The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Homegrown signees look to have solid future at centerback
Teens Noah Cobb, Efrain Morales are ‘on the right path.’
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Atlanta United’s centerbacks of the future are making manager Gonzalo Pineda turn to his assistants to ask, “How old are they again?”
Noah Cobb and Efrain Morales, all of 18 and 19 years old, respectively, have performed well during the team’s first three friendlies, including Wednesday’s 2-1 victory against Montreal. Atlanta United will play Tampa Bay on Saturday at Al Lang Stadium.
“Both are going on the right path,” Pineda said. “I will say that Noah’s a little bit ahead at the moment. But both are doing very, very good.”
Atlanta United supporters may not know much about Morales, a Decatur native who signed a Homegrown contract in 2020 and an extension last season. He was one of the original Academy players with the Under12 team in 2006. He went on trial with Manchester United in January 2020. And then he started to grow and grow, to his present 6 feet 3 and 183 pounds. As a result, injuries resulting from how quickly his body developed kept him off the field for most of the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He made 24 appearances with Atlanta United 2 in 2022 and 20 in 2023. This season is Morales’ first opportunity to work with the first team in the preseason.
“I’m obviously getting some consistency now that I kind of grew in some of my body,” he said. “I’m obvi- ously just starting to love soccer again. I mean, it was a bit difficult at the time, but I’m enjoying it every day.”
Morales likely will be loaned back to Atlanta United 2 for the season. He said his goal for the presea- son is to get as many minutes as he can with the first team. He’s learning more about positional awareness and how to hold the defen- sive line to keep opponents offside.
Morales is good on the ball. He has attempted sev- eral passes to break lines in the friendlies. He played all over the field as a youth, so he said he feels comfortable receiving the ball. He started in the academy as a mid- fielder and still is learning the nuances of centerback.
There was a moment in the Memphis friendly in which Morales almost got caught napping. A ball was cleared into Atlanta Unit- ed’s half of the field. Morales turned and started jogging back to retrieve it. He didn’t see a Memphis player coming off his shoulder to try to get to the ball first. Morales found another gear and got to the ball first. Brad Guzan came up to talk to him during the game, and Morales later spoke to the coaches about always being aware.
“In the moment, when it actually happens to you, obviously that’s when you’ve learned from your actual mis- takes more than anything,” Morales said.
Cobb, a native of Chatta- nooga, Tennessee, whose Homegrown contract became effective in 2023, has looked during the pre- season like a player who once was described by team vice president Carlos Bocane- gra as having national-team potential.
Cobb, applying the expe- rience of 18 matches with Atlanta United 2 and three with Atlanta United last sea- son, won all of his one-on- one duels against Montreal on Wednesday. He has looked assured with his positioning and his passing.
Cobb, whose goal is to play for the U.S. Under 20s in the CONCACAF Champi- ons Cup this summer, said he just wants to be ready for any opportunity.
“I’m just hoping to just try to build on what I kind of accomplished last year,” Cobb said last week after the Memphis match. “I mean, I want to be getting consistent minutes, whether that’s first team or second team. Just always, always playing games, and always making sure I’m ready that if I’m playing with the sec- ond team, I’m playing, I’m getting my minutes, I’m see- ing the action. So that way, if I do get an opportunity with the first group, I’m ready to ready to play because I’ve been playing minutes.”