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Nashville SC kicks off Year 2 with old rival




Nashville SC players celebrate Daniel Rios’ game-winning goal against Toronto FC on Nov. 24, 2020, to send the club to the Eastern Conference semifinals.Courtesy of Nashville SC

Nashville SC players celebrate Daniel Rios’ game-winning goal against Toronto FC on Nov. 24, 2020, to send the club to the Eastern Conference semifinals.Courtesy of Nashville SC

In case you didn’t know, Nashville has had professional soccer for a few years now.

Nashville Soccer Club now plays in Major League Soccer, which is the top tier of pro soccer in the United States and Canada. The club previously played for two years in the United Soccer League Championship division, which is the second tier.

NSC was an amateur club for three years prior.

The Boys in Gold play at Nissan Stadium while they build their own soccer stadium, which should be completed next year at the Nashville State Fairgrounds.

Last year was Nashville SC’s inaugural season in MLS, and it was a difficult season in which to get started. After kicking off with a record-breaking attendance of 59,069 in a tough 2-1 loss to Atlanta United and an unlucky loss at the Portland Timbers on a late goal, the MLS season was halted by COVID-19.

In June, the league brought the clubs to Orlando for the MLS is Back Tournament. However, NSC had to withdraw before even playing a match because of several positive COVID-19 tests. Once league play resumed in August, the team played a very condensed and regionalized schedule that saw many two-match weeks.

 

 

Despite the disjointed start and playing games on little rest with players who did not have time to play together and build chemistry, the Boys in Gold built a nine-game home unbeaten streak and made it to the playoffs, a feat only performed six previous times by MLS expansion teams.

Then they advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, which was only done one other time by an expansion team in 1998 with the Chicago Fire, only to taste defeat by the eventual MLS Cup champion, the Columbus Crew.

Year 2

After such an incredible start to life in MLS, what will Nashville SC do in Year 2?

NSC boasted the league’s top defense last season behind goalkeeper Joe Willis, who led the league in shutouts, and center back Walker Zimmerman, who was the league’s Defender of the Year. Zimmerman made the MLS Best XI for the second year in a row.

Throw into the mix several MLS veterans in Daniel Lovitz, captain Dax McCarty and Anibal Godoy, as well as rookie surprise Alistair Johnston, and Nashville is looking comfortable in the back line.

Offense was a different story, as goals were hard to come by in the first half of the season.

But strikers Daniel Rios and Jhonder Cadiz and midfielders Hany Mukhtar, Randall Leal and Alex Muyl got hot when it counted to propel the young club into the postseason.

In the offseason, Nashville has added several offensive players, including Rodrigo Piñeiro, a 21-year-old winger from Paraguay, and CJ Sapong, a 10-year MLS veteran with 78 career goals and an MLS Cup as well as a US Open Cup.

The club re-signed head coach Gary Smith to a new contract through 2023 earlier this week. Smith was the original coach when the club entered USL Championship play and stayed at the helm as the club entered MLS. Smith is known, perhaps unfairly, as a defensive-minded coach, but he and his players are known for being hardworking.

Smith is also one of seven active coaches who’ve won an MLS Cup. Smith led the Colorado Rapids to silverware in 2010.

FC Cincinnati

Nashville’s first year in the USL Championship, 2018, was the final year for FC Cincinnati. The two clubs became very familiar with each other, playing four times from preseason to postseason. Each of the first three matchups ended in draws.

FCC ended the regular season as the league’s best team in history based on points with 77, a record broken in 2019 by Phoenix Rising. Nashville SC made the playoffs as the last seed and had to face top-seeded FCC at its home.

For the fourth time that year, NSC fought Cincy to a draw at the end of regulation, and it was still tied after extra time. Unfortunately, FCC took the win in penalty kicks, and Nashville was sent home.

In 2020, Nashville fans were excited to be able to renew the rivalry, but MLS had other plans, and the two teams never faced each other after a 3-1 NSC preseason win.

The two clubs kick off the 2021 season, facing each other at Nissan Stadium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

FCC has had two seasons in MLS, but neither has gone well for them.

Both years have seen Cincinnati win the “Wooden Spoon” trophy, a title given to the worst team in the league. This has not stopped FC Cincy’s fans from talking big online.

The Orange and Blue has made a few big offseason moves with veteran defender Ronald Matarrita, creative Argentinian midfielder Luciano Acosta and young Brazilian striker Brenner.

Acosta will be one of the team’s three Designated Players, a rule instituted when David Beckham joined the league that means the player’s salary does not count against the team’s salary cap. Brenner will be a young DP, a new designation this season to encourage clubs to bring in more youth rather than aging European stars.

Brenner is an exciting prospect who scored 27 goals for Brazil’s Sao Paulo FC over three seasons. Acosta had four brilliant years at DC United with 24 goals and 38 assists before moving to Mexico’s Atlas FC for a year.

Matarrita is a solid left back who played five seasons with New York City FC.

The team lost Frankie Amaya, an up-and-coming midfielder who had been getting looks from the U.S. men’s national team. He left this winter for the New York Red Bulls after openly complaining about playing time.

FCC had an abysmal season last year but was particularly poor away from home. In 12 away matches, it had two wins and 10 losses with a goal differential of -19.

NSC was more successful at home last year with four wins, five draws and only two losses with a goal differential of +5.

The Boys in Gold have 34 league matches, and the first half of the schedule is very front-loaded. They begin the season with a four-match homestand and also have a five-match homestand this summer from June 23 to July 17.

Tickets are on sale at www.nashvillesc.com/tickets.

Ben Dudley will be covering Nashville SC for MSN. He is a contributor to www.mlsnowpodcast.com.

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