Tough road stretch ahead for Charlotte FC
At Cincinnati, Columbus and Austin in eight days, roster flux as transfer window opens soon, Malanda contract extended, Copa America tensions spill over, Arfield and Diop depart, and more
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With Swiderski in the wings and Agyemang out with a red card, Charlotte travels to face two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference
Liel Abada made his MLS debut the last time Charlotte played Cincinnati on March 30. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
With a roster in flux, and the summer in full swing, Charlotte is running the gauntlet of its midseason schedule.
Coming off a 2-1 loss to Inter Miami last week, Charlotte FC takes to the road to face two of the other top three teams in the Eastern Conference — Saturday at Cincinnati and Wednesday at Columbus.
Cincinnati just knocked Miami out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 6-1 pummeling. It was the first loss for Inter Miami since Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Luis Suarez (Uruguay) left for Copa America.
Not that Charlotte coach Dean Smith sounds intimidated by any of it.
“We could have done to Miami what Cincy did to Miami, if we would have taken our chances,” said Smith, referring to three near misses by Agyemang, one a great save, one a blistering shot off the post and one that sailed from point-blank range over the crossbar.
Charlotte played Columbus and Cincinnati a week apart at home in March and came away with a draw and 2-0 victory over Columbus, albeit playing most of it with a man advantage.
“I think it’s another opportunity for us to draw another line in the sand,” Smith said. “But away from home.”
Agyemang to miss Cincinnati game after red card vs. Miami
Charlotte will play its third road game in eight days next Saturday in Austin. Roster reinforcements can’t join until then — Karol Swiderski is back in practice after returning from his loan in Italy — and now Patrick Agyemang has to sit against Cincinnati with a red card suspension.
Agyemang picked up the red card stomping on Miami defender Yannick Bright’s foot during a corner kick in stoppage time. It was clear by then how frustrated Agyemang was by a lack of calls his way — one in particular when he took a shove in the box but no penalty was given.
“I can't condone his actions last week for getting sent off where he stamps on him,” Smith said. “But I understand them.”
Agyemang has been Charlotte’s primary striker since Enzo Copetti’s departure in early May, making 12 straight starts. He’s leading Charlotte with six goals, including three in the past three games. He scored on a breakaway goal to even the game 1-1 against Miami before a transition goal of its own to go ahead 2-1.
Rookie wingers Iuri Tavares and Tyger Smalls are candidates to fill in at striker.
Abada to Paris: Winger Liel Abada was called up to play for Israel in the Summer Olympics, so he will depart after the Columbus game. Abada is likely to miss just one MLS game, though, as Charlotte breaks from MLS regular season action to play in the Leagues Cup, a tournament featuring teams from MLS and Mexico.
Swiderski rejoins Charlotte in practice
Swiderski is back in the fold, training with Charlotte FC again. Smith said he’s had a brief but positive meeting with Swiderski and that he has been a “really bright” addition to practice. Swiderski’s attitude is something staff and fans have been curious to see, for a star player who lobbied for a move to Europe and then returned after Hellas Verona declined to buy out his option at the existing price and Charlotte refused multiple counter offers.
“We haven't really spoken at length [about] how it went with Verona, but I said ‘Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener,’” Smith said. “‘Come back and enjoy yourself. Come and score some goals and enjoy your football.’”
Swiderski, who led Charlotte with 22 goals combined in his first two seasons with Charlotte, scored just two goals in 15 appearances (three starts) for Verona in Italy’s top league, Serie A. As awkward a return as it might seem to have him unexpectedly back — Abada is now wearing Swiderski’s old No. 11 — Smith said it can definitely work to both of their advantages:
I think he's hungry to be here. I think he’s got a point to prove. And I like that. He made no secret that he wanted to go back to Europe, and he’s ended up back here, so things didn’t go as well as he would have probably liked. He got minutes in the EUROs, but unfortunately, (Poland) is out, and now he’s got the chance to come back and score goals for us. I think our fans know that he can do that. So we’re all excited to see him come back and do that. But he’s got a challenge as well, because young Patrick’s grown since Karol’s gone as well.
Charlotte FC signs Malanda to new contract; says GM Zrneta: ‘We don’t want to let him go.’
Malanda blanketing Columbus star Cucho Hernandez. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
It’s no secret that European teams have been calling for Charlotte’s young star center back, Adilson Malanda, and so far Charlotte hasn’t bitten. When the club announced this week it had signed Malanda to a new two-year contract with an option for 2027, it looked like they were trying to gain leverage in negotiations for next year, if and when one of those European deals came through.
But both general manager Zoran Krneta and Smith made it clear this week that the contract meant more than that.
“This comes from the top of the club, where (owners) Dave and Nicole (Tepper) want us to be successful as a club,” Smith said. “To be successful, you have to keep the best players on the club. People from outside the club will probably look at it and see us trying to protect ourselves in case somebody comes in for him. That is not the case, and that has never been discussed. The reason we’ve done it is to keep one of the better players at our club, so we can be successful in the future.”
Krneta said Malanda is not going anywhere this season and beyond that “it would have to be a really incredible offer to tempt us to let him go. We’re trying to build a championship club, and Adilson is a vital part. We don’t want to let him go.”
For his part, Malanda seems to be taking it one step at a time but said he’s “very happy” with the contract and he, too, is trying to send a signal.
“I think it’s the right thing to do for the moment,” Malanda said. “We are in a good season. We want to achieve some big things this year. And I want to show also to the club that I’m 100% with the team.”
Charlotte FC parts ways with Arfield and Diop, both bound for smaller clubs in Europe
With the transfer window set to open July 18 and Charlotte believed to be preparing to add veteran U.S. national team center back Tim Ream — a deal is still in the works — the club is doing some roster shuffling to create flexibility.
Veteran midfielder Scott Arfield, of Scotland, who saw his playing time dwindle this season, is heading home to the U.K., where Tom Bogert reports he is signing with Bolton of League One, the third-tier of English soccer.
Arfield, 35, who starred for the Rangers in his native Scotland and with Burnley of the English Premier League, was slowed by a hamstring injury and has since found just sparing minutes off the Charlotte bench. Even in a reduced role, he has entertained Charlotte players and fans as the unofficial team musician — he’s great on the acoustic guitar — and with his upbeat personality. Unfortunately, his most recent impact on a game was for taking a red card against Orlando, which forced Charlotte to play a man down most of the 2-2 draw.
Defender Hamady Diop, meanwhile, never established a foothold in Charlotte despite coming in as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 SuperDraft out of Clemson. He fell out of favor with former coach Christian Lattanzio, who pulled him from a game last season in Atlanta after just subbing him on 15 minutes prior. Diop was on the bench for five games with Charlotte this year but never saw action. His departure was first reported by TopBin90. He’s joining FK Čukarički in Serbia.
Colombia-Uruguay brings passion — and postgame fight — to Charlotte
Bank of America decked in Colombia yellow Wednesday night. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
International soccer has been coming to Bank of America since 2010 but mostly for exhibition games. A mass of Colombian fans and a smaller contingent from Uruguay showed Charlotte just what meaningful international soccer looks — and sounds like.
When the two Latin American national powers faced off in the Copa America semifinal on Wednesday night — for a chance to play Lionel Messi and Argentina in what is basically the South American championship — there was an almost deafening buzz from the kickoff to the final whistle.
Some 70,644 plus fans — the largest of 16 international soccer games ever held at Bank of America Stadium — turned the stadium’s normally blue color into a sea of Colombian yellow. Colombia matched the moment on the field, too, holding on for a 1-0 win after playing for 45 minutes with a man down.
Unfortunately, what happened after the whistle is what made a more lasting impression. Fighting broke out in the stands near the field behind the benches, and Uruguayan player Darwin Nunez scaled the fence and entered the stands along with a group of his teammates to enter the fray. Nunez was captured on video throwing a chair toward the stands at first, climbing up into the stands, then throwing punches before also taking a blow to the head. In a televised report from the field afterward, Uruguayan captain Jose Maria Gimenez explained that players entered the stands in defense of their families who had been “stormed” by Colombian fans.
The South American Football Confederation, known as Conmebol, which was in charge of logistics and security for the game, released a statement that its disciplinary committee had opened an investigation “to understand the sequence of events and the responsibilities of those involved in the acts of violence.”
No discipline has been announced regarding the players, who will return to action at Bank of America Stadium for the third-place game on Saturday against Canada.
Colombian connection: According to statistics shared by Charlotte FC, fans came from all 50 states and more than 60 countries to attend Wednesday night’s game. Local photographer Jorge Torres of the Charlotte FC supporters group Blue Furia moved to Statesville at age 5 from Colombia. He spent much of the week helping Colombian fans with travel logistics, including one who flew to Charlotte from Spain and another who drove to Charlotte from Toronto.
He filmed hundreds of fans dancing and chanting at the team hotel in the University area at a pep rally Tuesday night. Colombian fans started tailgating Uptown as early as 8 a.m. Wednesday.
“We don’t get this opportunity all the time,” Torres said. “We’re not in Barranquilla, where Colombia plays. It’s like when your favorite artist finally comes into town, but it’s more than that because for us, in South America, soccer isn’t just a sport, it’s a religion. It’s what we live, breathe and do.”
English connection: Smith to Watkins, who scored England’s game-winner in EURO semis
Smith was jumping for joy to watch his native England advance to the final of the UEFA European Championships in more ways than one. One of his proteges — Ollie Watkins, who played striker for Smith both at Brentford and Aston Villa — came off the bench Wednesday to score the go-ahead goal for England in the 90th minute of its 2-1 win over the Netherlands.
“Ollie Watkins has scored an unbelievable goal, but it doesn’t surprise me, because it’s not an instinctive goal,” Smith said. “That’s sheer years of practice and hard work, and he got to get his rewards for it.”
Smith said he’s been inundated by media requests from the U.K. about Watkins since then. He also said he messaged Watkins his congratulations but told him not to respond.
“I told him to just go get a trophy and then we can share a drink after that,” Smith said.
Up Next: Charlotte FC (9-8-5) vs FC Cincinnati (15-4-3)
When/Where: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, TQL Stadium, Cincinnati.
How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe for the season here.
How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.
Notable:
Reigning MLS MVP winner Luciano Acosta scored a goal and assisted two others in a 6-1 pummeling of Miami. Acosta leads MLS with 17 assists (Messi is second with 13) and 79 key passes (a pass that leads to a teammate shooting on goal). Acosta has scored 10 goals as well.
Charlotte played Cincinnati to a 1-1 draw at Bank of America Stadium on March 30, leading on a Djibril Diani penalty kick at the 60th minute until Cincinnati scored in stoppage time. Abada got his first MLS action off the bench that game after joining Charlotte from Celtic in Scotland.
Cincinnati center backs Matt Miazga and Nick Hagglund are out for the season with injuries.
Charlotte midfielder Junior Urso has begun jogging again but remains likely to be out a few weeks with an Achilles injury.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her third season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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