Hirving “Chucky” Lozano‘s exile from San Diego FC’s squad will end this weekend but the Mexico forward will not go straight back into the club’s starting lineup, head coach Mikey Varas said Thursday.
Lozano has been absent from San Diego’s last two matches, including its first-ever playoff game against the Portland Timbers on Sunday, after an internal incident.
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While the club has not commented on the exact nature of the offense, The Athletic reported that Lozano was involved in a verbal altercation earlier this month after being substituted at halftime against the Houston Dynamo.
Following the report, Lozano issued an apology on social media.
Varas said after a 2-1 home victory in Game 1 of the first-round series with Portland that Lozano was in line for a return as long as continued to show commitment in training. And the coach has now confirmed plans to reintegrate the former PSV Eindhoven and Napoli winger for Game 2 in Portland on Sunday.
“Based on everything that we’ve seen, he’ll be traveling to Portland and he’ll be coming off the bench for us,” Varas told reporters.
Asked what Lozano had shown in training, Varas responded: “Just that he wants to be a part of the group, it’s the most important thing, [showing] through your actions that you want to be part of the group.”
Lozano was signed as San Diego’s first designated player last year and is the fifth-highest earner in MLS, with annual guaranteed compensation of $6 million.
In his first year in MLS, Lozano has nine goals and 10 assists across 27 appearances as San Diego took the top seed in the Western Conference. Varas, a finalist for Coach of the Year, helped San Diego set MLS records for the most wins (19) and most points (63) recorded by an expansion team.
Sunday will mark the third straight weekend that San Diego and Portland have met after also facing off on the final day of the regular season. San Diego has beaten Portland in all three of their matches this season.