Win or lose, Charlotte FC promised fun football. They’re delivering.
Miguel Angel Ramírez didn’t make big promises when he arrived in Charlotte to coach the city’s Major League Soccer expansion team in its inaugural year.
And he’s repeatedly dismissed any too-early talk of Charlotte FC making a playoff run despite the new team beating some of the league’s best in its earliest matches, including regional rival Atlanta United 1-0 on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.
But while Ramírez didn’t promise wins, he said that players and fans could expect something nearly as critical to building an expansion brand: Fun.
Charlotte FC is delivering exactly that, not only in the stands but also in goals scored.
Midfielder Jordy Alcívar became the latest Charlotte FC player to turn heads for his shot from the corner in the 11th minute. He netted an Olimpico on Sunday to boost Charlotte to a fifth-place ranking in the Eastern Conference standings (of 14 teams).
Alcívar said he’s been practicing the curved shot this week in training alongside Super Draft pick and 21-year-old phenom Ben Bender. Alcívar, a 22-year-old Ecuadorian, also had his dance moves ready. He fired the ball to the far post, and over the hands of Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Then he ran over the stands and performed a booty-shaking dance that he said was inspired by Colombian footballer Pablo Armero.
“The celebration is something that I’ve always had in mind since I’ve come to the league,” Alcívar said in Spanish.
Ramírez didn’t question the shot, explaining that Alcívar is a player “sin vergüenza,” meaning without shame or fear. Ramírez said that Alcívar has a certain “spark,” which is an identity that Charlotte FC is trying to lean into as a team.
“This game model allows any team to be able to compete with good players,” Ramirez said about his possession-based system. “When you have better players in front, the only way to beat them is with this style is my belief.”
And what exactly is that game model? What does it look like for players on the pitch?
“Brave,” “patient,” and “really kind of just clever,” midfielder Brandt Bronico said.
“The way that we build up, the tactics that (Ramírez) uses,” Bronico said. “I don’t want to go too in-depth with it, but I think I can speak for the whole team and say that we enjoy how we play soccer.”
The fans have noticed, too. The southern derby, in which Charlotte hosted an Atlanta team severely depleted by injury and absent its star striker Josef Martínez, drew a crowd of more than 32,000 fans. The rivalry, record-setting home crowd for the opening match against LA Galaxy and Karol Świderski’s shots have likely helped drum up some home support.
Świderski, while seeing significant minutes on Sunday, didn’t see many opportunities, which could have dampened the home momentum. Instead, Alcívar stepped up and Charlotte played an entertaining 90-plus minutes of football. They didn’t allow any stoppage-time goals.
The next test will be winning on the road, as Bronico noted. That’s a challenge they haven’t yet risen to. They looked sluggish against Philadelphia last weekend, and they’ll be far from their home “fortress,” as Bronico described it, for their next three MLS matches and an Open Cup game against the Greenville Triumph on April 19.
But the goals they’ve scored so far have looked good. They’ve been exciting. The club has sustained fan interest, and that’s something that can be worth celebrating. Ramírez summarized the mentality.
“They invited us to the dance, and we don’t dance that bad,” he said in Spanish. “We are dancing. We will see what happens next week.”
