The path for continental glory begins here as FC Cincinnati has traveled to Central America for the first time to take on FC Motaga, winners of the Honduran Liga Nacional Apertura season, in Round 1 of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
After a long preseason in Clearwater, Florida, FCC begins its competitive season in the continental competition just days before the MLS season kicks off. The match played at Estadio Nacional in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, will also represent the first opportunity for FC Cincinnati to debut some of its new star players in a non-friendly match. Most notably, the likes of Kévin Denkey, Evander, U22 initiative signing Gilberto Flores, and loanee wingback Lukas Engel. While it is not clear if some of the newer additions will make their debut, it does represent the start of a new season.
“No changes to our approach. It’s the bodies that we have in the depth that we have in trying to put our strongest group on the field,” Pat Noonan said of the team’s outlook heading into this match. “I think last year’s experience, of course, is beneficial to players that are returning from their own experiences, from how they can help educate new additions to the group. So hopefully last year’s experience in this competition can help us to have early success.”
Last season, FC Cincinnati took down Cavalier FC in Kingston, Jamaica, 2-0, to take a leg 1 lead back to Cincinnati. The goal, obviously, is to do the same this season and head back to TQL Stadium with an advantage. These games, however, are never a given. FC Motagua made this competition and is thus one of the top teams in the region. Traveling to someone else’s home grounds for a match is always challenging, so the team is looking to take a competitive attitude into the game. No matter the expectations.
“Obviously, they’re a team of quality because they’re in this competition in the first place. So we have to pay them their respects,” FC Cincinnati center-back Miles Robinson said Tuesday from the pre-match press conference. “We’re gonna go out there and give it everything we have, and if we do that, hopefully, it should be a good game for us.
In a pre-match press conference held after a training session at the stadium Tuesday, Noonan explained that while preseason struggles have been hard, he has confidence in the group. Of the challenges FCC will face Wednesday night, one of the bigger ones the team will face though in Honduras is playing against a team FC Cincinnati has never encountered before and, by his own admission, was not overly familiar with prior to the draw. So much of the preparation has been about providing players with information to prepare them for this newness.
“We think that there’s things that we can do with and without the ball to find success,” Noonan said. “But it was also helping our players become familiar with an opponent that we’ve never seen before, and players they’ve never seen before. So (it was) a good week of preparation and looking at the video and then working on some things on the field. But certainly a lot of respect for Matagua and the challenge in front of us.”
Round One, like all rounds in the Concacaf Champions Cup up until the final, will be played on aggregate scoring over two matches, meaning Wednesday’s match will not be the deciding game to move on to the Round of 16. Instead, the scores of this match will be combined with the return fixture next week at TQL Stadium. The combined total will determine who advances to face Tigres UANL of Liga MX in the next round, with ties first being broken through away goals and then extra time and penalty kicks. Tigres qualified for the Round of 16 earlier this month, defeating Real Esteli of Nicaragua.
FC CINCINNATI vs. FC Motagua (Hondurian Liga Nacional) – Wednesday, February 19, 2023 – 10 p.m. ET – Estadio Nacional
Stream (English): **FoxSports.com and Fox Sports App**
English Local Radio: iHeart Media **Fox Sports 1360**
Spanish Local Radio: **La Mega 101.5 FM**
FC Cincinnati enters the Concacaf Champions Cup for the second time after debuting last season when they took on Jamaican side Cavalier FC and Liga MX’s CF Monterrey. Outside of Concacaf Champions Cup play, FCC have only played eight matches since moving to MLS against non-MLS opponents. In those seven matches, The Orange and Blue own a 7-1-0 record, including three wins over the only non-U.S.-based team they’ve seen, Chivas Guadalajara and Santos.
When playing outside the United States, FCC have a winning record, playing the three Canadian clubs to an all-time record of 4-3-2 in 9 matches, all of which have come in MLS regular season play. The Orange and Blue are 1-1-0 when playing outside of Canada or the USA.
Denkey Debut – After setting the MLS transfer record with his arrival from Cercle Brugge, FC Cincinnati forward Kévin Denkey is expected to make his debut for FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night. The striker from Togo played in all four of the club’s pre-season friendlies and scored in the final match against Atlanta.
Evander – FC Cincinnati welcomed Evander to the club earlier this week, setting a league record Cash-for-Player trade in acquiring the attacking midfielder from the Portland Timbers. The 2024 MLS MVP finalist could make his debut in some capacity as Pat Noonan confirmed his availability Tuesday.
Welcome Warmth – While temperatures in Cincinnati remain chilly, it is expected to be a comfortable 65 degrees in Tegucigalpa on Wednesday night at kickoff.
Truly Champions (1 of 2) – Dating back to 2018 only two clubs have won the Honduran Liga Nacional. FC Motagua and Olimpia have won each of the two tournaments every season, and have won all but eight of the possible 38 titles since 2005.
SCOUTING FC Motagua (3rd place in Honduran Liga Nacional, 3-2-3, 11pts, 2023-2024 Apatura Champion and 2024 Central American Cup play-in winner)
FC Motagua have a great history of success in Honduran football and continental play. Founded in 1928, Ciclón Azul(Blue Cyclone) have won the top-flight Honduran league 19 times, won four domestic cups, and qualified for the Concacaf Champions Cup (or its successors) 19 times. In 2023 (the last time Motagua qualified), they made a run to the quarter-finals, defeating Pachuca of LIGA MX before falling to Tigres.
To qualify for this year’s competition, FC Motagua defeated CD Águila of El Salvador in the Central American Cup play-ins after failing to make the semi-finals.
The Honduran Liga Nacional Clausura season is currently underway, and FC Motaga is looking to repeat itself as league champion after winning the Final Series in November for the Apatura. In the Clausura, FC Motagua is 3-2-3 and last played on Saturday, February 15, when they fell to rivals Olimpia at home 2-0. Prior to that loss, Motagua had won their two previous matches.
“It’s challenging. They’re ahead of us in their schedule with games played, and so we’re behind in that sense,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan explained as a challenge facing them in the match. “Then with our own preseason, some of the challenges that you face with injuries, new additions coming in at different times, that’s that’s a part of it every year. So you have to figure out ways to build towards important games, which is tomorrow.”
“I think the group that we have ready to go as far as the traveling party, is going to be ready for this challenge. But despite maybe where we’re at in our season and where they’re at, we can’t have this as an excuse for how we perform.”
While third in the league entering this Concacaf Champion Chup match, FC Motagua lead their league in goals scored with 15. At his press conference, Pat Noonan highlighted what he makes of the Motagua attack and why it has been so strong.
“What we’ve noticed is a very dangerous team from wide areas,” Noonan explained. “As far as deliveries into the box, with (Rodrigo Azumendi) being the main target, very good in the air. The Mejia brothers (Carlos and Yeison) on the wings, being able to provide very dangerous crosses into the box. Good one-on-one attackers, good in swinging crosses. And, if it’s not coming from them, it’s the outside backs that have good delivery. You typically see three runners in the box, (Walter) Martinez, arriving at times from a deeper position, and one of those Mejia’s from the weak side. So a very strong team as far as crosses into the box with a very dangerous target.”
Rodrigo Azumendi, an Argentine attacker, leads the team in the combined table with 12 goals between the Apatura and Clausura seasons. His brother, Agustin, played for Motagua until recently and still leads the league table with 16 but was transferred to Godoy Cruz in Argentina for a fee before the start of the new tournament.
Carlos Mejia, the younger of the brothers at 25 years old, leads the team in minutes played. He joined the club in 2021 after starting at Vida and made his Honduran senior national team debut in 2024. His older brother, Yeison, 28, made a brief stint in the MLS world in 2023. Playing 4 matches for Sporting Kansas City II in MLS NEXT Pro.
Center-back Luis Vega is considered a young star for Motagua; at 22, he has been called into the senior national team and has appeared in essentially every match for FC Motagua; though it is unclear from local reporting if the CB will be availible for the match. Other notable defenders include Sebastián Cardozo from Uruguay, who joined the club recently, and captain Marcelo Santos.
The job of goalkeeper has been split recently between Jonathan Rougier and Marlon Licona. Rougier, 37, has made over 240 appearances for Motagua and was called into the Honduran national team in 2024. He was also a candidate for Concacaf Goalkeeper of the Year in 2018. Licona, 33, has made over 150 appearances for FC Motagua and was also called into the national team in 2021 for the Gold Cup but did not appear.
FC Motagua is coached by Diego Vasquez, a legendary player and manager in the club’s history. Vazquez coached the team from 2013 to 2022 when he left the club job to take over as Head Coach of the Honduras National Team. After a two-year stint, he returned to lead Motagua in 2023. As a manager, Vazquez has won the Honduran Liga Nacional five times and SuperCup once.
