TAMPA BAY ROWDIES – 2019 ROSTER BREAKDOWN

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 2019 Tampa Bay Rowdies Season Is Upon Us

EMAIL: Brian@therowdiesobserver.com

TWITTER: @RowdiesObserver (play) and @BrianMacWriter (work/play)

JAN. 11, 2019

I remember well when I was working for one of my newspaper editors and he told me he didn’t “get” soccer.

“There are not enough points!!!!,” he exclaimed. “There’s not enough scoring in it, it should be more like hockey.”

My reply? — “A goal in soccer isn’t a point, it’s a moment … a moment in time that you cannot predict the timing of.”

Next thing I know, I’m fired.

Kidding.

Like most of you, soccer’s been a major part of my life since being a little kid. My first coach was my dad, just like many of you. Did the HS soccer thing, played against guys who made it to the MLS and ACC etc. That was many, many pounds ago.

But I’ll tell you when I really learned the game — writing about it, for years. First at the high school stage, where no other reporter wanted the winter beat in Florida. Learning the teaching aspect of soccer by getting to know coaches who played in college and professionally.

The beautiful game is beautiful because it is its own language. You can go to Cameroon or Ghana or Korea or Paraguay and they’re all playing it the same way in pursuit of the same prize … a cup, a title, what have you. Everybody plays it. Not everybody plays American football or basketball or baseball, but everybody plays soccer.

And how lucky are we? All of us within a quick drive down to Al Lang Stadium to watch a USL team play with a gorgeous backdrop of Tampa Bay. Last year we watched a guy (Joe Cole) who once scored one of the prettiest goals ever in World Cup history. We had Rowdies players who’d represented Germany, Scotland, Denmark, Jamaica, etc in international play.

Folks, this isn’t minor league baseball, this is high level soccer. Right down the street. Yet you wouldn’t know it by the players’ behavior towards the fans and especially the kids. There are no massive egos. I watched Joe Cole talk to kids as if they were his long lost friends.

I watched David Villa sign autographs and take selfies with fans for more than 30 minutes last year after notching a Hatty for New York City FC in an MLS friendly at Al Lang. He’s one of the era’s greatest players in the world, and he’s giving of his time.

This is a sport that “gets it” and is growing by leaps and bounds after only a trickle from the 1990s through its first 15 years or so. Trust me, we made the pilgrimages to Mutiny games back then. Even with US national team players coming through town and players like Valderrama playing here, the energy was missing.

But now, 15 to 20 years later that energy is now here. You can sense it, going hand in hand with a slight decline of interest in other sports. Americans are finally wising up to it.

Really looking forward to blogging about our local team — the Tampa Bay Rowdies. We’re lucky to have one here and my family can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store.