When Indiana Vassilev broke his nose just minutes into City SC’s inaugural game last season, he returned the following game with a mask that he couldn’t wait to take off. Vassilev would wear the mask when he went onto the field, but it didn’t take long for him to throw it aside and play the rest of the game bare-faced.
But this season, when he broke his nose again, late in the first half against Seattle on July 17, he returned to action 10 days later wearing a mask — and this one he kept on.
“’Cause I’m not as dumb as I was last time,†Vassilev said. “Last time, I thought I was cool, and I thought I was Superman. I thought I could just play without it, but this time, I’m a little bit more cautious because I proved to myself that I could break it again. So now I’m going to be way more cautious and going to attempt to wear it for however long I play, for the whole time that I play.â€
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One big difference this time is that Vassilev has a better mask. His new one is custom-fitted to his face after a 3D digital scan was taken. Notably, it has larger eye openings and sits closer to his face, so he’s able to look down more easily.
“My range of vision is significantly better in this,†he said. “I still have some spots where it’s a little bit weird. But my overall vision is pretty much close to 100%.â€
That inability to see a ball at his feet was what kept him from playing in City SC’s game with Sporting Kansas City, the first game after the injury, which ended Vassilev’s streak of having played in every City SC game, regardless of the competition. He had appeared in 66 consecutive games.
“The streak is over,†he said, pretending to cry. “It’s OK. Streaks are meant to start, streaks are meant to finish, so it is what it is. It’s not like I was begging (interim coach John Hackworth) to put me in for five minutes so I can continue my streak. It is what it is. I’m not sure the team needed me. They played really well against KC, got a good result away from home.â€
Still, it meant he was a spectator for the entirety of the SKC game, which he admitted was “kind of weird.â€
Vassilev has been told to wear the mask for the remainder of the season, and while it may be more comfortable than last season’s mask, he’s not sure if he’ll wear it all the time.
“I think what I’ll end up doing is after a month or two of wearing it for however long I play in these games,†he said, “I think maybe then I’ll start taking it off, but I think I’ll start the game with it on, just to protect it. Because my nose is still weak. It’s still susceptible to breaking again because it happened not too long ago. So I’ll try and wear for the rest of the season so I can protect my nose.â€
Leagues Cup bracket set
City SC will face Portland at 7:30 p.m. Friday at CityPark, even though City SC finished second in its group and Portland won its group, because the tournament decides the home team based on pre-tournament seedings, which were based on last season’s results. City SC is the seventh seed in the tournament.
If City SC advances, it will face the winner of a match between two Mexican teams, Club America and Atlas, that will be played on Friday in San Diego. If Club America wins, City SC would travel to California to play. If Atlas wins, the match would be in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. That match would probably be played Tuesday.
Hi 5
New acquisition Henry Kessler will wear No. 5 for City SC, the first player on the club to wear that number.
He wore it in college at Virginia, but the number was taken when Kessler got to New England, so he wore No. 4 there.
“Back to my college number,†he said. “I had good years with 5.â€
Ream returns to MLS with Charlotte
Tim Ream, who went from St. Dominic High in O’Fallon, Missouri, and ºüÀêÊÓƵ University to a long career in England, has returned to America and Major League Soccer, signing Wednesday with Charlotte FC.
“When you feel kind of excited about something, you don’t want to let that kind of excitement kind of slip through your fingers and pass you by,†Ream told The Charlotte Observer. “It’s a new challenge. It’s a different challenge, and I’ve always been someone who is happy and willing to step out of a comfort zone.â€
Ream, 36, spent 13 seasons in England after leaving Major League Soccer, the majority of it with Fulham, which moved up and down between the Premier League and the Championship division in that time. He also became a regular with the U.S. national team, appearing in 61 games, including all four games at the 2022 World Cup. He hurt his calf last season at Fulham, and when he returned seldom played in the second half of the season. Fulham just signed a new center back, which led to the club finalizing the long-rumored deal.
Ream will be the 10th-oldest field player in MLS this season (and third-oldest defender) when he makes his Charlotte debut on Aug. 24. Charlotte has already been eliminated from the Leagues Cup.
“I still have a good number of years left in me,†Ream said. “I feel that physically. I feel that mentally. ... I’m 36. I won’t be able to play forever so I want to play as much as I possibly can and push myself and push others as much as I possibly can.â€