Columbus Crew confident ahead of Seattle Sounders match despite being without 7 players

It is far from an ideal set of circumstances the Crew have going into their game against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday at Lower.com Field.

With the match being played during the FIFA September international break, the Crew will be without seven players, including their two starting goalkeepers and leading scorer Cucho Hernandez , due to international play. Additionally, Columbus had to give up its week off to accommodate for the match being rescheduled for the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.

Still, coach Wilfried Nancy says he's excited for the upcoming match and feels the Crew has the depth to be competitive without key players.

"This is why we try to build a roster like this," Nancy said. "It’s going to be a good game for everyone. ... Everybody (here training) is healthy and it's going to be good."

Every line of the Crew's usual 3-4-3 formation will be without a starter, but the back line in particular was hit with a blow when Malte Amundsen was confirmed to be suspended for the Seattle match due to yellow card accumulation. Overall, in the regular season, Amundsen has been handed six yellow cards.

Amundsen and Steven Moreira , who was called up to Cape Verde's national team for African World Cup qualifiers, have started the most matches for defenders, along with Rudy Camacho.

Camacho, who will be available for Saturday, claims to have little concern regarding Amundsen and Moreira's absences, citing the 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union as an example of the defense performing without regular starters. Against the Union on the road, Nancy rested Camacho and Moreira, starting Amundsen, Yevhen Cheberko and Sean Zawadzki on the backline.

"Steven (Moreira) is very important, but everybody is important on the team," Camacho said. "You can see it in training that even the players that don’t play, they (aren’t) used to playing, they understand the concepts and they’re ready to play if they have to. So, I never feel that we are going to lose the game because some players are missing."

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Who will start at goalkeeper for Columbus Crew vs Seattle Sounders

With Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen away from the team on international duty, and Evan Bush is still recovering from a broken arm, newly acquired Abraham Romero will start at goalkeeper against the Sounders.

Nancy stated that this was the reason for trading with Los Angeles FC for Romero on the last day of the MLS secondary window.

"We knew that this possibility could happen," Nancy said. "That’s why we wanted to see ahead. ... The idea was to get a goalkeeper who knows the league because he’s going to start. So, I think for a moment, it was better to have a goalkeeper like this."

The Crew could have plan to start either Crew 2 goalkeeper Stas Lapkes or Cole Johnson by signing them to a short-term contract, and still can so one can be the backup on Saturday, but Romero's experience in Leagues Cup and the US Open Cup with LAFC pushed him to the front of the rotation.

Saturday will be Romero's first start since LAFC's Leagues Cup group stage match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on July 30. After a 2-2 draw in regulation, the Whitecaps defeated Los Angeles 4-2 in penalty kicks.

bmackay@dispatch.com

@brimackay15

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew confident ahead of Seattle Sounders match despite being without 7 players