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It Would Be Ideal to get the Union’s Leading Goal Scorer Out of Israel and Back to the United States
Published:
Tai Baribo leads the Philadelphia Union, and all of Major League Soccer, with 13 goals. He was set to report to the Israel national team for international duty, but did not participate in the recent window due to a calf injury. Now he’s in the middle of the Iran vs. Israel escalation after reportedly traveling back, in part, for a green card appointment:
Said head coach Bradley Carnell on Saturday: “He is still in Israel, and we are monitoring the current situation. We are in contact every single day—more often than not. We’re not sure when he is going to return. We are monitoring his situation as it develops.“
Yeah. Well it’s not ideal! The video shows the best striker on the roster wearing sandals and standing in some sort of shelter/basement/secured area as missiles presumably fly overhead. If this thing cools off and regular travel resumes, hopefully they can get him on a flight and he can rehab over here. Then we call up some useless politicians and get them to approve the green card from this end. If you wanna talk about extenuating circumstances and/or force majeure, this is it. There’s some really intense shit taking place in the Middle East and we don’t know what’s next.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com