Young talent helps fill Zaha void

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After star winger Wilfried Zaha picked up a yellow card in each of Charlotte FC’s first four games this season, it was only a matter of time before he picked up a fifth and had to serve a one-game suspension. Well, surprise, not surprise, it’s Nashville.

Charlotte FC, currently third in the MLS standings, has to take on No. 1 Nashville on Saturday without its most explosive player. Zaha is missing the biggest matchup of the young season, after missing the critical Game 1 at home of the best-of-three Round One MLS playoffs with a red card suspension. (Without him, Charlotte lost 1-0 to eventual series winner New York City FC.)

Unlike before that game, though, Charlotte FC had prospect Rodolfo Aloko primed for a first-team call-up, with only roster maneuvering in the way. General manager Zoran Krneta told the Ledger on Thursday that the club had made the necessary moves to get winger Aloko onto the first team from Crown Legacy, where he’s been dominating for Charlotte’s undefeated MLS feeder team.

The roster moves, expected to be announced today, required that Charlotte FC “buy down” winger Kerwin Vargas and move Aloko into his vacated U-22 initiative roster spot. In its current roster structure, Charlotte FC can have three U-22 players, players under the age of 22 who can be signed with greater salary flexibility. Now, the three are Aloko, striker Idan Toklomati and midfielder Baye Coulibaly. Charlotte FC used what’s called “general allocation money” to keep Vargas at his current salary, but without the hit against their salary cap.

What that means for Coach Dean Smith is he’ll have another option Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium. Liel Abada was the next logical first-team player to fill in for Zaha, but the Israeli winger has been inconsistent when given recent opportunities. Tyger Smalls is another young forward Smith could slot in on the wing. Smith could also shuffle the cards and put his best midfield playmaker, Pep Biel, on the wing and use a Luca De La Torre or Brandt Bronico in the midfield. When asked if he was inclined to play Biel on the wing Thursday at his press conference, Smith said, “maybe.”

He could also turn to Aloko, a player he’s plenty familiar with; Aloko has practiced with the first team since the preseason. In the meantime, Aloko has racked up six goals and two assists in the first five games, all wins, for Crown Legacy.

Charlotte signed Aloko, now 19, during last summer’s transfer window from Croatian club NK Kustošija Zagreb. He stayed on loan in Croatia for the remainder of the season. Then over the winter, he played four games for his native Benin in the African Cup of Nations, starting two of them.

While it’s not a great time to have Zaha sit — he’s scored goals in each of the past two games, including the game-winner against Philadelphia — it might be a good time to play Nashville.

Like Miami last month, Nashville comes to town in the midst of the Concacaf Champions Cup. Nashville hosted Club America on Tuesday, tying 0-0, in the first leg of the quarterfinals and has to play the second leg in Mexico on Tuesday night. That means Coach B.J. Callaghan will have a decision to make on who he decides to play.

Miami, in a similar situation, rested eight of its regulars, including Lionel Messi, and still played Charlotte to a 0-0 tie on March 14. The Crown has won two in a row since, 6-1 over the New York Red Bulls and 2-1 against Philadelphia.

Nashville has three of the most dynamic front three players in MLS. Hany Mukhtar is a perennial MVP candidate. Sam Surridge, who battled Messi to finish second in last year’s Golden Boot award for MLS leading scorer, leads MLS this season with seven goals through five games. Added to that mix this season is Cristian Espinoza, a veteran attacker from the San Jose Earthquakes, who has five goal contributions in his first six games with Nashville. He scored a game-tying goal to oust Miami from the Concacaf Champions Cup.

Zaha is only under contract with Charlotte FC through June 30. Both he and Krneta confirmed this week that contract negotiations are ongoing, though neither had much to report.

“We’re talking,” Krneta said Thursday.

Charlotte FC captain Ashley Westwood turned 36 on April 1. Lining up against Philadelphia last Saturday, the Union’s 16-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan was closer in age to Westwood’s son Frankie, now 14, than him. But it was Westwood who connected for his first goal of the season in a 2-1 win. Afterward, he attributed the strike to extra work after practice with some of Charlotte FC’s rookie players and assistant coach Gary Dicker.

“I’m not usually one for doing stuff like that,” Westwood said Wednesday, after sticking around practice late again. “But I’ve seen guys doing shooting drills, [doing] what I usually do; I land in the box and hit it first time. So I thought I’d join in, and it stuck.”

Westwood said he should have scored against the New York Red Bulls but made the mistake of striking the ball from his shoelaces.

“I should have side-footed it,” he said. “[Dicker] will put on a session where I have to use my side foot.”

Westwood, who was named Man of the Match on Saturday night, said he’s back to feeling great physically after suffering a scare with a bulging disc in his back late last season.

“It was a crazy one,” Westwood said. “I was going to let the dog out on a Sunday night, went to put my shoes on, and I was crying on the floor. It just locked up. I don’t know how it happened, but it was painful.”

An MRI revealed the bulging disc. Westwood said he got through the playoffs relying on medication.

“We thought I might need an operation, but thankfully it was manageable,” Westwood said. “It’s fine now. It’s not affecting my golf swing. That’s the most important thing.”

He was only half-kidding. Westwood is an avid golfer. He’ll get the thrill of a lifetime Sunday. He and Dean Smith are traveling to Augusta National for the final round of The Masters. Both gave the same answer when asked Thursday who they’d like to see pulling on the Green Jacket: a Brit, of course, Tommy Fleetwood.

For three years, Charlotte FC faithful watched Patrick Agyemang rise: from Division III college obscurity to Crown Legacy, from a backup striker role to starting a playoff game over Karol Swiderski, from scoring 10 goals with his new Derby County club to the precipice of the World Cup. So it’s been unsettling this week to see him suffer the disappointment of a ruptured Achilles that will cost him an appearance in the World Cup.

The May 31 exhibition between the U.S. Men’s national team and Senegal in Charlotte was supposed to be a celebration and send-off for a fanbase who knew better than anyone why U.S. Men’s Coach Mauricio Pochettino kept playing Agyemang. Fans here weren’t surprised to see him score six goals in 14 appearances since his January 2025 call-up.

After two days of watching online reaction from the likes of national soccer gurus like Landon Donovan, Alexi Lalas and Taylor Twellman, it was nice to see some reassurance and reaction from Agyemang, who posted Wednesday afternoon on Instagram:

Replays of Monday’s injury in Derby County’s game against Stoke City show that the play looked innocuous. Agyemang went up to chest a pass, his left foot buckled to the side as he landed, and the rest of him went down in a painful heap. Agyemang knew his World Cup was over before the stretcher even got to him. His hands covered the tears in his eyes well before his official diagnosis came, along with a nine-month recovery timeline.

A host of Charlotte FC players, staff and fans messaged Agyemang, including Westwood, who encouraged him by referencing his own comeback from a devastating ankle injury in the Premier League with Burnley.

“I said to him, ‘If an old man like me can do it at 32, he's got no problem,'“ Westwood said. “There's players that have done it before. I know Christian Benteke did it when I was at Aston Villa with him [and missed the 2014 World Cup]. He came back fine. He got a move to Liverpool after that, so Pat will be fine. It's just all about mentality and staying strong.”

When/Where: 7:30 p.m, Bank of America Stadium

How to watch: Apple TV. Information about how to subscribe here.

How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.

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Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fifth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!