CHESTER, Pa. -- In less than a week, Andre Blake will leave Philadelphia to play for Jamaica in two World Cup qualifying games against Nicaragua on Sept. 4 and Sept. 8.
Before that, the Union goalkeeper is set to start his second straight MLS game when Philly hosts the New England Revolution on Saturday (7 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
It's not a bad stretch for a player who had been riddled by injury and bad luck before making his first start of the season last week in Montreal, leading the Union to a 1-0 shutout victory.
“It’s been pretty tough for me,” Blake said. “But I knew at some point, I would get an opportunity and I just had to make sure that whenever that time came, I was ready to take it.”
Union head coach Jim Curtin admitted there was “a bit of risk” to give Blake his first 2015 start in a sold-out Stade Saputo buzzing for Didier Drogba’s MLS debut last week. But he felt the time was right to reward Blake, the top overall pick of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, for working hard to recover from two knee surgeries -- the first in February and the second in May.
And Blake, in turn, rewarded Curtin for that trust as he made four saves to lift the Union to an unlikely win over a team they’re chasing in the Eastern Conference. Now, he’s gotten the nod to start against another team they’re trying to catch.
“I think every young player needs to feel that the coaching staff has a belief in him,” Curtin said. “Our goalkeeping coach had a belief in him, I had a belief in him in seeing him in training, and he did very well for us. He’s a former No. 1 pick who rose to the occasion in a big spot. It is one game, though, so we won’t get ahead of ourselves. But, first test, he gets an A, for sure."
Curtin added that Blake’s impending call-up was another reason he wanted to get his young goalie a couple of games because that may help his chances to start for Jamaica. (That stands in contrast to this summer’s Gold Cup when Blake’s lack of MLS playing time relegated him to the Reggae Boyz’ bench.)
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And, of course, a door opened for Blake at the Union due to Brian Sylvestre's nagging hand injury, as well as some poor league numbers for John McCarthy, who’s fared better during Philly’s run to the US Open Cup final.
Whatever the case may be, Blake is happy for the opportunity, and to finally begin to make good on the potential that saw him become the only goalie ever selected first in the draft.
“I just think it’s the Andre Blake story,” Blake said. “Sometimes you’ve got to go through tough times to build character, and I just think that’s been the year for me. And hopefully something great is coming down the line.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
