Altar-ed plans: US midfielder gets 1-day leave from World Cup training for his own wedding

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — American midfielder Brenden Aaronson had a good excuse to miss the U.S. World Cup team’s training session Friday — he was getting married.

The Leeds midfielder was marrying longtime girlfriend Milana D’Ambra, a daughter of Saint Joseph’s men’s soccer coach Don D’Ambra.

Aaronson, also a member of the 2022 U.S. World Cup squad, left camp after Thursday’s session and was due back in time for training Saturday.

Unable to attend the wedding himself, fellow midfielder Gio Reyna was being represented by wife Chloe.

“We don’t know if it’s a no-phones wedding. We’re trying to get clarity on that,” said Cristian Roldan, another U.S. midfielder. “Gio’s wife will be FaceTiming in and we’ll all be able to watch kind of like a live stream if it is a phone wedding.”

Aaronson, 25, is part of a well-known U.S. soccer family from Medford, New Jersey. His brother Paxten is with Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids and sister Jaden played for Villanova as a freshman last fall. Their father, Rusty, is sporting director of Real Futbol Academy in Medford.

American goalkeeper Chris Brady said Aaronson was likely playing golf Friday afternoon ahead of the ceremony.

“Good luck. Don’t (mess) it up,” Brady said teammates told Aaronson before he left camp. “Say I do.”

Timing for the wedding was tricky.

Players at the World Cup are supposed to get 21 days off before reporting to Premier League clubs ahead of season openers from Aug. 21-23. The U.S. finale could be as early as June 25 if the Americans are eliminated in the group stage or as late as July 19 in the unlikely event they reach the final for the first time.

The U.S. team allowed star Christian Pulisic to skip training to attend his Hershey High School prom on May 27, 2016, at the Hershey Hotel in Pennsylvania, then return for the following day’s Copa America match against Bolivia in Kansas City, Kansas.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup