FC Cincinnati’s 2025 officially begins with a Concacaf Champions Cup visit to Honduras to face Motagua on Wednesday night. And having finally joined the club after a long courtship rife with intrigue, the Garys’ newest big-ticket acquisition might even make his FCC debut at the first chance of asking.
Evander will be available for selection in Central America, head coach Pat Noonan confirmed in a Tuesday conference call with reporters from Cincy’s preseason base in Clearwater Beach, Florida.
“He's not 90 minutes fit, we know that," said Noonan of the Brazilian playmaker, who arrived from the Portland Timbers in a record-setting $12 million-plus transaction via MLS’s new ‘cash-for-player’ trade mechanism announced Monday. "But how do we get him there in the next couple weeks? And he wants to push himself, so that's an important part of it, is that the player wants a lot right now, and it's our job to manage that so we can understand game intensity, game minutes, recovery, quick turnaround, to be able to do it again on Saturday.
"How does he factor in game to game? So that'll be the challenge. But I think it's a positive that we have him available for a very important game tomorrow as a starting point.”
"MVP level"
Whether languishing at the bottom of the league or vying for a place at its very top, one through line in FCC’s MLS existence is the consistency of Carl H. Lindner III and the rest of the ownership group investing in a competitive squad. Noonan said everyone in the club recognizes that collective “ambition” and “desire,” while general manager Chris Albright spoke of the “significant financial commitment” made to bring one of last season’s elite performers to southern Ohio.
“Evander is a special player that's already proven himself in MLS,” said Albright. “You're going to pay a bit of a premium for someone coming in-league that's already proven that they can do it at an MVP level, and we made a decision as an organization to go ahead and do that. I think he's a seamless fit to our attack, he's an excellent teammate of high character, and really looking forward to getting him going.”
On the pitch, the Knifey Lions are just about to start what they hope will be a marathon march culminating in MLS Cup in December. Yet Albright already looked a bit spent on Tuesday, having just completed the roster-building equivalent of a cup final over the past few weeks.
Replacing Lucho
Out went prized playmaker Lucho Acosta after a once-tight relationship crumbled quickly and rancorously through the winter, ending in a trade to FC Dallas last week worth up to $6 million. In came Evander – eventually – to take his place, arriving in the wake of his own falling out with PTFC’s leadership.
All the while, Albright and Noonan had to keep addressing other areas of need, welcoming the likes of wingback Lukas Engel, young defender Gilberto Flores and club-record transfer splash Kévin Denkey while preparing the entire squad for a busy year with an early kickoff.
“Yes, certainly it was hot and heavy there for a little bit, and we're glad we're on the other side of it,” said Albright, noting that positive existing relationships with Ned Grabavoy and Andre Zanotta, his counterparts in Portland and Dallas, respectively, helped grease the wheels.
“It was unusual to have two deals of that size, that nature kind of line up,” Albright noted. “I have to credit the league and ownership and the players union for agreeing to this [cash-for-player] mechanism. I think it's something that's long overdue. It allows us to keep proven players in our league. It allows us to keep money in the system and get other players paid. So I think it's a fantastic step for our league and yeah, the timing and how it lined up was really very interesting.”
Both Albright and Noonan also acknowledged that the late-breaking nature of everything has pushed Cincy into a race against time to get their newcomers settled and clicking, with two double-game weeks looming and the rugged prospect of a CCC Round-of-16 clash with Mexican giants Tigres UANL early next month if they can dispatch Motagua.
It’s a challenge they’d much rather be facing with them than without them.
“The addition of Evander late is better than no Evander,” said Noonan.
Added Albright: “We're far from a finished product right now. Pat noted some of the absences and injuries and whatnot, and so that part's a bit unfortunate. So it's a bit of a rush to kind of get the group together, but we know we have the quality to compete, and our expectation is to go and try to win the thing [Champions Cup]. Obviously there's only one team standing at the end, but we feel we have as good a shot as any.”
