Trying to plug-in holes in the roster due to COVID-19 infections, the Oakland Roots signed Joseph Restani from their developmental team, Project 51O, on Friday.
Restani will be available for the Roots on Sunday. It looks like the club will need the addition as they look to field a full squad after several players were quarantined after being infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Last week the Roots announced that multiple members of the team’s “covered person’s list” tested positive for the coronavirus. The covered person list is a bubble that includes the team’s technical staff, which includes players and coaches.
The team has not yet announced which players were affected and which players have made a full recovery and will be available for this weekend’s matchup against Los Angeles Galaxy II.
“We are very excited to add Restani to the squad,” said VP of Soccer Eric Yamamoto. “Joe is a local Northern California product that has come through the college ranks, worked through our Project 51O Reserve Team, and has earned a spot in our first team.”
Restani played collegiately for the Saint Mary Gaels and scored ten goals and three assists in his senior season to help his team win the WCC Championship. He joined the Roots developmental team, Project 51O, last year and scored in the team’s only game in the NPSL before the pandemic started.
Oakland travels down to Carson, California, this weekend to take on Los Dos. They will be looking for a repeat of their first game there in May when they defeated the home side for their first, and so far only, victory of the season.
ROOTS NOTES
Oakland announced that the Roots’ next home game on July 31 against Orange County will be held at Las Positas College in Livermore and not at Laney as originally planned. The team will be laying out their new turf for the first time at Laney on July 29. It will be inspected by the USL and they will confirm if it is fit for play on July 30.
Because of the delay, the team now expects their first home game to be the following Wednesday, August 4 against Phoenix Rising.