Tag: Reggie Cannon

USMNT defender Cannon joins QPR — a team likely to pay him on time

The 25-year-old joins as a free agent after a challenging spell in Portugal

Reggie Cannon has finally found a new home.

The U.S. men’s national team right back has signed a four-year contract with Queens Park Rangers, joining the Championship side as a free agent.

Cannon moves to England after spending three seasons in Portugal with Boavista, where the right back said he was only paid on time once during his entire spell.

The 25-year-old left Boavista before his contract was set to expire, with the club’s financial issues meaning he was given, in his words, “unilateral just cause to terminate my contract.”

Now, Cannon will start fresh with the R’s, who are 19th out of 24 teams in the Championship table after eight matches.

“We have fought off clubs to get him and I believe Reggie will become a big asset for us,” QPR head coach Gareth Ainsworth told the club website.

“He can play on the right side of midfield, as a wingback and he can play as a right-sided center back, so he is going to add real competition for places which is what we need.

“With him being without a club over the summer, he is going to need a bit of time to get up to speed but I know he is raring to get going with us.”

Cannon added: “I have always wanted to play in England, this is an incredible opportunity to show what I can do. QPR is a very historic club and I can’t wait to start my career here.

“I have played a bunch of positions across the backline. I love getting forward, I love the ability to defend, I love the ability to do both.

“Gareth said he wants to use me to get behind the opposition backline but also being that strong one-v-one defender I am and can be.

“I am strong defensively but I love to get forward and to be on the counter attack, making those blazing runs on the overlap or underlap, I think that is something that is my strength.”

The former FC Dallas defender has 28 caps with the USMNT, and narrowly missed out on last year’s World Cup roster.

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Cannon: Portuguese league is much harder to play in than MLS

“It’s not just, ‘Oh, we didn’t make the playoffs, we have three months off and go on vacation.'”

U.S. national team right back Reggie Cannon has said that Portugal’s Primeira Liga is “much more intense and much harder to play in” than MLS.

Cannon came up through the storied FC Dallas academy before jumping to the first team, where he established himself as one of the top young defenders in MLS. In 2020, he made the jump to Europe when he joined Boavista in the Portuguese top flight.

The 25-year-old became a key figure at Boavista over three seasons, as the club battled relegation at various points of all three campaigns but managed to survive each time.

After spending significant time in both MLS and the Portuguese top flight, Cannon didn’t hesitate when asked to compare both leagues.

“l just going to come out right out and say it, the Primeira Liga is much more intense and much harder to play in than Major League Soccer,” Cannon said in an interview with ESPN’s “Futbol Americas.”

“That’s no slight to Major League Soccer. It’s obviously grown, it’s obviously improved, but there’s nothing that will compare to having a life-or-death game on the line,” he added. “When you’re in the last game of the season, your fans are surrounding the game and if you lose, it’s 1-1 in the 90th minute, you get relegated.

“That type of intensity won’t be replicated because it’s so important for our players’ growth and development. And you can just see on the players that they have to give everything. It’s not just, ‘Oh, we didn’t make the playoffs, we have three months off and go on vacation.’ It’s real and it’s life or death over there.”

Cannon is now a free agent after he terminated his Boavista deal for cause. He said in the interview that during his entire stay at the club, he was only paid on time once.

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Cannon: I was paid on time once in three years at Boavista

The right back said he had unilateral just cause to terminate his contract

Reggie Cannon has opened up on his spell at cash-strapped Portuguese side Boavista, saying that he was only paid on time once in three years with the club.

The U.S. national team right back joined Boavista from FC Dallas in 2020, and spent three seasons with the club before leaving at the end of the most recent campaign.

Though his contract was set to run through 2025, Cannon said in an interview with ESPN’s “Futbol Americas” that he is currently a free agent because he had “unilateral just cause to terminate my contract.”

The 25-year-old expanded on why he had the ability to leave the club early, confirming reports that Boavista struggled to pay players and staff on time.

“In Portugal in the past three years, I’ve only been paid on time once,” Cannon said. “And it’s been difficult for the players, it’s been difficult for the staff. It just came out that the staff was behind payments for six months.

“This situation has been very difficult for me and my family. Every time I went back, I didn’t have my visa sorted and I would have to wait six hours in the airport. The tax situation wasn’t sorted — I mean, I can just go on and on and on.

“I have nothing but respect for the amazing fans of Boavista, for everyone I played with, the coaches I played for. It’s been honestly very difficult because I felt the passion, I felt the energy of the club and it was just a difficult thing to have to leave on the basis of free agency having just cause, because there’s just been so many things that have gone wrong.”

Cannon said that he’s now free to sign with any team. After impressing with Boavista while playing both right back and center back, he’ll have no shortage of suitors.

“I am currently a free agent,” he said. “I had unilateral just cause to terminate my contract. And so hopefully there’s going to be some exciting news in the coming days.”

The former FC Dallas man said at this time, a return to MLS isn’t in the cards.

“I currently want to stay in Europe,” he said. “I still have much more to give and I genuinely feel that I can make it to the top, and that’s just coming from my desire, my hunger. It’s honestly about being in a good situation. At Boavista I was playing out of position, obviously difficult conditions to play in. So I’m very excited for this next move, wherever that may be. I’m open to anything.”

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Steffen, Pefok headline USMNT snubs for World Cup roster

Gregg Berhalter had some tough choices to make

The U.S. men’s national team roster for the World Cup is out, and Gregg Berhalter had some tough choices to make.

While the most stunning news comes in goal, Berhalter left at least one strong candidate out in every position group. The USMNT boss had to deliver bad news to center backs, wingers, strikers, fullbacks, and attacking midfielders.

Some choices came down to injuries, while others may relate to tactical preferences. In at least one case, Berhalter openly stated that the choice boiled down to form.

Here are the six most notable snubs in the squad heading to Qatar.

USMNT ‘frenemies’ amid healthy competition for World Cup roster spots

“We’re competing for a World Cup roster spot, but that doesn’t mean that the relationship has to deteriorate”

The battle for spots on the final U.S. men’s national team roster for the World Cup is arguably at its most intense at right back, but Reggie Cannon and Kellyn Acosta say the group dynamic between everyone fighting for that job is healthy.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the USMNT’s CONCACAF Nations League match against Grenada, Cannon said that Sergiño Dest, his direct competition for a roster spot, is encouraging him to be at his best. “Sergiño is not currently playing in this camp, but he’s messaging me,” said Cannon. “That type of camaraderie within the group kind of helps us compete.

“Sergiño and I are in the same position. We’re competing for a World Cup spot, we’re competing for a World Cup roster spot, but that doesn’t mean that the relationship has to deteriorate.”

Just five months away from Gregg Berhalter having to select a final roster for Qatar 2022, Cannon and Dest are just two of his options at right back. While Dest is not in this squad, he’s the projected starter at this point. DeAndre Yedlin is also in camp, while Joe Scally moved from left to right for the final half-hour of the USMNT’s scoreless draw with Uruguay. In the final game of the Octagonal, Shaq Moore got called in to bolster the squad when Cannon tested positive for Covid-19 and Yedlin was suspended.

Acosta, himself vying for a spot in a jam-packed midfield, agreed.

“A word to kind of describe it is like ‘frenemies,’ right? Where, you know, we’re friends off the field, but on the field, we’re competing, and I’m bringing it, you’re bringing it, and I think that’s positive,” said Acosta, adding with a laugh that when he battles with Cannon in training, “I’m trying to tackle the  mess out of him.”

Cannon said that the right back pool is particularly tight as a group, even as they compete for a potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “Especially as deep as the right back position is, I think personally I can [say] the relationships we all have are so good. They’re my closest friends on my team, but we’re super competitive when it comes to training.”

“When the person is getting playing time, you’re still rooting for the person ahead of you, still rooting for the team,” explained Cannon. “I think that depth and that competition in friendly relationships is what’s kind of helped this team along.”

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USMNT’s Cannon: I have to explain America’s gun problem to teammates in Europe

The USMNT has arrived in Texas, the state that saw another horrific school shooting last month

U.S. men’s national team right back Reggie Cannon says he has often been forced to explain America’s gun violence problem to his club teammates in Europe.

Cannon, who plays for Portuguese side Boavista, has come to Austin, Texas with the rest of his USMNT teammates ahead of Friday’s Nations League match against Grenada.

Texas is also the site of last month’s horrific school shooting in Uvalde that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

“It’s difficult coming back to Texas, especially given the circumstances,” Cannon, a Texas native and former FC Dallas star, told reporters on Tuesday.

As the U.S. continues to suffer from an epidemic of gun violence, the USMNT released an open letter to Congress on Sunday, urging members to vote in favor of stricter gun controls.

“This is my home, but I think it’s also realistic to say that there is a need for change, and that’s what this group has been focused on, especially with the mantra ‘be the change,’ especially with that letter sent the other day that we all we all contributed to,” Cannon said.

“I think it is time for sincere change. And I think it’s always heart-wrenching to be in this place and see the problems that reside.”

Cannon added that many of his teammates in Portugal, a country with comparatively little gun violence, will quiz him on why his home nation is so different.

“Being in Europe I’m always having to explain to my teammates that this is reality,” Cannon said, “but it is what it is and that’s why I think this group is so focused on figuring out what we can do to inspire positive change.”

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