After a busy couple of weeks, David Accam was happy for the break he and his Chicago Fire teammates got.
Accam played a pair of friendlies with the Ghanaian national team, June 28 vs. Mexico in Houston and July 1 vs. the U.S. in East Hartford, Connecticut, before rejoining the Fire for a match in Portland on July 5.
With Ghana, Accam came off the bench and played 31 minutes in the 1-0 loss to Mexico. He started, but was subbed out at halftime against the U.S. in a 2-1 American win. Then Accam traveled from East Coast to West Coast to play in Portland.
After earning a tough draw in Portland, the Fire were off from training for six days.
“I went out with my friends, just taking it easy with my friends and family,” Accam said. “I didn’t do much. I just wanted to rest and hang out with my friends and family.”
The Fire returned to training on Wednesday in a session that didn’t feature Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nemanja Nikolic or even coach Veljko Paunovic, who was in Tampa for league competition meetings.
“You want to be playing every time, but also the break is good,” Accam said. “Everyone is happy to come back with more energy.”
Accam’s time with Ghana wasn’t a resounding success. Not only did the team lose both games, but Accam failed to make a significant impression individually.
Even during arguably the best year of his club career, Accam hasn’t been called in consistently to the national team. He was not on the roster for the 2017 African Cup of Nations, which took place in January and February, and was only a late addition to the roster for the two recent friendlies.
When asked how his recent time with Ghana went, Accam wasn’t speaking in glowing terms.
“It was OK,” he said. “To be fair, we lost both games and for me I was happy to be playing with the national team also and I saw some of my friends so it was good.”
With the Fire, Accam has 10 goals, tied for fifth most in the league, and seven assists, also tied for fifth most. Those kind of numbers make it seem likely he will join Schweinsteiger and Nikolic in the MLS All-Star Game at Soldier Field, but Accam wasn’t ready to predict his chances of getting the nod.
“I don’t know,” he said. “For me, I’m playing well. I’m doing well for the team and if I get in, it’s a bonus. If I don’t, nothing changes. I think I’ve done enough to get in, so I’ll just wait and see what happens.”
The rest of the MLS All-Star roster is expected to come out later in mid-July.