrow’s friendly vs. Qatar – the country’s first match since their run in the Africa Cup of Nations ended on Feb. 1.
“He wants to be here,” Curtin said during his weekly press conference Wednesday. “He’s a guy that’s fully committed and really wants to have this be his home full-time and not have to do all the travel for friendlies. If it’s an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, then, yes, those are different discussions. But for friendlies that are going on, he’s going to be here full time, which is a huge commitment on his end.”
Because of last year’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Mbolhi started only four games after the Union signed him in July following his starring role for Algeria at the 2014 World Cup.
In his final appearance of the season, he made what was perhaps the team’s biggest blunder of the year when his shanked clearance in stoppage time led to the Chicago Fire stealing a draw in what was a must-win game for Philly.
Almost exactly six months to the day, Mbolhi will get another crack at Chicago when the Union face the Fire in a nationally televised game Sunday at Toyota Park (5 pm ET; ESPN2, ESPN Deportes).
“We were both of the same mindset that with the coming and the going, it wasn’t the best environment for him, for the team, for anybody,” Curtin said of Mbolhi’s first four games in MLS last year. “It’s a situation that he and I agree that maybe we rushed things along and threw him into situations too quickly.”
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Curtin saw an improvement in Mbolhi’s mindset during this year’s preseason, saying that he took on more of a leadership role while making some big plays to lead the club to the IMG Suncoast Pro Classic championship.
Through the first three regular-season games – two draws and a loss – Mbolhi has yet to make any huge saves but Curtin said the goals the team has given up haven’t necessarily been the Algerian goalkeeper’s fault.
Mbolhi declined comment for this story, and has told team officials he prefers not to speak with the media at all this season.
Curtin hopes he’ll do his talking on the field.
“I’m fine with how Rais has been,” the Union coach said. “And I know he’s going to come up big for us and win us some games for us as we get going here.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
