Charlotte FC’s Nimfasha Berchimas makes name for himself 

CHARLOTTE FC

Nimfash Berchimas, a 15-year-old player in the Charlotte FC system, has been involved with the first five U.S. goals in the FIFA U17 World Cup in Indonesia.

In the sixth minute of added time at the end of the first half on a 90-degree day in Jakarta, the United States led Burkina Faso, the West African country just north of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, 1-0.

Peyton Miller played a low hard pass across the six-yard-box from the wide left wing. Striker Keyrol Figueroa, who had scored the opener, made a straight run down the middle, and could have tucked it in, but his foot caught on the grass which deceived the defender trying to close him from behind as well.

The ball rolled through, just past the far post where Nimfasha Berchimas first-timed it into the net.

The Charlotte FC homegrown player then did what 15-year-olds do when they score their third goal in one and a half matches of the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup in Indonesia. He launched into a backflip that cannot be as easy as he made it look and then led several of his teammates in a choreographed dance celebration that appeared to have some cowboy elements to it.

Berchimas has announced himself to the football world as the new sheriff in town as the youngest player on this U.S. team and the youngest American player since Freddy Adu in 2003 to score at this tournament. He now ranks as the U-17 MYNT’s fourth-youngest scorer ever at this competition.

His work has been noticed.

“This man likes to take players on,” said former U.S. National Team goalkeeper Tony Meola on SiriusXM FC’s Counter Attack show. “This man likes to dribble at players, and he doesn’t mind a stepover. He’s got an edge about him. He wants to attack.”

Meola’s co-host Brian Dunseth, captain of the U.S. Olympic Team at Sydney 2000 and a 10-year MLS veteran, concurred.

“He’s good. I’m really excited about this kid,” before adding a cautionary note to defenders on Berchimas’s ruthless play in the box. “He’s taking souls.”

Born in Africa, raised in Carolina

Born in Burundi, a small east African country bordered by Rwanda, DR Congo, Tanzania, and Lake Tanganyika, he was raised in High Point, where his family had moved after first coming to Atlanta when he was young.
Most recently on the roster of Charlotte’s MLS Next Pro team, Crown Legacy, Berchimas has had a foot in all five USA goals so far in the World Cup.

In the first game against a strong South Korea side, he scored the first goal much like his tally against Burkina Faso, by being in the right place at the right time to fire home a ball that the goalkeeper had deflected out to the middle of the penalty area. It was the rebound of his shot in the 49th minute that fell to Cruz Medina who scored, and he made the pass before the pass that was the assist on the first goal by Figueroa against Burkina Faso.

Another Berchimas goal against Burkina Faso was called back for offsides.

The final first round match against France on Saturday (7 a.m. on FS1 and Telemundo) will be a battle for first in Group E before the Round of 16 begins. The tournament final is on Dec. 2.

Boarding school for football

Professional soccer academies have one raison d'être – a singular reason for being – to develop professional players. They are trade schools that combine general education needs – reading, writing, arithmetic, etc. – mandated for school age children. That wasn’t always the case internationally, especially in years past where young players with potential were called apprentices and humbled by polishing the boots of older pros.

In the global game, some young talent can cross oceans, moving thousands of miles from home to chase the dream. MLS newcomer Lionel Messi did just that, moving from Argentina to Spain to join FC Barcelona’s La Masia academy when he was 13 years old. How young players grow and develop from that point is an inexact science.

Berchimas joined the Charlotte FC Academy when it began in 2020. Then 12, he came from the NC Fusion club in the Triad area where he had just been for a year after joining them from Piedmont Triad FC. Marc Nichols, the first technical director for the Academy had previously worked for NC Fusion and knew him well.

Other players from NC Fusion and its predecessor clubs, the Twin City Sports Association and Greensboro United Soccer Association, include Charlotte FC’s Brandt Bronico and Gianluca Busio, now with Venezia FC in Serie A, who played with the U.S. Men’s National Team in Charlotte in last summer's Gold Cup.

Homegrown signing

Berchimas showed his mettle and his talent from the start and was rewarded with CLTFC’s second homegrown professional contract in November 2022, making him the sixth-youngest player to sign an MLS contract at 14 years and 268 days old. The first went to Brian Romero, who was also called up to the U17 National Team camp but not selected for the final squad.

While Berchimas is experiencing his first major moment now, Romero’s came in Charlotte’s 2022 exhibition match against Premier League side Chelsea when he made his debut for the first team and promptly drew a penalty kick with his craftiness in the box.

Charlotte weren’t the only ones to appreciate Berchimas. German giant FC Bayern Munich invited him to train with their academy in summer of 2022 to get a first hand look at him.

That success may also stir less informed fans to clamor for his inclusion in the first team without thinking through that there are very real differences between 15-year-olds, even the gifted ones, and grown men.

“Like any player his age, he has a significant amount of development ahead of him and everyone at the club is aligned to maximize his progress on the appropriate timeline,” said Charlotte FC sporting director Zoran Krneta at the time of his signing.

Berchimas did play in eight matches for Crown Legacy in MLS Next Pro with four starts, including the team’s first-ever league game at home against Huntsville FC. He’s scored one goal on 12 shots.

Berchimas has usually played up a year or two on his club and academy teams. Brian Scales, executive director of Academy for CLTFC, attributes that to “his athleticism, his mobility, his ability on the ball to be dangerous.”

“He's a high potential attacking player, as evidenced by his two goals and assist (against South Korea),” Scales added, “but he's always been a guy that has had a nose for goal and has been kind of an aggressive attacking player.

“Nimfasha has always been very athletic and quick, so that's helped him solve a lot of problems on the field. That quickness and athleticism you can't teach.”

Scales says that improvement has come in that, “He's been able to really kind of synthesize that athleticism and technical ability on the ball and now is making good decisions on where to go, how to find the ball.”

Berchimas is in a unique position in that he’s engaged with every level that the club offers: the academy, Crown Legacy, and training with the first team. According to Scales, he’s handling it well.

“I think one of the characteristics of his game at that level is understanding how he connects and fits in with the rest of the group and his tactical role,” he said.
It’s fostered a maturity that benefits his teammates as well.

“He's a leader, certainly when he's with our academy teams.,” Scales said. “He plays with no fear. In the big moments in the game, he'll step up, even if he fails. He's one of those type of players who wants the ball in pressure situations, and that's a good sign.”

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