From the perspective of New York Red Bulls fans, the next USA Men's National Team friendly just became a potential glimpse of the club's future.
In advance of USMNT's match against New Zealand on November 11, Jurgen Klinsmann has sent nine players home from the squad that contested a lackluster kick-about with Cuba on October 7. There is no implied punishment in Klinsi's decision to jettison a few players: he is simply using the October friendlies to explore the player pool before the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying kicks off in November.
Seven players have been called up to replace those allowed to leave the camp: Kellyn Acosta, Juan Agudelo, Matt Besler, Bill Hamid, Michael Orozco, Tim Parker, and Terrence Boyd.
Boyd is perhaps the big surprise in the new batch: he hasn't featured in a Klinsi roster since the preliminary squad for the 2014 World Cup. Mostly, that is because Boyd has been injured: he hasn't made an appearance for RB Leipzig since 2014 either.
The 25-year-old has been working his way back into form and contention for a first team place with Leipzig's reserves so far this season. He may well get his shot in the Bundesliga soon. Or he may not. And if he does not, it should be noted that RBNY has recently provided a playing-time opportunity to Omer Damari - another injury-stricken RB Leipzig player.
RB Leipzig is, of course, part of the same Red Bull global soccer system as RBNY. A system Once A Metro likes to call RalfBall.
USMNT does not play RalfBall, though its principle tenets - aggressive pressing, intelligent control of space, and a rigorous team-first mindset - are universally fashionable in soccer at the moment.
What the New Zealand game might offer, however, is a chance to see Sacha Kljestan - a star of RBNY's last two seasons - link up with Boyd, a player in need of regular minutes at a higher level than the Leipzig reserves can provide.
Omer Damari fled Leipzig for a loan to RBNY after Ralf Rangnick - the man who puts the Ralf into RalfBall - made it clear the forward's options were either play for the reserves or ship out to another club for a while. If RBNY enjoys the experience of refurbishing Leipzig players, perhaps Boyd could be next up.
Here's hoping Klinsi allows Boyd and Kljestan to share the pitch against New Zealand long enough for us to get a sense of what that partnership might look like, for club and country.