Before the Cosmos meet New Amsterdam FC Friday night, head coach Carlos Mendes must make decisions on two key strikers – Isaac Acuna and Aly Hassan.
Both forwards missed last week’s 1-1 season-opening draw with Michigan Stars FC for different reasons.
Acuna suffered a hamstring injury during training prior to the match.
“He’s coming along,” Mendes said. “We’ll have to see. Our biggest concern with anybody, especially with Acuna, is that you just have to make sure with the hamstring injury that they’re 100 percent ready to play and that you don’t rush him back early. … We just have to be very, very cautious about it because if anything does happen to him, it could be a long-term thing.”
Hassan, in Florida for his father’s funeral last week, has returned to the club. Mendes was waiting for the forward to clear COVID-19 tests so he could resume training again.
“We’ll have to see where he’s at mentally, physically once he gets cleared to come in,” Mendes said. “We’ll have to make a decision to see where he’s at.”
Friday’s game will be held at the Hudson Sports Complex in Warwick, N.Y. with a 6 p.m. kickoff.
It will be a closed-door match, but fans can watch at MyCujoo.TV.
