BY BRIAN MCLAUGHLIN
THE ROWDIES OBSERVER
The Rowdies have announced a ton of signings in recent weeks and will be in preseason action on Saturday (Feb. 16) at Al Lang Stadium against the MLS’ D.C. United and some guy named Wayne Rooney. The match is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
ROWDIES QUESTIONS: Who is going to provided the needed offense?
The roster is made up mostly of new faces, at this point. Many of the familiar Rowdies names of the past few seasons have moved on or retired, but familiar faces like two-year Rowdies veterans Leo Fernandes and Sebastian Guenzatti will be back to kick off year number three.
Second-year signees Tarek Morad, David Najem, Dominic Oduro, Leon Taylor, Pape Diakite and Kwadwo Poku combined for 79 Rowdies caps in 2018 and are back, but 14 new faces will play for Tampa Bay this year.
ROWDIES/NATIONAL TEAM?: Which Rowdies have represented a nation internationally?
Native Scot Neill Collins is back to manage the side.
Here’s a look at the roster, which includes past club experience and top “stops” in their careers. Below this roster is a look at their personal background, and even a look at some who have international experience.
| NO | NAME | POS | AGE | TOP PREVIOUS STOPS |
| 1 | John McCarthy | GK | 26 | MLS (Philadelphia), USL (Bethlehem) |
| 3 | Ryan Felix | DEF | 25 | USL (San Antonio, Orange County) |
| 4 | Tarek Morad | DEF | 26 | USL (Louisville City, Oklahoma City) |
| 5 | David Najem | DEF | 26 | Germany (6th Tier), New York Red Bulls 2 |
| 7 | Yann Ekra | MID | 28 | Hull City, MLS (Philadelphia), USL, Lyon youth |
| 8 | Zach Steinberger | MID | 26 | MLS (Houston) for 3 games |
| 10 | Brandon Allen | FOR | 25 | MLS (Red Bulls/Minnesota FC), USL |
| 11 | Leo Fernandes | MID | 27 | MLS (Philadelphia), USL (Bethlehem) |
| 13 | Sebastian Guenzatti | FOR | 27 | NASL, Uruguay (3rd tier) |
| 14 | Malik Johnson | FOR | 20 | USL Toronto FC 2 (one App in MLS last year) |
| 15 | Andrew Tinari | MID | 23 | USL (Red Bulls II) |
| 18 | Dominic Oduro | MID | 23 | Man. City, Denmark (1st tier), Sweden (2nd tier) |
| 19 | Shawn Barry | DEF | 28 | MLS (Salt Lake City), Austria & Poland (1st tiers) |
| 20 | Caleb Richards | DEF | 20 | Norwich City U23 (on loan) |
| 21 | Mack Robinson | GK | 24 | USL, NASL |
| 22 | Jordan Doherty | MID | 18 | Sheffield United U18 (on loan) |
| 23 | Leon Taylor | FOR | 25 | Sweden (2nd Tier), NPSL (Midland-Odessa) |
| 29 | Antoine Hoppenot | FOR | 28 | MLS (Philadelphia ), USL |
| 32 | Jaime Siaj | FOR | 23 | USL , Real Madrid U-18 |
| 42 | Mohamed Kone | DEF | 25 | Moldova (1st tier), Uzbekistan (1st), Cyprus (1st) |
| 44 | Pape Diakite | DEF | 26 | Belgium (2nd tier), Slovakia (1st tier), Canada |
| 88 | Kwadwo Poku | MID | 26 | MLS (NYC FC), Russia (1st tier), NPSL |
The Rowdies Observer 