‘Holy crap’: Zawadzki reacts to being makeshift goalkeeper as Crew fume 🧤

Columbus Crew made headlines on Saturday after being forced to play an outfielder in goal during their eventual 4-0 loss to Seattle Sounders.

Sean Zawadzki took the gloves after Abraham Romero was shown a first-half red card when he collided with Jordan Morris. The Crew had no other choice with all other goalkeepers on international duty or injured.

The 24-year-old midfielder previously played multiple positions under manager Wilfried Nancy but admitted it was a very uncomfortable moment to endure. During his post-match press conference, the manager later fumed over a “lack of coherence” regarding how player call-ups work in MLS.

“From my perspective, it was a ball over the top,” Zawadzki said on the red card incident. “I cleared it, then I collided with Abraham. So, I’m confused. Maybe have to watch it back or something, but for me personally it was, I collided with Abraham. So, that’s kind of all I remember from the situation.”

“I didn’t think it was going to be a red. When they (the officials) said it was, it was like, ‘Holy crap, this is happening now.’ So, I run over to the bench and do whatever I can to prepare myself for the situation.”

“It was a completely uncomfortable situation for me, and don’t really know what to do in the situation, obviously,” Zawadzki admitted.

“I just (tried) to do what I could for the guys. They continuously fought all game, for 45-plus minutes down a man, and continued to put on an effort. And for me, (it was) just to try and give them some hope that, if there’s a shot, I can hopefully save one.”

According to MLS regulations, a player can be called up from the second team without a first-team contract four times per season. The Crew already hit that mark due to needing able bodies in multiple competitions.

They were subsequently forced to give Abraham his MLS debut after acquiring him as a fourth senior goalkeeper from LAFC and put nobody else on the bench. Give Me Sport insider Tom Bogert reported that the league “did not allow an ‘extreme hardship’ exception” against Seattle.

“When we asked (the league) before the game to have another call-up for our goalkeeper from the reserve team, they said no,” Nancy revealed after the game.