FC Cincinnati begin a five-game homestand at Nippert Stadium on Sunday night when they host Toronto FC.
These are the key storylines approaching kickoff:
FCC ready for five straight to close Nippert Stadium
Head coach Jaap Stam chuckled at his team’s new reality. The man was once one of the best players on the planet, played in some of the biggest international tournaments and has coached in three different countries.
But he’s never participated in five straight home games until now.
“It’s my first as well,” Stam said Friday afternoon. “I’ve also never experienced four away games in a row, so that’s a new thing for myself as well. But that’s how it is, and hopefully for us, that’s going to give us something as well.”
Minutes earlier, Kamohelo Mokotjo said the same thing.
In a season filled with uncertainties, FC Cincinnati now have an opportunity to stay home and grind out results on home turf. That’s critical for a team sitting outside the Eastern Conference playoff spots, but could find themselves playing in the postseason with a win or two.
“We feel comfortable playing at home and playing at Nippert, even if it’s without fans,” Stam said. “Hopefully it can give us something in terms of producing points we need to have.”
Cincinnati is unbeaten at Nippert Stadium this season with all four matches resulting in scoreless draws.
On facing conference-leading Toronto FC
FC Cincinnati’s last match was at second-place Philadelphia Union. Toronto FC sit atop the Eastern Conference standings, while the next opponent, Columbus Crew SC, are in third.
It literally can’t get more difficult for Cincinnati, a team trying to find momentum amidst arguably the most difficult schedule in MLS.
“To play against these teams you can prove yourself show in bits what we can do,” Stam said. “To be honest, the majority of games we’ve played are against the top teams in the league. We play Columbus four times, Philly, we’ve played Minnesota, New York City FC and Toronto now. They’re all in the top of the league, so that’s our luck.
“We just need to produce and we need to show them what we can do.”
TFC have won five of their last six and enter the match with a three-point lead over the Union in the Eastern Conference. Toronto has 34 points from 16 matches. Cincinnati has 13 points.
Officially win-now mode with one month remaining
The Orange and Blue have seven matches remaining and sit five points outside the playoff picture.
With five home games in the next three weeks, this is FCC’s opportunity to accumulate points before the season finale on Nov. 8 at Inter Miami CF.
“That gives us an advantage playing at home,” Mokotjo said. “Honestly, we feel more comfortable playing at home. I don’t think we’ve lost in the past at home, so it gives us confidence.”
The South African said there are difficult games ahead, but the team has faith in itself to produce positive results.
“If we look at every game as challenges, that would be a good starting point for us,” Mokotjo said. “I feel like for our team, it’s always nice to play against good sides. That’s when you’ll see who you really are.
“When it comes to points, we just need to look at ourselves and work hard and make it hard for the other team. It’s up to us.”
Match Info
FC Cincinnati host Toronto FC
Kickoff: Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Nippert Stadium (No fans permitted)
Weather: Cloudy, 68 Degrees
TV: WSTR Star 64
In-Market Stream: www.fccincinnati.com/stream
Out-of-Market Stream: ESPN+
Local Radio: WDJO 99.5 FM | 107.9 FM | 1480 AM
Audio Stream: TuneIn App, fccincinnati.com
Club Connections
- Nick Hagglund made 88 appearances for Toronto FC between 2014-18. TFC drafted him 10th overall in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.
- Greg Garza, Joseph-Claude Gyau and Caleb Stanko have all played for the USMNT alongside Jozy Altidore. Garza, Gyau and Altidore also represented the country in the same match on two occasions in 2014 (the two occasions Gyau played with Altidore). Overall, Garza and Altidore played together seven times, while Stanko and Altidore were teammates once in 2016.
- Garza and Bradley played together for the U.S. in five instances. Caleb Stanko and Bradley were national team teammates once in 2016.
- Garza and Omar Gonzalez have three caps together, while Gyau and Gonzalez have two and Stanko and Gonzalez have one.
- Yoann Damet, Jack Stern and Laurent Ciman were all with the Montreal Impact organization in 2015.
- Austin Berry and Nick DeLeon were University of Louisville teammates in 2010 and 2011.
- Andrew Gutman and Griffin Dorsey played for the University of Indiana in 2017 and 2018.
