The excitement around the opening of FC Cincinnati's TQL Stadium is intended for many individuals and groups, but perhaps less so for the FCC players that will christen the new venue on the pitch.
The atmosphere and emotion of FCC's long-awaited, $250 million soccer-specific home is for the supporters that helped push the club's bid for Major League Soccer expansion over the top, and for the owners that funded the construction of the venue.
It's for the players of the past that cultivated a proud history in the early days of the club's existence, and that also spurred FC Cincinnati's meteoric rise from lower-league startup to a formidable enterprise in the vast landscape of Cincinnati businesses.
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To an extent, the stadium and some of its amenities are geared toward the FC Cincinnati players, coaches and other staffers that work closely with the on-field product.
At the same time, FC Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam has attempted to insulate his team from the pageantry of Sunday's match against Inter Miami CF (4 p.m.). In that sense, the day is not for the team itself and that's very much by design.
To the extent that FC Cincinnati players and coaches are drinking in their new home, the team altered its practice schedule in recent days, training three times at TQL Stadium.
The purpose was to help make the players feel settled in what should be their most comfortable match environment, as well as to test out the new playing surface.
Beyond that, Stam wanted his players focused on getting a result against Miami. After all, a much-needed win or draw for FC Cincinnati (0-2-1, one point) would be the team's best-possible contribution to Sunday's festivities.
“We’re preparing in the best way we can," Stam said during a Wednesday video-interview session conducted at TQL Stadium. "We know it’s going to be our first home game. So, that’s going to be very interesting. It’s going to be good to be in a new stadium. The main focus, of course, is for us not to be to be thinking only about that. The main focus for us is to play against Miami and to do well, to get a result, because that’s the thing that we’re that we’re looking for. Everybody’s working very hard in the training sessions to achieve that. Throughout the last couple of weeks, you have meetings individually with a group of units. Also, in the training sessions, we put a lot of attention, of course, again to certain things to improve. So, that’s the thing that we need to work on and focus on.”
Attendance for Saturday's game will be reduced to about 6,000 while pandemic-related health orders remain in place in Ohio through June 2.
The second home match – a May 29 date with the New England Revolution – could see increased capacity, team President Jeff Berding said on Friday.
By June 19, FC Cincinnati expects to have at least close to full attendance in the 26,000-capacity venue.
As attendance numbers climb upward, FCC's homefield advantage should become increasingly pronounced.
Creating a truly hostile environment with lessened attendance figures on Sunday won't be easy, so FC Cincinnati players will need to have a major say in the environment within the stadium based on their play.
"Every time you play a game, I think you want to make a statement," Stam said. "It's difficult to say 'OK, in this particular game, we're going to set the standards for how it's always going to be. Of course, every game you want to do very well. That's what we're aiming for. That's what we're going to do as well. Everybody is going to work very hard, show their ability and also showing how it feels for us to play at home and what we can do. That's what you want to continue on building from toward the rest of the season in your home games. So, that's of course a thing (that) we want to do is performing. Showing your quality. Showing your ability. Making a statement for ourselves as well in how we want to play and what we can deliver, and what individuals can do as well to get that result. The main focus is - it's difficult to say 'OK, you know, we're gonna set a statement for the rest of our season for our home games.'"
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The Game
Kickoff: 4 p.m., TQL Stadium
TV/Radio/stream: FOX/ESPN1530-AM/fccincinnati.com
Series info: Miami won the only match the two clubs played against one another.
Odds: Inter Miami (-105) is favored over Cincinnati (+260), according to BETMGM.com.
FC Cincinnati
Record: 0-2-1, 1 point, last in Eastern Conference
Goals for: 2
Goals against: 10
Coach: Jaap Stam – second season as FC Cincinnati coach (4-17-5)
Projected starting lineup:
Przemysław Tytoń (GK)
Ronald Matarrita, left back
Geoff Cameron, center back
Gustavo Vallecilla, center back
Joseph-Claude Gyau, right back
Yuya Kubo, midfielder
Luciano Acosta, central midfielder
Kamohelo Mokotjo, midfielder
Calvin Harris, left winger
Brenner, striker
Alvaro Barreal, right winger
Inter Miami CF
Record: 1-2-2, 5 points, tied for eighth place in Eastern Conference
Goals for: 5
Goals against: 7
Coach: Phil Neville – first season at Miami
Projected starting lineup:
John McCarthy, goalkeeper
Victor Ulloa, right back
Ryan Shawcross, center back
Leandro González Pírez, center back
Brek Shea, left back
Gregore de Magalhães da Silva, midfielder
Blaise Matuidi, midfielder
Lewis Morgan, winger
Jon Chapman, midfielder
Rodolfo Pizarro, winger
Gonzalo Higuain, forward
Players to watch: Geoff Cameron and Kenneth Vermeer – While FC Cincinnati has several players rostered at Cameron's center back position, as well as at goalkeeper where Vermeer plays, it's possible both players make their FC Cincinnati debuts in the first-ever match at TQL Stadium. Cameron, who played in the season-finale for Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Saturday, is healthy, fit, and an immediate upgrade for FCC at his position. And he is eligible to play immediately after training with the team on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the competition for minutes is a little more congested for Vermeer, especially if Przemysław Tytoń is back to full health after experiencing back tightness that made him a late scratch in the April 24 match at New York City FC (Tyton returned to start on May 1 against Orlando City). But FC Cincinnati probably didn't extend a multi-year deal and spend an international roster spot on Vermeer just to have him serve as a backup. FC Cincinnati's coaching staff knows Vermeer well – he's played with Stam and for him – and it seems entirely possible he could win the starting job on a permanent basis at some point.
Noteworthy: FC Cincinnati is short on center backs heading into the weekend as Friday's availability report indicated that the starting center back duo from the first three matches of 2021 – Nick Hagglund and Tom Pettersson – were both listed as questionable for the Miami game. Cameron had been listed as questionable but cleared health and safety protocols Saturday morning. So, even though Cameron seems likely to play a role on Sunday, FCC was left with one natural center back in 21-year-old Gustavo Vallecilla as of Friday.
Hagglund participated in the early portion of Saturday's FCC training session at the Mercy Health Training Center after not participating for the portion of training open to media throughout the week.
Beyond FC Cincinnati's center back questiosn, Luciano Acosta (arm) is also questionable for the match but practiced this week.
Franko Kovacevic (hamstring) and Maikel van der Werff (sports hernia) are both out for FCC.
Prediction: FC Cincinnati 1, Inter Miami 1.
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