American defender Sam Vines will not play for Belgium's Royal Antwerp during the UEFA Champions League group stage because his name was accidentally left off the squad list the club submitted.
"We didn't do it right," Antwerp manager Mark van Bommel said about the administrative error, per Belgian newspaper HLN. "Vines did belong on the list. We made a mistake and it cannot be corrected."
The 24-year-old Vines joined Antwerp in 2021 from MLS' Colorado Rapids and has been a regular fixture at left back for much of his time in Belgium. He helped Antwerp secure a Champions League berth when he started the second leg of their qualifying tie against AEK Athens last month and was originally expected to be a mainstay throughout their group stage campaign.
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Vines will spend some time on the sidelines after leaving a league game against Union Saint-Gilloise with an injury on Sept. 3 but is expected to be back before the end of the Champions League group stage on Dec. 13.
"How does he deal with that? Well ... Everyone wants to be on that list," Van Bommel added. "Of course he is disappointed. But he is now focusing on his rehabilitation, that is the most important thing."
Antwerp were drawn into Group H alongside FC Barcelona, Portugal's FC Porto and Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk. They will not be eased in the group stage -- they head to Camp Nou to face Barcelona in their first match on Tuesday. It will be an uphill battle for Antwerp to finish in the top spots of the group and advance to the round of 16, but Vines will be rooting for his side to collect a few upsets to ensure he plays any Champions League minutes this season. A stint in the Europa League is possible, should Antwerp finish third place in their group.
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Vines was expected to be one of several Americans taking part in this season's Champions League. The list of U.S. talent participating in the competition includes AC Milan's Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah, Borussia Dortmund's Gio Reyna, Union Berlin's Brenden Aaronson and PSV's Sergino Dest and Ricardo Pepi.
