Real Salt Lake will be without their captain when they face the Seattle Sounders in the first round of the 2021 Major League Soccer playoffs tonight. Albert Rusnak, 27, tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of tonight’s game, the team confirmed to RSL Soapbox.
Rusnak, who recently returned from international duty with Slovakia, tested negative upon arrival back in Utah and was cleared to return to the team. A team representative confirmed Rusnak followed league and team protocols upon his return. He first tested positive on Sunday, and was tested two more times this week to rule out a false positive. No other players have tested positive for COVID-19 thus far.
Another source with the team confirmed that Rusnak has been vaccinated for COVID-19.
Should Real Salt Lake advance, they would play Sporting Kansas City on Sunday at 1 p.m.. This would not give Rusnak enough time to recover under the league’s health and safety protocols and be cleared to return to the team, so he would miss that match as well.
Real Salt Lake finished 7th in the west in 2021, nearing the final playoff spot on decision day in a dramatic 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City. Albert Rusnak finished the regular season with 11 goals and 11 assists and was instrumental in helping RSL make the playoffs.
