Tag: Brenner

FC Cincinnati strikes $10 million deal with Udinese for Brenner transfer

The Brazilian exploded for 18 goals and six assists in 2022

FC Cincinnati has agreed to a club-record deal to sell striker Brenner to Serie A side Udinese.

Brenner has signed a contract with the Italian club through 2028.

The Athletic reports Cincinnati will receive an initial fee of $10 million, plus performance-based add-ons as well as a percentage of any future sale.

Brenner, 23, will remain with Cincinnati until July, with the club saying his final game will be on July 1 against the New England Revolution at TQL Stadium.

“We’re extremely happy for Brenner that he’s able to make this move and play in one of the biggest leagues in Europe,” FC Cincinnati general manager Chris Albright said in a club statement.

“Our ultimate goal at FC Cincinnati is to win games for our incredible fans, and we understand that developing players is central to attracting the best talent. This is a significant transfer for our club and is a testament to everything our staff has done in the past year and a half. Our ownership will continue to give us the resources to compete and this transfer only adds to that commitment.”

Cincinnati signed Brenner in 2021 from São Paulo FC for a fee of $13 million, a significant investment for the franchise ahead of its third MLS season.

The Brazilian finished his first season in the league with eight goals and then exploded for 18 goals and six assists in 2022, getting himself on the radar of several teams in Europe.

With six games left, Udinese currently sits in ninth place in the Serie A table.

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Philadelphia Union grind it out, besting FC Cincinnati 1-0 in MLS playoffs

The Union were just a little bit better in a bruising battle with Cincy

MLS playoff wins are often a long way from pretty, and if that’s how it has to be, the Philadelphia Union are ready.

Philadelphia and FC Cincinnati duked it out at Subaru Park Thursday night, and the Union did just enough in a physical battle to take a 1-0 decision. Leon Flach, who hadn’t scored a goal all season, picked up the game-winner in the second half of a hotly contested Eastern Conference semifinal.

The Union front three of Julián Carranza, Dániel Gazdag, and Mikael Uhre combined for 49 goals and 25 assists on the season. Cincinnati had pretty much the same situation with their attacking trio: Luciano Acosta, Brenner, and Brandon Vazquez totaled 49 goals and 25 assists in MLS this year.

And yet, the stars of this battle ended up being eaten up for long spells by the unsung players in the respective engine rooms. Philadelphia’s ferocious pressing and defensive organization meant the visitors never had time to think. Going the other way, Obinna Nwobodo was seemingly everywhere for Cincy, preventing the Union from assembling any passing fluency.

It was fitting that when the Union broke the deadlock in the 59th minute, it wasn’t an attack-first Designated Player. It wasn’t even a star fullback like Kai Wagner, or a set piece. It was Flach, the midfield shuttler  — that’s Leon “zero goals in 2022” Flach — sweeping the ball past Roman Celentano after a scramble inside the Cincinnati box.

They say goals change games, and while Cincinnati did go for a classic center back out/striker in substitution, with Ian Murphy coming off for Sergio Santos, the game largely remained a hectic scrap. Referee Tim Ford somehow only gave out five yellow cards as the tackles continued to fly in, and if any big-name player stood out, it was Union goalkeeper Andre Blake.

Ultimately, while both of these teams are capable of some lovely soccer, the fact is that they’re two of the rough-and-tumble East’s roughest, tumblingest teams. This was never likely to become a game about technical proficiency. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, Philly is just a little bit more comfortable with the sort of battle this game turned into, and that’s why the Union are off to the conference final.

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FC Cincinnati keeps up with new MLS trend, demolishes San Jose Earthquakes 6-0

6-0 is so hot right now

If you want to be a Cool Team in MLS, you better win a game 6-0.

FC Cincinnati became the latest team to post the league’s most fashionable margin of victory, thrashing the San Jose Earthquakes by that increasingly common scoreline Saturday night. Brenner had a hat trick, while Luciano Acosta continued his MVP candidacy with one goal and two assists.

It’s the fifth time this season MLS has seen a 6-0 final score, with the Philadelphia Union involved three (wins over D.C. United, the Colorado Rapids, and Houston Dynamo). NYCFC also beat Real Salt Lake by that scoreline back in April.

For much of the first half, it didn’t look like Cincinnati was going to get in on the hot new trend. After 44 minutes, San Jose had kept it scoreless at TQL Stadium, and usually if you want to win a soccer game 6-0, you really have to start scoring early, to make your opponent start to take risks and give you openings.

Instead, Cincy only got started just before halftime, with Álvaro Barreal finishing with power after some snappy one-touch passing between Brandon Vázquez and Luciano Acosta.

They were in a hurry to pad that lead, as Vázquez nodded Acosta’s free kick down for Brenner to smash home just 74 seconds into the second half. However, things slowed down again, and Cincy only got their third on an Acosta penalty kick in the 71st minute.

That’s right about where the wheels fell off for the Quakes. San Jose made a triple sub, while the hosts brought in two players of their own. Everyone was more or less agreeing the game was over…except no one told Cincy’s attackers. Four minutes later, Yuya Kubo’s run from deep was rewarded by a well-weighted Brenner through ball that the Japanese midfielder tucked away expertly.

4-0 is a great night at the office, but everyone wins 4-0 once in a while. In MLS in 2022, 6-0 is the requirement to be cool, and Cincinnati clearly wanted to fit in. That was Brenner’s cue, and the Brazilian capitalized on an unfortunate series of events for the Earthquakes. First, U.S. under-20 Niko Tsakiris did enough to prevent Acosta from touching the ball around him, but his attempt to poke the ball away skipped back towards center back Nathan, who effectively just trapped the ball as a favor to Brenner, who ran past him to score.

Nathan wasn’t done helping out his fellow Brazilian, though, committing a stoppage-time foul on Sergio Santos to give Cincy a penalty. Brenner accepted the gift with gratitude, firing home from the spot to give himself a second hat trick of 2022.

Cincinnati didn’t have time to push into the avant garde territory of 7-0, which the Union have also managed to do, but give them a few weeks getting used to being a Cool Team before they start to get into some boundary-pushing territory.

Watch FC Cincinnati clobber San Jose 6-0

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NYCFC, FC Cincinnati with some MLS Madness in 4-4 draw

No words for this game, but we tried our best

One of the wildest games in years in MLS took place Wednesday night, as NYCFC and FC Cincinnati played to a bonkers 4-4 draw.

FC Cincinnati stormed out to a 3-0 lead, with Lucho Acosta opening the scoring in the 15th minute before Brenner—who just scored his first league goal of 2022 on the weekend—bagged a brace in a six-minute span, striking in the 24th and 30th minutes, and that second goal was something special.

 

As fans at TQL Stadium partied, NYCFC saw things get even worse, with Maxi Moralez saw his penalty kick saved by Roman Celentano.

However, incredibly, this disaster for the MLS Cup champs was flipped on its head in a wild seven-minute span, as the teams went to the locker room level. Talles Magno scored a 45th minute goal, and then Héber somehow managed to score two more goals in first-half stoppage time to equalize.

NYCFC didn’t let the halftime break end the madness, with Gabriel Pereira waltzing through the Cincinnati midfield before unleashing a 52nd minute rocket. A game that was 3-0 Cincy in the 44th minute was now 4-3 NYCFC.

Stunningly, though, Cincinnati pulled themselves up off the mat, equalizing in the 70th minute. Brenner did it again, netting the first-ever FC Cincinnati hat trick with a low shot from outside the area.

Because no game would be complete without some VAR drama, Brenner thought he’d scored a fourth in the closing minutes, only for the goal to be called back for offside after a VAR check, resulting in a 4-4 draw that was pure MLS madness.

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