Basking in Charlotte FC's first win

Swiderski's two-goal breakout; Ramirez's emotional reaction; Bender's karate kick celebration; Making sense of Alvicar's flop; The tifo baby gift for Ruiz

Mar 25, 2022

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A two-score breakout for team’s star player; call him ‘Swi-GOAL-ski’

Charlotte FC start Karol Swiderski celebrates first of two goals from inaugural 3-1 win over New England. (Photo from Charlotte FC)

After two games without a goal, or much in the way of a threat of one, Charlotte FC’s star striker Karol Swiderski broke out with two goals Saturday to lead Charlotte to its first win in franchise history, 3-1.

Charlotte’s first ever designated player, signed without regard to salary cap for $5 million, scored two goals and assisted another against the New England Revolution. He used his first touch of the game to score his first goal of the season six minutes in to set off a wild celebration — both for him personally and for fans witnessing their first Charlotte FC goal at Bank of America Stadium. (Charlotte lost 1-0 to L.A. Galaxy in the opener.)

After the game, Swiderski acknowledged some of the pressure that comes with being the club’s first “DP.”

“Yes, maybe a little bit [of] pressure,” he said. “You know if you’re the DP player, you need to show some skills and quality in the game. And I know the first two games I played really bad, and I didn’t create many opportunities, but today is today. We deserved to take these three points. I think all the players played fantastic.”

Video of the team’s three goals here:

Major League Soccer @MLS

That first win feeling! 🤩 Three stellar goals in @CharlotteFC's first win.

Thigh injury: Just when Swiderski was finally hitting his stride, though, came word this week that he suffered a thigh injury in the game. The muscle strain meant he would miss World Cup qualifying with the Polish national team and stay in Charlotte this week, but now he’s questionable for Saturday’s game against Cincinnati. He has been training separately from the rest of the team.

“We don’t know if we can count on him Saturday,” Coach Miguel Angel Ramirez said after practice on Thursday. “It will depend on his evolution, even until Saturday.”

Last Saturday, Swiderski benefited from a change in game plan, after Ramirez decided to use a 4-4-2 formation with two strikers. That meant both Swiderski and Danny Rios were up front, which took some heat off Swiderski to create chances and helped divide some of his pressure-applying responsibilities as well.

Swiderski also acknowledged he was that much more fit after missing 10 days of practice to start the season while traveling to Poland to secure his visa.

“It's difficult to come back and to be at the same level physically,” Swiderski said. “I felt much better than the last game.”

He didn’t need much space to score his first goal on a feed from Alan Franco. He used his dominant left foot to split two defenders with a rocket to the far corner of the goal. His second goal, also with a powerful left foot, put Charlotte up 2-1 in the 57th minute. It came three minutes after New England had tied the game 1-1 on a penalty kick. Charlotte reclaimed the momentum with Swiderski’s goal and kept it the rest of the game.

“He turned up and really put the team on his back,” said Charlotte FC color analyst Lloyd Sam. “That’s what the DP needs to do. I think we were all relieved, everybody involved in Charlotte — fans, players, staff. He’s got a lot of pressure on him, brought in as a big-money signing. You’ve got to deliver.”

Fans dubbed him “Swi-GOAL-ski” on social media. They greeted him with cheers after he was substituted for late in the game. And afterward? He got a celebratory kiss on the cheek from Ramirez.

Postgame passion from MAR; a touching moment with ‘Sombrero Man’

Coach Miguel Angel Ramirez celebrates Charlotte FC’s first win. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)

Charlotte fans got a firsthand look at how passionate Coach Miguel Angel Ramirez is — and how exactly he was feeling about the team’s first franchise win.

After the final whistle, Ramirez shook hands with New England coach Bruce Arena. Then he broke into a series of fist bumps, shouted “¡vámonos!” (“let’s go”) toward fans and sprinted down to the Supporters Section to interact with fans up close and personally.

“We deserved it, and the fans deserved it,” Ramirez said afterward. “It made me sad that we couldn’t give the fans a victory, with goals, not just for the (first) home match but for the away ones. The fans who buy a flight, a ticket, I understand. I was a fan at one point, too. I know what it feels like to suffer through a losing streak.”

The most priceless postgame interactions came between Ramirez and Hector Cortes, better known as “Sombrero Man,” who is one of the chant leaders in the supporters’ section. Ramirez was photographed putting his hands on Cortes’ face as the two embraced in celebration.

Cortes jokingly recreated the photo several nights later, when he ran into Ramirez at a Hornets game, this time putting his hands on Ramirez’s face:

Uptown Ultras @UltrasUptown

@FKNTORO @CharlotteFC @MARamirezMedina @FKNTORO 🤩 @MARamirezMedina 🤩 @UltrasUptown 😍

Ben Bender signature move: the karate kick

Rookie sensation Ben Bender punctuated his first professional goal Saturday with a celebratory karate kick of the corner flag. Don’t be surprised to see more of those from the rookie sensation and No. 1 overall pick of the MLS SuperDraft.

The kick became a signature move for Bender at the University of Maryland, as he explained in a podcast interview with Charlotte FC radio duo Will Palasczcuk and Jessica Charman of WFNZ.

“After my first goal, my sophomore season at Maryland, it was just an instinct,” Bender told them. “It was weird. I got really excited and went to the corner flag and just kicked it. So I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to keep doing it.’ And then one of my teammates from my freshman year texted me and he said, ‘You better keep kicking the flag.’ And he said he wanted to see me kick the flags in Charlotte. So I told him I’d do it.”

For the full interview, check out “Crown Corner.” Bender comes in about the 15th minute.

Charlotte FC @CharlotteFC

You can literally use the Ben Bender kick for anything 😂

Oscar-worthy theatrics: Alcivar’s dive

Even new soccer fans have figured out by now they’re going to see some theatrics in this sport. But Charlotte FC fans got a crash course in what an Oscar-worthy flop looks like against New England.

Nearly 30 minutes into the first half, with Charlotte up 1-0, midfielder Jordy Alcivar got under New England defender Omar Gonzalez’s skin by standing right in front of him before a free kick just outside the Revolution’s penalty box. Gonzalez shoved Alcivar in the chest. Alcivar grabbed his own face and fell back, as if he’d taken a blow to the jaw, and began to writhe on the ground.

Brett Jensen WBT News @Brett_Jensen

After getting slightly pushed in the chest, CLT FC player Jordy Alcivar put his hands to his face & fell on his back clutching his chest like he’d been shot by a sniper. He rolled on the ground for nearly a minute in “agony.” That is a major thing that angers borderline fans.

To fans at the game, without the benefit of replay, it might have looked flagrant. Players from both teams converged to defend their teammates. But the referee kept his cool and issued yellow cards to both players. It was an appropriate and measured response and play continued.

Charlotte FC broadcasters Eric Krakauer and Lloyd Sam were careful with the call, not wanting to criticize Alcivar in his first start and an otherwise good performance. But Sam pointed out the potential impact of the stunt on the game.

“The thing I don’t really like about this is you don’t want to wake up this Revolution,” Sam said. “You don’t want to rile them up.”

Soccer has a reputation for dramatics. Players might feign an injury trying to draw a penalty or to get an opponent disqualified on a red card. Defenders of the tactic will say basketball players flop to draw charges, football punters fake getting “roughed” and baseball players lean in to get hit by pitches. In soccer, one play can lead to one goal, which can make all the difference — so why not try?

Fined: But for fans who give it a giant eye roll, not to worry. The advent of the VAR (the video assistant referee) in 2017 has rendered much of the theatrics meaningless. And even Charlotte fans might take solace in knowing Alcivar was fined an undisclosed amount by MLS later in the week for “simulation/embellishment.”

Up next: Charlotte FC (1-3) vs. FC Cincinnati (2-2)

Karol Swiderski sporting the “newly minted kit.” (Photo from Charlotte FC.)

When/Where: 5 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

How to watch: WAXN (TV 64), Telemundo, Charlotte. Or live stream at www.charlottefootballclub/live or on the Charlotte FC app. Local restrictions apply.

Notable:

Charlotte will be without defender Christian Makoun (Venezuela) and midfielder Alan Franco (Ecuador), who are playing in World Cup qualifying. Defender Anton Walkes, who missed the first three games with a leg injury and played four minutes last Saturday, could see his first significant action.
After getting embarrassed by Austin FC 5-0 in its opener and losing to DC United the following week, FC Cincinnati has won two in a row over Orlando City and Inter Miami by a combined score of 5-2.
Charlotte FC will debut their alternative black jerseys, for fans who might want to match up with the “Newly Minted Kit.” For the full kit schedule, click here.

Ruiz takes home tifo gift; stork carrying baby in CLT FC blue blanket

Sergio Ruiz (in uniform) enjoys tifo baby gift from fans. (Photo by Taylor Banner of Charlotte FC.)

As cool as the “Queen Charlotte” and “Hornets’ Nest of Rebellion” fan art displays have been at the first two home games, the banner Becca Mitchum made to congratulate midfielder Sergio Ruiz on the birth of his first child has gotten the most personal reaction.

“Felicidades, Sergio,” the “tifo” read, featuring a stork carrying a baby in a CLT FC blue blanket of course. “Bienvenido al mundo, bebe Ruiz.” (“Welcome to the world, baby Ruiz.”)

The “welcome to the world” message was still hanging over the railing in the Supporters Section some 15 minutes after fans had cleared out of Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night. Mint City Collective president David Gusler was there with several other supporters group leaders taking down the tifo when he saw Ruiz join a few players back on the field for wind sprints.

“I yelled out ‘Sergio!” across the stadium, thinking he’s not going to hear me do this,” Gusler relayed during Mint City’s weekly podcast. “We start pointing to the banner to make sure he saw it, and he starts waving and clapping and goes, ‘Hang on!’ And he starts running towards us in the stands, climbs over the Queen’s throne, gets up into the supporters’ section and he wants to thank all of us for this banner.”

Gusler said as Ruiz took photos with them, he explained that it was Mitchum’s idea and handiwork. She’s president of Liberty, the women’s chapter of Mint City Collective. Ruiz then surprised them by asking to take the banner home.

“What player does that?” Gusler marveled.

Gusler made sure to text photos and details to Mitchum right away. She was busy helping store the “Hornets’ Nest” tifo.

“I was shocked,” Mitchum said this week. “I just wanted to share a sentiment, and I was hoping that he would be able to see it. I’m very happy that it worked out the way it did.”

Becca Mitchum putting finishing touches on tifo. (Photo courtesy of Brandon Lewis.)

Previous editions of Fútbol Friday

You can find previous issues of The Charlotte Ledger’s Fútbol Friday newsletter online, including:

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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