The international break was somewhat merciful for Minnesota in terms of the players being overwhelmed. Robin Lod and Teemu Pukki, who returned from injury, both played twice for Finland, but Pukki played a total of 30 minutes and Lod 105, and neither has played since last Sunday. Michael Boxall only played one of New Zealand’s two games – despite his travel schedule being crazy to Oceania and back – and neither Dayne St Clair nor Tani Oluwaseyi played for Canada.

The only concerns might be center back Carlos Harvey, who played the entire game for Panama on Tuesday, and full-back Joseph Rosales, who played almost two full games in five days for Honduras.

For Ramsay, given everything that’s happened — a summer of missing players, his own late arrival, the front office changes — 2024 has already been a good year for Minnesota, regardless of where the Loons end up in the playoffs.

“It’s been a really successful season when you look at it as a whole and take into account everything we’ve struggled with,” he said. “It couldn’t be more of a transitional year given the circumstances in which I was brought into the squad and the way things have gone over the course of these two summer months. … We’re in the playoffs, we’re fighting for fifth place. I think if you look at that as a point of view, we would have bitten someone’s hand off for this a few months ago. I think everything is a bonus from this point on.”