Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Impressive Atlanta to welcome Union
CHESTER » When Warren Creavalle grew up in Acworth, Ga., youth soccer was the pinnacle of the soccer scene in the greater Atlanta area.
Wednesday night, the summit will be cloaked in 45,000 screaming voices, and Creavalle will have a front-row seat as the Union travel south to take on Atlanta United FC (7 p.m., TCN).
“I think it’s been really impressive to see that kind of following happening in MLS in a city that hasn’t had a top-tier professional soccer team,” Creavalle said Monday at Union training. “I think it’s very impressive.”
Impressive is an understatement in some corners, as the expansion franchise backed by the billions of Falcons owner/Home Depot magnate Arthur Blank has garnered international acclaim for filling its palatial new home, MercedesBenz Stadium.
Wednesday’s visit by the Union (9-12-9, 36 points) will mark Atlanta’s sixth consecutive home game. They’ve drawn at least 42,000 to the previous five. In the Sept. 16 meeting with (potential rival) Orlando City, the club opened the stadium to its football capacity, filling it with 70,425 spectators to set the MLS single-game attendance record, usurping the 69,255 drawn by Los Angeles and the MetroStars at the Rose Bowl in MLS’s inaugural campaign of 1996. The stadium, which is shared by the Falcons, will be opened to full capacity for the season-finale against Toronto in a possible Eastern Conference final preview.
With its spacious home, the club looks likely to set the MLS single-season average attendance record, held by the 2015 Seattle Sounders (44,247). It could challenge the American soccer mark for attendance set in 1978 by the New York Cosmos of the old NASL (47,856).
More than just showing off a glitzy new building, Atlanta (14-8-7, 49 points) has produced an exciting and successful brand of soccer.
“People definitely appreciate sports there,” Creavalle said. “The Falcons, that’s the city’s team that has always gotten that support of the whole city. And the Hawks as well, at times. At times, it’s been performance-based, but I definitely think Atlanta appreciates its sports teams and will come out, and this Atlanta team has been successful and the fans have really taken it and it’s been exciting for them to watch.”
Part of what Creavalle marvels at is Atlanta’s ability to translate youth interest into pro marketability, a struggle in markets across the United States. MLS is full of players hailing from the Atlanta area like Creavalle, who grew up about 30 miles northwest of the city. It’s long been a hotbed for powerhouses in the developmental ranks, and while pro soccer has traditionally struggled to attract a following in the Southeast, Atlanta has tapped into the vein of interest.
“Youth soccer has been huge in Atlanta,” Creavalle said. “It’s very competitive when I was coming up, always had teams competing for regional and national championships. I think it’s always been there, and now it’s kind of gotten more of a spotlight to showcase that, especially through (Atlanta United’s) academy.”
Atlanta has four wins and a draw at MercedesBenz Stadium, outscoring opponents 19-3 and keeping four clean sheets. It has just one loss in 13 games (8-4-1), a span that includes a 2-2 draw at Talen Energy Stadium Aug. 26. Atlanta sits third in the East, and with a win over the Union would become just the fourth expansion side to qualify for the postseason. It is on pace to finish as one of the top teams in MLS history — expansion or otherwise — in terms of goals scored (63) and goaldifferential (plus-28).
But there is a comeuppance for Atlanta’s backloaded schedule, designed in deference to the stadium’s construction timetable. (The Five Stripes played their first nine home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium). Atlanta is in the midst of eight games in 23 days, ending Oct. 3. Though seven are at home, it remains a daunting slate.
Former Barcelona and Argentina manager Gerardo Martino isn’t big on squad rotation; as a result, cracks are starting to appear. Miguel Almiron, the 23-year-old attacking dynamo who’s played every game this season and compiled nine goals and 13 assists, will miss at least three weeks with a hamstring strain. American left back Greg Garza (hamstring) has missed the last three games after starting 24 of the first 26. He’s questionable Wednesday. And Josef Martinez, who has 17 goals in 13 starts, has been pushed to seven starts in five weeks after making just six in the season’s first five months; otherworldly goalscoring pace aside, a rest would eventually seem to be in order for the Venezuelan.
The Union carry some momentum into the contest, snapping a six-game winless streak with a 3-1 triumph over Chicago Saturday. Creavalle was central to that, swapped in for just his fourth start of the season in an inverted midfield triangle to offer more structure in the center of the park. That defensive posture is likely to be replicated against Atlanta, and the Union contained them well in the first meeting, only an unlikely stoppagetime goal by defender Tyrone Mears denying the Union three points.
Another start would make Creavalle’s homecoming extra sweet. Though he represents Guyana internationally, much of his family remains in Atlanta, and he expects them to be in attendance.
“I haven’t played there probably since high school. I think that’ll be kind of a cool moment,” he said. “But everybody has seen the environment and that’s the type of environment as a professional that you want to play in.”