Minnesota United could see a complete overhaul of its four-man back line for Saturday’s game against New York Red Bulls.

With center back pairing Michael Boxall and Francisco Calvo away fulfilling national team duties, Jerome Thiesson joined fellow outside back Tyrone Mears on the injured list Thursday. The foursome have started all three games this season and played nearly every minute for the Loons (2-1).

Thiesson will be listed as questionable for the road game with a left hip injury, the club said. Mears was removed with a right calf strain in the second half of the 2-1 home-opening victory over Chicago on Saturday, and he also will be listed as questionable.

The Loons’ remaining defenders are outside backs Marc Burch and Carter Manley, and center backs Brent Kallman, Wyatt Omsberg and Bertrand Owundi Eko’o.

Burch has played in 229 career MLS games, including coming on as a sub against Chicago. Kallman, of Woodbury, played in 23 games during his first MLS season in 2017 and also was a late sub against Chicago. Owundi Eko’o, an offseason signing from Cameroon, and Omsberg and Manley, a pair of rookies, have not yet played in MLS.

CALVO EXTENDED

Calvo is set to be a key player through the Loons’ opening of Allianz Field in St. Paul next season. The United captain and Costa Rican national team player had his contract extended through the 2020 season, with options to keep him in a Minnesota shirt through 2022, the club announced Thursday. Related Articles Houston Dynamo scores twice in 2nd half to tie Minnesota United

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Calvo, 25, will be the Loons’ lone World Cup representative in Russia this summer. He was the first United player to sign a higher-level contract using target-allocation money last December. His earned $330,000 in 2017. Financial terms of his new deal were not included in the team’s release.

Before playing in all three games this year, he scored two goals in 27 of the 34 games during United’s expansion season in 2017.

HIGHER-PROFILE MATCHES

With the opening of Allianz Field, United has been positioning itself to host higher-profile matches in the near future. One option is the club’s ramped-up attempt to host Gold Cup matches next summer, the club’s senior vice president Bryant Pfeiffer told the Pioneer Press. The CONCACAF Gold Cup will feature 16 national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

While MLS announced Thursday its 2018 all-star game will be against Italian champion Juventus at Atlanta United’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 1, the site of the 2019 game has yet to be announced.

Minnesota wants to host and is expected to have primary competition from Orlando and Los Angeles. Orlando City Stadium opened in 2017, and Banc of California Stadium, home of the new L.A. expansion franchise, is scheduled to open April 29. Atlanta was announced as host in October 2017.

WILD VS. LOONS

Three United players — Thiesson, Kallman and Ethan Finlay — held a juggling session with a handful of Wild players in the bowels of Xcel Energy Center before the Wild’s 4-3 overtime loss to Los Angeles on Monday.

Thiesson said the bonding experience was tremendous. But the Loons’ display of soccer skill? Not so much.

“We were terrible,” Thiesson said, with a laugh. “Perhaps Minnesota should have sent the guys that can actually play soccer, not the three of us.”

The Loons kicked the ball around with Wild players Mikael Granlund, Devan Dubnyk, Nino Neiderreiter, Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker and Jonas Brodin. The Wild’s commitment to track down errant balls despite the close confines impressed Thiesson.

“They went after every ball,” Thiesson said. “We soccer players would blame the other one for errors. They would take every error on themselves and go after every ball. There were walls around, and they would crash into every wall. It was like, ‘Oh my God, you guys have a game later on.’ ”

BRIEFLY

New Brazilian defensive midfielder Luiz Fernando Ferreira Maximiano will be referred to as Maximiano. Similar to Loons midfielder Ibson, this preference is a Brazilian custom to go by only one name. … United’s under-13 and U14 youth teams will start their spring seasons against St. Louis Scott Gallagher Illinois on Saturday and St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri on Sunday. Games will be at the Hmong College Prep Academy Dome in St. Paul. The new U15 team will start playing in the fall.