The break from regular season action came at a welcome time for FC Cincinnati. After a strong first half of the season, a bad week put a sour taste in everyone's mouth as The Orange and Blue looked to overcome challenges to their health and, therefore, depth. But now the fresh start in Leagues Cup allows for FC Cincinnati to compete and win its mojo back in games that do not impact the clubs regular season.
FC Cincinnati kick off the 2024 Leagues Cup against Querétaro FC, needing only a win to guarantee qualification into the knockout stages. NYCFC (the other team in FCC and Querétaro's group) defeated Los Gallos Blancos in PK's in the first match of group play, meaning any winning result over Querétaro guarantees moving on.
"You look at just the structure alone (of the tournament) and a third of the teams are going after group stage play and not playing games for three weeks. So how do you avoid having that gap in the middle of the season will be, I think, a big talking point," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Wednesday in a pre match press conference. "So we can find some solutions there, but it's the challenge that all of us are in. And to avoid that, go win games. That's our approach to it."
Querétaro FC provides a unique challenge to FC Cincinnati at this point in the season. FCC has never played Querétaro FC and with Liga MX just four games into the regular season, there is very little data to study about their opponents. But with one match played in Leagues Cup and four Liga MX games there is a basis for Pat Noonan to study from and inform his team.
"I think it's a team that plays direct and does it effectively. When you step up your pressure, I think they've taken away risk in terms of trying to play through pressure at times," Noonan said of his Thursday opponents. "A lot of times you'll see five guys along that backline ready to compete for duels and cause you problems with not only the space in behind,but when you're able to win balls or find your midfielders, they do a good job of stepping up and looking to pick up second balls and then attack again.
"They compete very well. I know the league form, and the result in the first game against New York City hasn't been of their liking, I'm sure. But they compete well, they have individual talent. They have players that we've seen from MLS prior, with [Lucas] Rodriguez, with [Ake] Loba, [Ronaldo] Cisneros. There's attacking pieces that we're somewhat familiar with, but it was getting guys up to speed with a lot of their individual strengths and what to expect… There's two different versions of how they press depending on what the scoreline looks like. So those are things that we discussed."
The need to win is intertwined with regular season success, so FCC will seemingly not toss out a mishmashed lineup and will push for victory to play more matches this month. Last year, FCC found themselves on the wrong end of the first knockout round match and went three weeks without a match—a challenge FCC players know they do not want to face.
"We don't want to have a holiday," Yamil Asad said at the press conference. "We need days to get training…we have new faces on the roster who need time to adapt., need enough time to improve and get to know teammates. International competition is not the same (as league play), but kind of like Concacaf (Champions Cup) it's almost like that. It's going to be good for us."
FC Cincinnati's newest member, Chidozie Awaziem, is expected to be available for selection for the match, and PatNoonan says it's likely the Nigerian center-back will play a role in some way on Thursday. Giving him time to integrate and acclimate himself to the group is vital for long-term success.
"It's a (player) in and a position of need. So the challenging part is where he's at physically," Noonan said. "You know, he had a week on his own, a week with the club training before he came here. So that's a short amount of time in terms of building your fitness. So we just have to be really smart with his progress over the coming weeks, but he is available, and I imagine he'll play a role."
FC Cincinnati vs Queretaro FC – Thursday August 1, 2024 – 8 p.m. ET – TQL Stadium
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
TV Talent (English, Apple): Steve Cangialosi (PxP), Danny Higginbotham (Analyst)
TV Talent (Spanish, Apple): Bruno Vain (PXP), Andres Agulla (Analysis)
Radio: ESPN 1530
Radio: La Mega 97.7 FM
Radio Talent (English): Tom Gelehrter (PXP), Kevin McClosky (Analyst)
Radio Talent (Spanish): Gustavo Luques (PXP), José Romero (Analyst)
About Querétaro FC
FC Cincinnati has never faced Querétaro FC before, adding a new Liga MX club to the list of all-time opponents that includes Chivas and CF Monterrey.
Founded in 1950, Los Gallos Blancos (The White Roosters) or Los Albiazules (The White and Blues) started in the lower divisions of the Mexican soccer pyramid and have battled their way up through a vast history of play in Querétaro City, which is located in the southern part of Mexico. Querétaro City has a metro population of just over 1.4 million and is known as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations for its historical significance to Mexican culture.
While Los Gallos Blancos have not seen tremendous success in Liga MX or any interaction of Mexico’s top-flight league, several notable players have taken the field for them, including Brazilian international superstar Ronaldinho and Manchester United star Antonio Valencia. Querétaro has won two cup competitions in recent years, winning the Copa MX in 2016 and Supercopa MX in 2017, and finishing runners-up in the Liga MX Clausura 2015 season.
Querétaro play its home matches at Estadio Corregidora, which opened for the 1986 FIFA World Cup where it hosted four matches. It is designed to fill the stadium capacity of 35,575 in 15 minutes and evacuate the same population in seven minutes. Los Gallos Blancos historically have rivalries with León, Atlas FC and Athlético San Luis.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Outside Regular Season Play – Thursday will be FC Cincinnati’s 25th non-MLS Regular Season match in official competition since joining the league in 2019. FCC are 12-6-6 in the 24 prior matches.
Lucho v Querétaro – Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta is the only active FC Cincinnati player to have played against Querétaro previously in his career. And he has made three appearances against Querétaro. For D.C. United in the 2015/16 Concacaf Champions League against Los Gallos Blancos, he appeared in both quarterfinal legs as Querétaro won on aggregate 3-1. He also faced off against them once in 2020 when playing for Liga MX side Atlas FC.
Undefeated – The Orange and Blue won Group Central 3 last year. The club knocked off Sporting Kansas City in a shootout following a dramatic 3-3 draw and Luciano Acosta’s 90’+8 equalizer just to send the match to a shootout - which FCC won 4-2. Then, in the second group stage game, FCC defeated Chivas 3-1 in a match which took two days to complete after weather forced a suspension in the 60th minute. FCC fell to eventual Runners-Up Nashville SC in a shootout in the Round of 32.
Olympian – Last week, Miles Robinson was named to the United States roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics beginning later this month in France. Robinson is the first Olympian in FCC history as the U.S. men will compete in the games for the first time since 2008.
Scouting Querétaro FC (0-4-0, 0 points, 18th in Liga MX Apertura, 0-0-1 in Leagues Cup 2024, D-L-L-L-L)
Things have not gotten off to a great start in the new season for Querétaro FC in league play. After a PK defeat to NYCFC in the opening match of East Group 1, the Roosters need a positive result to keep their hopes in League Cup 2024 alive.
Defeats to Monterrey, Chivas, Club America and Tijuana have not made for an easy early start to the Apertura season, but with just three goals in four games while conceding nine has made it a particularly frustrating start. Querétaro played NYCFC to a scoreless draw in the opening match, but were shelled by New York to the tune of 19 shots to 10 and 66% possession for the host NYCFC.
Former player Mauro Gerk is the manager for Queretaro and has managed the side since 2022. In his playing days, the Argentine striker, who won top goalscorer in 2008, played 116 games for the Roosters from 2005 to 2009. As a manager, he led two Argentine clubs (the Racing Club reserves and Defensa y Justicia reserves) before taking over the first team in Queretaro.
In the opening match of Leagues Cup, Querétaro deployed a 5-4-1 formation with goalkeeper Guillermo Allison in net. Allison, 33, was a long time member of fellow Liga MX side Cruz Azul but joined the Rooster last season to become the starter. Since then he’s made 24 league starts and conceded 36 goals.
At the striker spot was former Nashville SC player Aké Loba, who has made just one start prior for them in the league this season. The midfield was comprised of Argentines Federico Lértora, Martín Rio and Lucas Rodríguez, and native Mexican Alan Medina. Rodriguez played one season in MLS in 2019 where he was teammates with Luciano Acosta on D.C. United. The defensive backline consisted of Bryton Vazquez (who made the jump from rival club Atlas two years ago), Kevin Escamilla (the veteran of the group in his 11th Liga MX year), Franco Russo and Ecuadorian stars Jonathan Perlaza and Ayrton Preciado.
Veteran leader Pablo Barrera, who, at 37, has started all four of their league matches, came on as a sub in their first League Cup match, though. The midfielder is most known for his stint with West Ham in the English Premier League. 35-year-old Omar Mendoza also played all four league matches but did not start in the NYCFC match.
With only three goals scored in league play thus far, Barrera leads the team with one goal in a three-way tie with youngsters Samuel Sosa (24) and Victor Lopez (21). Last season (Clasura), Barrera led the team with seven goals, but both runners-up left the club after that season.
