Liel Abada focused on improving play for Charlotte FC

STEVE GOLDBERG | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Liel Abada leads Charlotte FC with four goals in his second season with the club, which coincided with a full preseason and a return to fitness.

In celebrating his May 6 goal against North Carolina FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, Liel Abada acknowledged words written in Hebrew on athletic tape around his left wrist.

The message expressed support for his Israeli national teammate Gadi Kinda.

“Get well soon Gadi, we love you,” it read. 

Earlier that day, Kinda’s team, Maccabi Haifa, released a statement: “Team player Gadi Kinda has been going through a complex medical challenge in recent weeks. The player is hospitalized and undergoing a series of comprehensive tests.” 

It was personal to Abada. 

“I don't know exactly what the situation (is) but Gadi is (a) really, really good friend of mine. We share room in national team when we've been together. It's really sad to hear that. And I wish for him so much (to be) healthy, for his family, and hopefully they will be strong.

An Ethiopian Jew, Kinda’s family migrated to Israel when he was 3 years old. Now 31, his first call-up to the national team was in 2019 but didn’t find his place in the squad until 2021, about the same time that Abada, 23, got his first opportunities with Israel’s senior national team.

They just missed playing against each other in MLS. Kinda spent three and a half seasons as a designated player with Sporting Kansas City, making 80 appearances across all competitions, scoring 16 goals and passing for 17 assists. Knee surgery kept him out all of 2022 season. He returned to Israel after the 2023 campaign to join Haifa. Abada came to Charlotte in 2024 from Glasgow Celtic in the Scottish Premier League.

Kinda was just the fifth Israeli athlete to play in MLS, not including two who grew up in the U.S. but later played in Israel and gained dual citizenship there. Philadelphia’s Tai Baribo arrived in 2023, overlapping with Kinda. Since 2024, there are now four in the league, including Baribo, Abada, Idan Toklomati who is also in Charlotte, and Ilay Feingold who joined the New England Revolution this year. Coincidentally, Abada, Baribo, and Toklomati all come from the same Israeli club, Maccabi Petah Tikvah.

From Celtic to the Crown

Abada was healing from a thigh injury he incurred with Celtic when he got to Charlotte last year. After missing the first three matches he was eligible for, Abada proved to be a dynamic player who added speed and quickness to the wing with an ability to play on both sides.

While acclimating to a new team, league and country, Abada played in 24 league matches last year, scoring seven goals with one assist, netting twice in a win at Atlanta. In three playoff matches against Orlando, he assisted Karol Swiderski’s goal that sent the last match to a penalty-kick tiebreaker.

This year, he’s healthy, newlywed, and settled in Charlotte. Abada enjoyed a full preseason and getting to know his teammates.

“When I came here first time, (it wasn’t) easy for me, because it was a long time for me in Scotland,” he said. “And you know, when you come into different countries, different football, like different everything basically, sometimes it takes time. But right now, I am really happy to be here. I feel more comfortable here with the staff, with the players, with all the people in this club. And this is, for me, the most important. I felt like the preseason was really, really important and good for me.”

It gave Abada a chance to get a better understanding with Pep Biel, who joined the squad last year during the summer transfer window.

There’s been a visible connection between the two in Charlotte’s play this season with Abada’s willingness to run and Biel’s unique vision and ability to put the ball where it needs to be for him. Biel’s deliveries are not so much over the top but more so through the gaps in the defense that others might not see.

That was evident in the first goal against San Diego in a 3-0 win. Abada played the ball to Biel who then ran into a crowd of defenders at the top of the penalty area. Looking more like a hockey player trying to pull the puck out of a scrum, Abada trusted his teammate and continued his run into the box as Biel bested four defenders with a through ball no one would have thought possible. It set Abada in with only the keeper to beat.

After scoring against Nashville last week, Abada leads Charlotte with four goals, followed by Biel and Wilfried Zaha with three apiece. Last year’s leading scorer, Patrick Agyemang has two. As important, Abada has 22 shots, the same as Agyemang. Zaha has 21 and Biel 17, showing a balance and diversity in attack.

“When he's doing well, he kind of doesn't think too much about the game,” coach Dean Smith said. “He just plays. He's one of them players, when he gets space in front of him, go and run with the ball. Make sure you see a pass. Get it, give it, and go. And I think when he does that, he looks really, really dangerous.”

But the crafty winger has also missed some opportunities he should have done better with.

“He’s had chances as well, he'll know (that) technically, he's got to keep working on his game,” Smith said. “He put the one over the bar from the corner.”

The manager believes Abada’s recent success scoring against Columbus, NCFC, and Nashville will rule the day.  “Three goals in three games should give him confidence to keep doing that,” Smith said.

Abada agrees. 

“I try to keep myself every time in the same level,” he said. “Doesn't matter if the things work well, if things (do) not work well. Every time, I try to work hard for myself, for the team, for this club, and this is the most important thing for me. In football, sometimes you score, sometimes you miss, but the most important for me is just to keep working hard and to improve myself every time.”

Déjà vu all over again

If it feels like Charlotte played Orlando City often last season, it’s only because they did. Since entering the league in 2022, Charlotte has met Orlando City 10 times across all competitions – more than any other opponent - and five of those were in 2024.

Along with six regular season contests over three seasons, there were three playoff matches last year, and a U.S. Open Cup match in 2023. Overall, the record stands at 2-4-4 for Charlotte. In regular season matches, Orlando won three of six with Charlotte winning once and two draws.

The playoff matches showed why every result matters during the regular season. After 34 matches, Charlotte trailed Orlando by one point with both teams even in goal differential at plus-9. One point put Orlando into fourth with home field advantage. If one draw had been a win, everything might have been different.

The Crown (6-5-1) are currently sixth in the MLS East with 19 points with Orlando (4-2-6) in eighth place. A win could move Charlotte as high as third depending on other results.

The game will be streamed on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass and broadcast on radio via WFNZ 92.7 FM (English) and WOLS 106.1 FM (Spanish).

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