A star is reborn: Wilfried Zaha looks like exactly what Charlotte FC needs in MLS debut
Wilfried Zaha showed up for his post-match news conference in dark Prada sunglasses, oozing charisma. In his Major League Soccer debut for Charlotte FC, Zaha had scored a goal and turned Bank of America Stadium into his own playground in much the same way that another star did throughout the 2010s: Cam Newton.
Zaha seemed to be on the Newton timetable, too. He took about an hour to come to his news conference, which was actually on the fast side for Newton.
And, like Cam always was, Zaha was well worth waiting for. The 32-year-old left winger who once starred in the English Premier League described Charlotte FC’s 2-0 home-opening win over Atlanta United in theatrical terms and mentioned he had “had a little go at a few people” at halftime because he thought some of his teammates weren’t playing quickly enough.
When I asked Zaha to explain what “had a go” meant exactly, he laughed and said: “Constructive criticism — but shouting it.”
Specifically, Zaha said he told his new Charlotte FC teammates: “We just need to pass the ball faster. If you take 10 seconds on the ball, by the time you give it to me, there’ll be a guy (standing) right here. So if you take two seconds, it gives me the opportunity to turn and decide what I’m gonna do.”
This message was received so well that, after a scoreless first half in which Charlotte FC generated no real scoring opportunities at all, the team scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Zaha was involved in both of them. On the first, he briefly freed himself in the box and attempted a shot, only to see it partially blocked and squirt off to the right. There it was corralled by midfielder Pep Biel, who slid a left-footed shot past the goalkeeper into the bottom left corner of the net for the match’s first goal.
“It was a weird one,” Zaha said.
The play happened so quickly and looked so much like a pass that in the press box it was originally announced that Zaha would get an assist on the play. It turned out that the MLS stats wouldn’t agree with this assessment and would officially call the goal “unassisted.” Still, it was Zaha’s shot that got the play started.
“I’ll be honest,” Zaha said. “It wasn’t a pass.”
Four minutes later, in the 54th minute, Charlotte’s Liel Abada rifled a shot from the right side of the box. It was punched out by Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan and floated in the air near Zaha.
Zaha one-timed it, volleying the ball out of the air with his right foot into the bottom right corner of the goal. MLS analytics would later say a shot from that spot in that situation only had a 12% chance of going in, but Zaha electrified the home crowd of 51,002 by nailing it.
“It was just joy, man, and being able to repay all the hype,” Zaha said of the goal. “The lads believe in me, the gaffer (head coach Dean Smith) believes in me and hopefully, after this goal, everyone else will.”
While Charlotte FC is undoubtedly going to be selling a lot more Zaha No. 10 jerseys after this one, the Ivory Coast native certainly wasn’t perfect. He gave the ball away twice in the first three minutes. Smith mentioned later that Zaha “wasn’t fully fit yet.” But, Smith also said, “He can go and produce moments of magic, and he did that today.”
Last year Charlotte FC’s defense was tremendous. Kristijan Kahlina was the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, with 12 shutouts. But too often, Charlotte struggled to score. The team made the MLS playoffs anyway, but was eliminated in the first round.
“(Zaha) is the type of player we were missing from last season for sure,” Smith said Saturday. “You know, we didn’t take enough of our chances last year.”
Smith also cautioned that this was only one result. But what a match it was, as the investment in Zaha paid off early to the delight of one of the largest crowds Charlotte FC (now in its fourth season) will play in front of all year.
As for Zaha, he missed Charlotte FC’s first game last week (a tie at Seattle) to fly home because of the birth of his daughter, Zuri Zaha, in England. “My princess is finally here,” he wrote on social media. Then Zaha flew back to Charlotte on Thursday and scored a goal in his first match with his new club Saturday.
“I would call it electric, to be honest,” Zaha said of the past few days. “My mentality is obviously it’s non-negotiable being there for my daughter’s birth. But then at the same time, work is work. So I’m there for my daughter, but then I know that I’ve got to go back and do what I’ve got to do. So my missus understands, and everyone understands. I don’t complain. I just get on with it.”
Zaha played the full 90 minutes Saturday, which was unexpected given he had missed the first week. In fact, Smith questioned Zaha several times in the final minutes as to whether he wanted to come out.
“The gaffer kept on asking me,” Zaha said. “I said, ‘Do I look Iike I’m tired or injured?’ And he was like, ‘No, I’m just wondering.’ I looked at the clock and it was 80 minutes (of time played). And I thought, since I’m here, I might as well finish the rest of the game.”
He finished it all right, as did Charlotte FC. Kahlina was good, the defense was good and the offense had the sort of spark it often seemed to be missing a year ago.
It was only one game, as Smith kept cautioning. But based on Saturday’s results, it looks like Charlotte FC and Zaha might just have a go at the entire MLS in 2025.
This story was originally published March 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
