Jim Curtin praises 'tough opponent' in FC Cincinnati ahead of decisive clash

Philadelphia Union boss Jim Curtin praised his team's MLS Cup playoffs second round opponents FC Cincinnati, explaining that his team must put their best foot forward if they are to advance to the Conference final.

Like Cincinnati and the other teams participating in the Conference semifinal action, the Union haven't played in almost two weeks with their last outing being a 1-0 away win over New England Revolution.

Substitute Chris Donovan's lone strike in the 79th minute sealed the sweep for Philadelphia, sending the Revs packing and his team on to the next phase in the playoffs. The Union will be in high spirits leading up to the game, but they'll be tasked with taking down the Orange and Blue without one key defensive figure: Kai Wagner.

Wagner has been suspended for three games for using a racial slur directed at New England's Bobby Wood in their 3-1 victory in game one. The clash with Cincinnati will be the second game of the suspension, meaning that Wagner could return to action if Philadelphia progress to the MLS Cup final or the first game of the 2024 season.

However, Curtin remains confident in his side and his approach after the lengthy November international break.

"Overall, we're ready to go. It's been a while since we played a game, but I know the guys are anxious to get after an opponent that isn't themselves," Curtin said. "I think in some of the stretches of this year, we played seven games in this amount of time so it's definitely different."

Cincinnati dominated across the entire 2023 campaign, and Curtin knows that only the best from his team will see them qualify for the Conference finals.

"But guys got to rest up and recover; we’ll be fully ready to go and give our best in Cincinnati and try to move on to this thing."

The Union had seven players called up for their respective nations during the break, leaving Curtin a little shorthanded during training to prepare for the highly-anticipated showdown with the Orange and Blue.

"It's been a unique week of preparation, obviously" he said. "We have really low numbers in training ... We're doing the best that we can with that, sending video clips to the guys that are on their national teams just to keep them focused on a tough opponent in Cincinnati.

"Obviously, they're away representing their countries right now and they have big games that they're doing really well in, but we also want to give them a little bit of information that can help them prepare for this game too."

While the Union will be without Wagner and Glesnes, Cincinnati will also be with 2023 MLS Defender of the Year Matt Miazga. Both teams showcased some of the best defense in MLS in 2023, but things might get a little tricky without influential figures in their backlines.

The two teams go head-to-head on November 25, with a trip to the Eastern Conference final at stake where the winner will take on either Orlando City or Columbus Crew.

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