After a Tuesday victory, the Orange and Blue are looking to stay undefeated in Leagues Cup play.
FC Cincinnati will play its next Leagues Cup match against Liga MX squad Pumas UNAM on Friday, Aug. 7 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time at TQL Stadium. Following a 3-1 win against Mexican side C.F. Pachuca on Tuesday, the Orange and Blue look to stay undefeated through games of group stage play.
As of Thursday, FC Cincinnati was tied with archrival Columbus Crew in Group B of the Leagues Cup standings. Teams get three points for a group stage regulation win, two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss. The top four teams from the MLS and Liga MX side will advance to the quarterfinals, with goal differential being the first tiebreaker between teams with identical point totals.
The importance of goal differential cannot be ignored at this stage of the Leagues Cup: currently, four teams have three points and a two-goal differential. But FCC head coach Pat Noonan says those factors won't influence his plan primarily centered around simply winning matches.
"Whether we won by one goal, two goals, we're going to try to win this game," Noonan said on Thursday. "It's beneficial to have a plus two than it is to have a plus one. So yes, that can factor into it. But the priority is to try to go and compete to win a game."
About Pumas UNAM
Pumas currently is 2-1 in Liga MX play, and the top-ranked team from the league that Cincinnati will play in the Leagues Cup. It features several international star players, including goalkeeper Keylor Navas, a former star for Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and the Costa Rican national team.
"Just observing him and how he plays the game — when you see experienced players, how they handle pressure — the big games he's been a part of is going to allow him to step on the field in any game with Liga MX," Noonan said of Navas. "And probably be the player on the field with the most comfort, with the most success, with the most confidence."
Noonan also said that his own players needed to be sharp and decisive in front of the net in order to get past a goalie like Navas.
Other notable Pumas players include forward Robert Morales and defender Nathan Silva, who both played for Liga MX's team in the MLS All-Star Game. Ecuadorian midfielder Pedro Vite, Mexican forward Guillermo Martínez and Panamanian midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla all played for their respective national teams in this year's FIFA World Cup.
Martínez had a stint with MLS's Vancouver Whitecaps, while Carrasquilla previously played for the Houston Dynamo.
Pumas notably lost 3-0 to Charlotte FC in its opening Leagues Cup game. However, Noonan won't underestimate the team because of that.
"It's our job to compete and be prepared in a way where we don't underestimate the strength of their group because of their first game," Noonan said.
FC Cincinnati will continue to rotate lineups
On Tuesday, FCC's first 11 didn't include several consistent starters, including goalkeeper Roman Celentano, striker Kevin Denkey, forward Kenji Mboma Dem and defender Miles Robinson. Meanwhile, players like Ayoub Jabbari and Tom Barlow got the start up front, while Andrei Chirila started on defense for the first time since the World Cup break.
"He was telling me that he wanted to rotate to see some players because they were doing good," Denkey said of Noonan's lineup decision. "I know he had Tom, he did good ... Ayoub was (Noonan's) call and he said he wanted to see them a longer time."
While Noonan said he wanted to prioritize players who could perform best against his opponents, he also acknowledged the need to maintain fresh legs, and to not fatigue players who were performing on just two days' rest. Based on this sentiment, its reasonable to expect further lineup changes for Friday.
With midfielder Gerardo Valenzuela's red card suspension only in effect for MLS play, he and the rest of the FCC squad will be available for Friday.
"We have to be smart about putting fresh legs on the field and guys that make sense for the moment," Noonan said. "That's circumstantial, too. In the moment, what do those fresh legs look like, and do we think that they're going to be a step up in that game than somebody who is more fatigued?"
How to watch FC Cincinnati vs. San Jose Earthquakes
FC Cincinnati will play the Pumas UNAM at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night at TQL Stadium. The match will be streamed on Apple TV via the MLS Season Pass. An Apple TV subscription is $12.99 a month.
Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer
