Even though they’re wearing masks, “you can see how excited” the San Jose Earthquakes players are when they step out onto the field.
That’s according to Quakes full-back Tommy Thompson, who spoke with media on a conference call as the team prepares for next month’s MLS is Back tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida.
The Quakes are holding individual workouts at Earthquakes Stadium after getting clearance from the Santa Clara County Health Department last week, and Thompson said that they’ve “hit the ground running.”
“We’re ready to go. We haven’t wasted any time,” he added.
They are the last MLS team to return to training and still aren’t allowed to practice in group settings.
“It’s unfortunate that we haven’t been able to train and other teams have been able to train,” said Thompson. “We’re doing our best to make the best out of a difficult situation.”
The team plans to travel to Orlando on June 24th, the earliest date allowed, so that they can finally begin to practice together, and Thompson expects that the training camp will feel a lot like their preseason camp in Cancun.
“We’ve all been itching to play, so I think the level is going to be high,” he said.
He feels particularly confident because of all the fitness work he did at home during the team’s two-month hiatus. With roommates Jackson Yueill, Nick Lima, and JT Marcinkowski, Thompson made a makeshift gym in his garage and followed detailed workout packets they received from their fitness coaches. “We worked out in there with different free-weights, kettlebells, and all that type of stuff,” he said.
Additionally, they practiced individual ball-work with cones. “All the exercises I did as a kid,” he said.
Thompson even posted videos of his workouts on his YouTube channel in order to “showcase how to continue to get better in quarantine,” and also hosted online clinics with youth clubs across the country.
Now, the upcoming tournament is his sole focus. The Earthquakes have been drawn into Group B with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Seattle Sounders, and FC Dallas, and will play their three group games in a short span of sixteen days (the full schedule is expected to be announced soon). The top two teams from each group plus the four best third-place finishers will advance to the Round of 16.
“This tournament suits us,” said Thompson. “We’ve got a great group and this tournament will be about desire, and will to win in general. We’re ready for it.”
He thinks that the tournament’s format will be uniquely entertaining.
“It’s a unique opportunity for Major League Soccer to take center stage,” he said. “A World-Cup-style format is going to engage a new audience.”
All twenty-six MLS teams will stay at the Swan and Dolphin Hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort, and players will not be allowed to leave the resort without permission.
“It’s going to be a new environment, there’s going to be all kinds of players and all kinds of rules, but, to me, that’s going to be figured out when we arrive, we’re going to get used to it when we arrive,” said Thompson. “It’s going to take time to get used to, but I’m not worried about that.
“I trust that [MLS Commissioner] Don Garber and everyone else who is ironing out those details will prepare us for a massive success.”
Although a recent spike in coronavirus cases in Florida has intensified concerns about the viability of the tournament, the Quakes have gotten used to the uncertainty.
“I know there are questions, and the exact implementation of it is impossible to actually see coming,” said Thompson. I’m sure different things will come up…but I don’t worry about the unknowns at all. I focus on what I can control.”
