Charlotte FC opens MLS season with Anton Walkes never too far away
Two dots on the sideline that read “AW 5.”
A rare and powerful moment of silence.
A No. 5 jersey that wouldn’t be worn — placed on the “throne” in front of the supporters’ section behind the East end zone.
Wherever you looked in Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night, you saw Anton Walkes. You heard his voice on the jumbotron. You saw his smile.
The nearly 70,000 fans on-hand couldn’t view the Charlotte FC season- and home-opener without seeing him, and that seemed to mirror the emotions of the Charlotte FC fans and players and coaches: You couldn’t bear witness to this game without feeling Walkes’ presence.
“Obviously, today’s game brings emotions back up,” head coach Christian Lattanzio told reporters after Charlotte’s 1-0 loss to New England Revolution. “But we made a testament that he’s going to be in our stadium with us all season and more.”
Saturday night marked the first game Walkes didn’t suit up for a Charlotte FC match. The 25-year-old defender and bastion of consistency during Charlotte FC’s inaugural season wasn’t there in the physical sense: He was tragically killed in a boating accident in South Florida during the team’s preseason — a bit of news that reverberated across the city, league and world.
But he was nonetheless on the pitch, in the stands, in the locker room, players said.
“It was always going to be tough,” said Ashley Westwood, the Premier League veteran and defensive midfielder who joined Charlotte FC this offseason. “It’s been tough since the day it happened. It’s an absolute tragedy, and like I said, we couldn’t quite get the result for him. ... But we will hold Anton in our hearts forever.”
Charlotte FC struggled on Saturday night. Offensive momentum was sparse. Legitimate chances were rare. The team’s defense proved tough through 88 minutes of scoreless soccer, but a blunder in the box led to a late New England score by Henry Kessler, and the 1-0 score never budged afterward.
Adilson Malanda, who played alongside Walkes on the defensive line through the latter half of 2022, said that even though the loss was not the result he wanted, he was happy the team played with emotion.
“Anton is with us, and we need to do it for him, for his family, for everyone,” Malanda said. “And this is a first for us (playing without Walkes), and we need to keep this in our mind and just keep playing for him.”
Lattanzio said that players were in position to score at varying points of the match. The team, after all, finished with 15 total shots and four shots on goal and 54.3% time of possession. There was even an equalizing opportunity in extra time — a Kerwin Vargas header that panged off the post.
Lattanzio also acknowledged the bright spots of Saturday night. And there were a few insightful ones in the loss.
Pablo Sisniega put together an admirable four-save performance as starting goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina continues his recovery from back surgery. Vargas and Andre Shinyashiki came off the bench in the second half and injected life into the stadium immediately. Bill Tuiloma, recently traded to Charlotte from the Portland Timbers, played nearly flawless football until a pass he deflected ricocheted perfectly to Kessler’s feet and facilitated the game’s only goal.
Enzo Copetti, the goal-scorer who arrived in Charlotte in the offseason as a Designated Player, showed flashes of who he could one day be — pressing the opposition, playing with strength and flair, at-times giving his teammates a goal-scoring chance with a single heel-touch. (He mentioned post-match that the MLS game is “much faster and physical” than the game back in Argentina, and he added that “more than anything I just need to get to know and understand my teammates more and we will improve from there.”)
There’s work to do, no doubt, players said. And that responsibility falls on the high-profile guys who just arrived as well as the returners.
It might even extend to others — the “special assistants,” as Lattanzio says.
“I’ve said in the past that (Anton) is a special assistant,” Lattanzio said with a smile. “And I think tonight he’s not going to be happy. And so we move on, and we move on with Anton.”
