There's playing short-handed, and then there's what the Vancouver Whitecaps may find themself doing on Sunday when the Seattle Sounders visit BC Place.
Vancouver has listed 18 players in total on the MLS Player Status Report for Matchday 18 ahead of their Cascadia Cup clash. That outlandish number owes to the combination of playing games during June international competition and a case of suspected food poisoning from the aftermath of Vancouver's dreadful showing in the Concacaf Champions Cup final.
Scottish midfielder Ryan Gauld (knee) is the only player listed on the report for an actual injury concern, while the Caps list nine call-ups and eight players still dealing with illness. Of note, all eight of those illness-related listings are under the "questionable" category.
The show goes on
Caps manager Jesper Sorensen did not say for certain that the club would contest its match on the weekend, citing the need to know he could confidently field a full team. But as of Saturday evening, there has been no indication the game will be delayed or rescheduled.
MLS teams can carry up to 30 players on their active roster and are also permitted to add up to four players from their MLS Next reserve sides on short-term agreements for a given match, provided those players meet eligibility standards for such short-term agreements.
While Vancouver's case is extreme, most teams are enduring at least a few international-related absences if they are playing during this first full weekend of June.
D.C. United and the Chicago Fire had a combined 21 players on the Matchday 18 report heading into their Saturday night meeting in D.C, including both teams' star forwards. The Black-and-Red hosts were the worse off for it early, falling to a 4-0 deficit by halftime at the time of publication.