New York Red Bulls have a glutton of riches with regards to international players and many of them have been called up to represent their national teams through various tournaments around the world. The most notable absences for the next few games include captain Emil Forsberg, homegrown defender John Tolkin, goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, recent acquisition Noah Eile and the team’s leading scorer Lewis Morgan.
Morgan, a Scottish-born player, had only made two appearances for the Scottish first team back in 2018. Since then he flew under the team’s radar despite having success at Inter Miami before coming to the New York Red Bulls. In 2022 Morgan surprised everyone as the team’s leading goal-scorer, bagging 14 goals in league play. He missed all of the 2023 season due to injury but returned with a vengeance and already has nine goals in 2024. The call-up also means that he will play in the prestigious European Championship as his country kicks off next week against hosts Germany.
Forsberg and Eile joined the Swedish national team as they play Denmark and Serbia in friendlies. Unfortunately Sweden did not qualify for the Euros but Forsberg’s leadership and Eile’s youth will come in handy as the team hopes to rebound ahead of World Cup qualifiers.
Coronel will be joining Paraguay ahead of this year’s Copa America tournament which will kick off on June 24th against Colombia. It will be a difficult group as joining the two previously mentioned clubs will be tournament favorites Brazil and Costa Rica.
Lastly is Tolkin who will become an Olympian in July with the US Men’s U23 team. Before that there will be a friendly on June 11th against Japan. From there he will be off to Paris for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent his country, and New Jersey, at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
While this means that New York will be under-staffed for their upcoming games, it is a sign of just how in demand Red Bulls players are around the world. With the success in recent years of the Red Bulls II team, it presents an opportunity for players such as Aiden O’Connor and others to make their mark and give head coach Sandro Schwarz something to think about when it comes to team selection.
photo by Matt Kremkau