FC Cincinnati looks to bounce back against San Jose Earthquakes
FC Cincinnati (6-5-6) returns to competition on Saturday, July 30, facing off against the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-4) at TQL Stadium. The competition gives FCC a chance to bounce back from a tough and controversial loss at the Columbus Crew a week prior. However, the club will be tested against an Earthquake team that is tied for the most points in the Western Conference.During the week of practice leading up to Saturday's contest, much of the conversation at Cincinnati's Mercy Health Training Center was still surrounding what happened at Columbus. But the team is also ready to move forward onto San Jose, the beginning of a four-game home stretch that goes until Aug. 15.FC Cincinnati MLS All-Star contest Evander breaks MLS All-Star record, ties Thomas Mller in contestValenzuela gets additional suspension, fine after red cardMidfielder Gerardo Valenzuela already received a red card for "violent conduct" against Columbus, as he first tackled Crew midfielder Taha Habroune to the ground before engaging in a verbal altercation between both Crew and FCC team members. But on Thursday, July, 30, FCC head coach Pat Noonan revealed that Valenzuela would be suspended an additional MLS game (he was already suspended for the San Jose contest) and receive fines.FCC forward Ayoub Jabbari, assistant coach Kenny Arena, and several Columbus Crew players were also fined.Defender Matt Miazga, who received his fifth yellow card of the season at Columbus, will be suspended against San Jose as well. Both he and Valenzuela are regular starters, leaving Noonan to switch up his first 11 for Saturday."Our depth allows us to feel confident about not having extreme situations, to have a couple guys ready to fill in," Noonan said of his lineup situation. "You don't want to lose two pieces like we did, but we've dealt with this quite a few times. But we've got guys that are ready, you could sense that even in the last couple of days, there's a lot of guys we could slot into the 11 and feel good about."Valenzuela also spoke to The Enquirer on Wednesday about his red card, publicly addressing it for the first time since he received it. He admitted that his emotions got the best of him and agreed with the call. He says the referee was initially going to give a yellow card, but upgraded it to a red following the altercation.Dado Valenzuela on the red card he received at Columbus: It was just frustration, I went in for a reckless challengeHe was gonna give a yellow, and then I'm sure because everybody came over and started a fight, maybe the VAR changed it to a red. pic.twitter.com/phiJvPxgye Yanyan Li (@yyanyanli1) July 29, 2026Noonan was more blunt: He said the emotional outburst from his team toward the end of the Columbus game was immaturity that shouldn't be excused because of the nature of a rivalry game. He also said that the team addressed the disciplinary issues following the match, something it does not do super often."We've addressed it in a way where now you start to say, 'How do you really get message across in the best way?'" Noonan said. "And usually that's taking away opportunities. And you hate to go that route, but that's what it needs for us to really understand the importance of discipline."Scouting the San Jose EarthquakesThough San Jose is one of the top teams in the west, it has struggled as of late. Nine of its 10 wins in MLS play came in April or earlier, and its record since May stands at 1-3-3. That said, the Earthquakes do pose a 6-1-1 record on the road, boding well for their chances Saturday.San Jose's roster includes All-Star defender Daniel Munie and 2026 offseason addition Timo Werner, who previously played for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur. But its standout player on the attack currently is Preston Judd, who already has a career-high 11 goals and two assists while leading his team in scoring."He's active. He's opportunistic. You can see with how he anticipates the game and plays, how he's able to win duels or gain and advantage because he can see plays early," Noonan said of Judd. "As he gets closer to goal, the way he changes his speed and sniffs out moments to get in front of goal is why he scored a lot of goals."At the helm for San Jose is first-year head coach Bruce Arena, who FCC has deep ties with. Arena coached Noonan while Noonan played for the LA Galaxy, and Noonan later served as Arena's assistant on the Galaxy and later the U.S. Men's National Team. Arena's son, Kenny, is also an assistant for Cincinnati.San Jose, alongside Cincinnati, is one of the top scoring teams in MLS. It ranks fourth in the league with 35 goals (FCC is ranked second with 41). However, the Earthquakes have allowed just 20 goals compared to Cincinnati's 42, which is the second-worst goals allowed total in the league.The Earthquakes rank third in MLS with 44 yellow cards as well, with a level of physicality that could be a test for FCC following its Columbus controversy. Valenzuela praised them for being a good pressing team, while Noonan said they play aggressive defense."They have good speed all over the field. Good mobility. They're active, pragmatic," Noonan said of the Earthquakes. "There's times where they recognize pressure in a way that they'll put the ball to the field, and they have guys that will be running in behind, running channels, competing, and they'll turn those moments into advantages of picking up second balls and moving up the fields."Evander shines at MLS All-StarWhile the rest of his team regrouped from the highs and lows of Columbus, FC Cincinnati captain Evander was in Charlotte, where he participated in MLS All-Star festivities.On Tuesday, Evander was in the MLS All-Star shooting challenge. Though Thomas Mller broke the Brazilian's all-time record score of 79 and won the contest officially, Evander didn't let that usurping slide. He gave the shooting challenge another go, breaking his own high score and tying him with a 79.Evander was also one of eight competitors in the crossbar challenge. Though he beat Bengals legend and celebrity guest Chad Johnson, he fell to Liga MX player Javier Ruiz in the second round.On Wednesday, Evander scored the deciding goal in MLS's All-Star Game, representing team MLS against the Liga MX All-Stars. His goal in the 58th minute put Team MLS up 4-2, and they ended up winning 4-3. He becomes the first FC Cincinnati player to score in an MLS All-Star game.Evander, who returned to FC Cincinnati training on Thursday, appeared to have hurt his hand toward the end of the All-Star game, but Noonan said that his midfielder was healthy. The coach also noted that he sat down with Evander and caught him up on the disicplinary conversations that the team had while he was in Charlotte."I didn't want to have too much contact because this was a moment to enjoy a well-deserved opportunity with the All-Star festivities," Noonan said. "(I wanted to) hear about his thoughts because he was frustrated too, and he knows it wasn't to a standard for all of us, himself included."How to watch FC Cincinnati vs. San Jose EarthquakesFC Cincinnati will play the Earthquakes at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night at TQL Stadium. The match will be streamed on Apple TV via the MLS Season Pass. An Apple TV subscription is $12.99 a month.This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati looks to bounce back against San Jose Earthquakes
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