PURCHASE, N.Y. – Mix Diskerud scored a quality goal in a historic 2-1 win for the US national team Wednesday in Cologne, Germany.
The midfielder’s performance was a positive one for his country, but not necessarily for New York City FC when it comes to his availability for Saturday night’s home game against the Montreal Impact (7 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
“I don’t know. It’s a decision we’ll have to make together, as a staff, and it will involve some communication with Mix as well,” NYCFC coach Jason Kreis told media on Thursday. “I would say 70 minutes last night playing in Germany was not the ideal situation for us. But we’ll see how he feels and make a decision on Friday.”
Diskerud used his chest to receive a Michael Bradley pass, the last in a 30-pass sequence, and acrobatically net the equalizer in the 41st minute. Kreis was impressed with the performance from his midfielder, as well as the way the United States played.
“I thought he played great. I thought the entire team played great,” Kreis said. “I was so happy to see the way the US played over the last two games, because typically in the history of watching national teams go over to Europe, you would see a very closed team just defending and trying to counter-attack. What I saw was a team that was bold, brave and confident and was willing to show that we can play as well. Regardless of the result, I was just really pleased with the way the team played.”
Although the goal was the sixth of Diskerud's international career, that goalscoring success has yet to carry over to Major League Soccer. He has just one goal in 11 appearances, and that came in the team's inaugural game, a 1-1 draw with Orlando City on March 8. Kreis hopes both Diskerud and his team can learn from the USMNT's performance.
“Him getting closer to goal for New York City means the team needs to get the ball closer to goal on a more consistent basis,” Kreis said. “It’s just unfair to say Mix should do that more for NYCFC. Well, NYCFC needs to play with a little more positivity and confidence so players can get into those positions more often.”
New York City FC are looking to build off of their first road win, a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union last Saturday that snapped an 11-game winless streak.
“We’ve been working and training for quite a few weeks now, feeling like we’re carrying around a big, giant ape on our shoulders,” Kreis said. “I think a result like that could mean that ape now leaves, and we can work the right way. I’m hopeful that being able to work the right way this week in training means we can have some confidence and positivity going into Saturday.”
While Diskerud's playing time remains unclear, Khiry Shelton (left MCL sprain), Javier Calle (quad strain), Josh Williams (left adductor strain) and Connor Brandt (adductor strain) are all out, as is Adam Nemec, who was called up to Slovakia for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Macedonia on Sunday.
