It’s soccer around the clock in the Queen City

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Charlotte FC forward Karol Swiderski battles Cruz Azul's Romo Luis for possession in the second round of the Leagues Cup at Bank of America Stadium. Charlotte won the match 4-2 on penalty kicks but failed to advance out of the group stage.

There once was a world where professional soccer, more specifically the chance to watch it live or even on TV in Charlotte had less visibility than Sasquatch.

Just this week though, from July 31 through Aug. 6, there will have been four live professional games in Charlotte, including an MLS-Liga MX Leagues Cup match, two third tier level games, and an exhibition pitting two of the most famous clubs in the world, Real Madrid and Chelsea.

This follows the Queen City hosting two high profile Copa America matches that featured Colombia, Uruguay, and Canada.

Here’s a rundown of what’s happened and what’s coming.

La Liga and EPL giants in town

Let’s start with what’s next. Arguably one of the top three clubs in the world, Real Madrid will make its first appearance in the Queen City on Tuesday against Premier League side Chelsea FC at Bank of America Stadium in the DirecTV Soccer Champions Tour.

It’s been a long summer for the stars of both teams, many of whom got short rest from the previous season with national team commitments in the European and South American continental championships.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti put the match in perspective, saying: “The game against Chelsea should be similar to the Clásico. They're preseason games; we have to improve the players' ’ individual fitness. After that, we'll all come back together to prepare for the first game.”

As for the upcoming season, with a potential seven trophies in play, Ancelotti added: “We have to fight for all of them and I can assure you that we're going to do that. The schedule is very demanding, but we have a squad with enough quality to compete in every competition. Just as we always do. That's what the club demands.”

They do like their trophies. Los Blancos have won 71 domestic trophies including a record36 La Liga titles, and 20 Copa del Rey (King’s Cups). Beyond Spanish borders, they’ve won 33 trophies including 15 European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, five UEFA Super Cups, two UEFA Cups, and a record eight FIFA Club world championships.

The most famous players in the world have worn the famous white jersey. The current roster includes English sensation Jude Bellingham, Brazilians Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, Spain’s Dani Carvajal, Croatian Luka Modric, and will add French star Kyllian Mbappe this year.

This will be Chelsea’s third time in Charlotte, having played against Charlotte FC in July 2022 and in 2015 against Mbappe’s former team, French club Paris St. Germain, with 61,224 in attendance.

Current stars for the Blues include England’s Cole Palmer, Argentine Enzo Fernandez and Ecuadorian Moises Caicedo. Belgian Romelu Lukaku may or not be with them as he’s a transfer rumor. This will be their first season under new coach Enzo Maresca.

Jacks come back, atop USL One

On Saturday at American Legion Memorial Stadium, the Charlotte Independence came from behind to gain a point against Lexington SC. Now 7-3-3, that was good enough for the Jacks to take top spot in the USL One standings with 24 points, one ahead of Union Omaha, Greenville Triumph, and Forward Madison.

Against the now last-place Lexington, it should have been better. The Jacks gave up three straight first half goals before pulling one back through Gabriel Obertan in added time to breathe some life and hope into the Memorial Stadium crowd.

“The first 15 minutes we fell into a false sense of security,” head coach Mike Jeffries said. “We were very comfortable with the game and relaxed. After they scored, we didn’t react well. We lost composure and other things that were working for us for the remainder of the half until we got the first goal. We were fortunate that we scored right before the end of the first half to come in with a little bit of life and belief.”

Still, it didn’t look good as the match continued towards the final whistle. Then two goals in two minutes from Bachir Ndiaye (85th minute) and Juan Carlos Obregon, Jr. (87th) leveled the game and raised the spirit of the hometown fans.  It was Ndiaye’s first professional goal.

Jeffries said, that “Bachir (who came on as a sub in the 60th minute) was huge, not just because of his goal, but he started bossing the midfield and made a big difference.”
Obregon Jr. is now the league’s top scorer with 10 goals. Gabriel Obertan is second in assists with five. Austin Pack is second in saves with 51.

Leagues Cup now empty

Charlotte FC was out and then back in. Sort of.

Daniel Gazdag’s 88th minute goal drew the Philadelphia Union even with Cruz Azul 1-1 when it looked like the Crown’s League Cup was dry.

Charlotte was out in the 40th minute of Cruz Azul’s match in Philadelphia Sunday when Rodolfo Rotondi sliced the ball past Andre Blake as the Mexican side played four unselfish passes from right to left across the Union penalty area to create the shot.

The Crown’s 1-0 loss to the Union in the tournament’s opening match put them in danger and the win on penalty kicks over Cruz Azul last week in Charlotte kept them in contention with hope of a Philadelphia win in regulation or PKs.

The reprieve was short-lived, however, as Gazdag’s for the Union and was saved by Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier. Cruz Azul hit all five kicks to take the extra point and eliminate Charlotte.

On the merit of their win over Charlotte and the draw, the Union topped the three-team group with 4 points, Cruz Azul followed with 3, and Charlotte 2.

The Mexican side did to the Union what they did to Charlotte, dominating possession (61%) and shots (17-4, 6-1 on target). Their pace, passing, and industry are what other teams aspire to.

But Charlotte came out on top of the Blue Cross for the second time on penalty kicks, as they did last year in the Round of 32. This time it was on tenacious defense and the heroics of goalkeeper David Bingham in the shootout, where he saved twice to get the result.

Crown Legacy lives on

With Charlotte FC’s next match an unknown, several first team players got a run with the Crown Legacy on Sunday against Huntsville City FC. George Marks, Joao Pedro, Bill Tuiloma, Ben Bender, Tyger Smalls, and Brandon Cambridge all started.

Even with that advantage, the Legacy did everything but score, outshooting Huntsville 19-9 (9-1 on target). And it almost cost them when the Nashville second team scored in the 72nd minute and held the lead until Tuiloma rose above the crowd to head in a ball put back into the box by Aron John seven minutes into added time at the end.

Then it was Marks’ time to shine, making two saves to secure the extra point.

The Legacy are now seventh in the MLS Next Pro Eastern Conference with 31 points (8-7-4) after 19 games.

Berchimas in Mexico for Concacaf U20 Championship

While all the above was going on here, Charlotte FC’s Nimfasha Berchimas scored a beautiful bending strike from 22 yards out in the 52nd minute to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the Concacaf U20 Championship final in León, Mexico.

That lasted until the seventh minute of added time after regulation when Mateo Levy Mendana sent the match to overtime. Diego Ochoa’s goal at the 122nd minute mark gave Mexico the title.

Winners of the three previous Concacaf U20 trophies, the Americans were outshot 33-6 by the hosts (8-2 on target). Mexico had 67% of possession.

Berchimas, 16, has been a constant for the U.S. junior national teams. Signed to the Charlotte FC Academy, he earned a homegrown contract at 14, and made his senior MLS debut for the Crown on February 24, making him the ninth youngest player in MLS history to play official minutes.

Over six tournament games, Berchimas scored two goals and an assist. The leading scorers in the event had three each.

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