A 16-year-old could start in Charlotte FC's opener

16-year-old Berchimas leads wave of young players who could impact opener at Bank of America Stadium, Vargas hosts South Meck class, Bender update, new fan song plus all you need to know for Saturday

Feb 23, 2024

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With Charlotte still working to sign two or three stars, young players could steal the spotlight Saturday night; get to know 16-year-old Nimfasha Berchimas and five other new faces

Youngster Nimfasha Berchimas, 16, working the ball during practice this week. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)

In the days leading up to his first game as coach of Charlotte FC, Dean Smith had a few details to finalize: sorting out the 20 tickets he needed for family coming in town, deciding if he should venture to SouthPark Mall to purchase a new suit after his wife left his back home in England, and mulling whether to start a newly-turned 16-year-old winger Saturday night in front of more than 60,000 fans at Bank of America Stadium.

In his first pre-game press conference with Charlotte media Thursday, Smith said he had all but one or two positions of his starting 11 mapped out, and he wanted to sleep on those decisions one more night. When asked if one was whether to start Nimfasha Berchimas, the Tanzanian-born, High Point-bred wunderkind, he said, “It might be.”

We are still getting to know Smith, who just took over the helm a couple of months ago, but we could have sworn he had a twinkle in his eye when he said it. He had that same look when asked what would concern him about giving a player his first Major League Soccer start two days after his 16th birthday. “Nothing,” he said.

Smith said he might ponder the same question about a 23- or 24-year-old. “You don't know until you give them that opportunity,” he said.

Berchimas was assigned to Charlotte’s feeder team, Crown Legacy FC of MLS Next Pro, last season but only played eight games. He spent most of his time traveling with the U.S. Under-17 National team. He capped that experience with a trip to Indonesia in November for the Under-17 World Cup, where he scored three goals in a breakout performance helping the team to the Round of 16. He was the youngest player to make the U.S. roster for that tournament since Freddy Adu did at age 14 in 2003 and nearly matched Adu’s record of four goals there.

Berchimas was still 15 when he joined preseason camp with Charlotte FC this winter, and by the time he celebrated his 16th birthday Thursday, Smith was thinking hard about starting him in the opener against New York City FC.

“He’s been really bright around us, belied his years to be honest,” Smith said. “He hasn't looked out of place training with us, which is really pleasing. He’s got a really good football knowledge. He's direct, he runs at people, so, yeah, he’s been certainly one that has pleasantly surprised me.”

Nickola Petkovic (center) joins Charlotte FC midfield. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)

Charlotte FC will open the season Saturday still in search of two or three impact players on its roster. The departures of star striker Karol Swiderski and fellow Polish national Kamil Jozwiak left the club with room to sign two new designated players and potentially another Under 22 initiative player.

While Charlotte FC is still in the running for Luciano Rodriguez, a standout Uruguayan winger, there’s a distinct possibility a deal wouldn’t come together until the summer transfer window. In the meantime, Charlotte FC continues to pursue other targets, with winger the position of priority.

What Charlotte FC lacks in star power at this point, it will make up for in youth. To that end, it doesn’t hurt that Berchimas plays winger, a position where Charlotte FC is thin after the free agent departures of McKinze Gaines (Nashville) and Justin Meram (unsigned) and Jozwiak’s permanent transfer.

Here are five other new faces you’ll see playing for Charlotte FC.

Junior Urso: The Brazilian-born midfielder, 34, won Charlotte coaches over during a preseason trial and brings the experience of more than 100 games in MLS, including 96 in nearly four seasons with Orlando City SC.
Djibril Diani: He is a slender 6-foot-5 Frenchman signed out of Ligue 2, France’s second division, who can play defensive midfield or center back (think Derrick Jones, who left Charlotte for the Columbus Crew). The 26-year-old is unavailable to play Saturday as he awaits his visa.
Nikola Petkovic: The 20-year-old Serbian midfielder was just signed to a U-22 contract. Had Charlotte FC had a vacant U-22 initiative slot last season, you’d likely have seen Petkovic with the senior club before now. As it was, he used the time to recover from a quadriceps injury suffered while playing for the U-21 Serbian national team, adjust to a new country and score three goals with four assists in 12 games for Crown Legacy.
Joao Pedro: “JP,” the 20-year-old Brazilian who was named among the top 11 players in MLS Next Pro last season, is a big reason why Charlotte FC can take its time looking for a left-footed center back. He proved a steady presence on the backline as Charlotte went unscored-upon in four games at the Coachella Preseason Invitational.
Iuri Tavaras: The 22-year-old forward from the African island nation of Cape Verde earned a promotion this preseason after leading Crown Legacy last year with 12 goals, along with four assists in 26 games.

Vargas welcomes South Mecklenburg High class to Saturday’s opener

Winger Kerwin Vargas scored the lone goal in Charlotte FC’s 1-0 regular season finale last year against Inter Miami. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)

When students from Mrs. Gomez-Saxon’s Spanish class for native speakers tuned into Charlotte FC’s finale against Inter Miami last October, they were most excited to watch Lionel Messi. But they came away with an appreciation for winger Kerwin Vargas, who scored the only goal (which he celebrated with a back flip) in the 1-0 win that notched Charlotte its first playoff berth.

Realizing the Colombian-born Vargas was a Spanish-speaker with a similar Latin American heritage, one student asked the teacher to see if Vargas could visit their class. Nhora Gomez-Saxon says she reached out to the team through a fan group on Facebook and was pleasantly surprised to find out that Vargas, who was at home in Colombia for the offseason, had agreed to join her class on a Zoom video call.

While visiting a friend’s house, Vargas fielded questions from his car: what it was like to face Messi — “there aren’t words,” he told them — how he learned to do a backflip (practicing on a sandy back patio as a 5-year-old) and what he thinks about when he scores a goal (his young daughter).

“It was really nice,” Vargas recalled this week, speaking through a translator. “They had really great energy and asked really great questions.”

Vargas said it’s important to him to engage the Latin American community in Charlotte and set an example that adjusting to the culture here “can be a beautiful thing.”

Gomez-Saxon was surprised earlier this month when the club invited her class — 36 students and four chaperones — to Saturday’s opener.

“They’re very, very excited,” she said. “Most of them have never ridden the (Lynx) train or been uptown.”

She said a majority of her students’ families are from Honduras, and they also hail from Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela and Uruguay. More than half of them were born in Charlotte and most of them are bilingual.

“They really identified with Vargas,” Gomez-Saxon said. “He’s young (22), so the age is very close, and they really like him and he was able to connect with them very well.”

The students will be cheering him on from the upper deck above the East Goal behind the Charlotte FC supporters section. “I hope he can hear us,” she said.

When asked if he had any special plans for the students Saturday night, Vargas said, “It’s a surprise.”

Injury update: Bender recovering from knee surgery

Among the notable names you won’t see on the field Saturday night is midfielder Ben Bender, a fan-favorite who is one of only five players left from Charlotte’s inaugural roster. Bender suffered a knee injury against the Philadelphia Union last Sept. 20 and after holding out hope he could return with just rehabilitation, he ultimately underwent surgery in October to repair a torn meniscus.

Bender said this week his recovery has been longer than that of a typical meniscus injury because it was a meniscus root tear, which requires five or six months. Bender said he spent the first six weeks after surgery on crutches. He got back into cardiovascular shape riding a stationary bike and running on an anti-gravity treadmill. Just this week, he began straight-ahead running on the field. He’s hoping to add some work on the ball next week. Bender said he’s targeting April for a possible return.

“I can’t wait to get back out there,” he said.

Also out with preseason injuries: Midfielder Brandt Bronico is out with a strained quadriceps muscle. Winger Brandon Cambridge is out following ankle surgery.

Notes and nuggets

◼️ New second-half song: Charlotte FC supporters are adding a new celebration to the mix. In the same way fans took to doing the “Poznan” with their back-to-the-crowd jumping celebration before games, they’re hoping fans latch on to “Brain Stew” by Green Day, which they’ll play at the start of the second half. One supporter will riff on a guitar while fans sing “Brain Stew” lyrics modified to include CLT and references to lots of goal-scoring. To hear the song and read up on the lyrics, click here.

◼️ Centene out: Charlotte FC’s warm-up jersey might be looking a little bare for a while. The club’s secondary sponsor, Centene, ended its agreement with Charlotte FC, which was first reported by Charlotte Business Journal. The move was not a surprise after the national healthcare company, which is based in St. Louis, decided to halt construction on its East Coast headquarters in University City. Centene’s logo had been featured across the chests of Charlotte FC’s pre-game warm-up jersey, the sleeve of its game jersey and on its youth academy jerseys. Ally Financial is the team’s primary sponsor.

◼️ Replacement refs: Major League Soccer opens its season with replacement referees. The league’s officials are locked out in a labor dispute.

Up Next: Charlotte FC vs. New York City FC

When/Where: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte

How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe here.

How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.

Notable:

Charlotte FC is gunning for its third consecutive home-opening crowd of 60,000-plus at Bank of America Stadium, after drawing a record 74,479 for the inaugural home opener in 2022 and 69,345 last year. Charlotte is also gunning for its first goal on opening night. The team has been shut out in 1-0 losses to L.A. Galaxy in 2022 and the New England Revolution in 2023.
This is the first of four games the club has scheduled to open the upper bowl at Bank of America Stadium, along with the Nashville game on May 11, Inter Miami on July 3 and Montreal on Oct. 5. Tickets start at $15 for those games.
Charlotte FC has had uncanny success against New York City FC in its young history, going undefeated (3-0-1) in four appearances in the series.
It’s a tad early to be considered a must-win game, but Charlotte hits the road for its next three games, so this would be a good time to claim either three points for a victory or one point for a draw.
Raye Zaragoza, who plays Tiger Lily in Blumenthal’s latest production of Peter Pan, will lead the crowd in the National Anthem. It was this time two years ago that Charlotte FC began its tradition of singing the anthem a cappella after the microphone went out on the national anthem singer for the inaugural home match.

Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now cutting her teeth on soccer and the Charlotte FC just as fans in Charlotte do. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!

Email Carroll Walton

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