The FIFA International window has created a pause in the MLS calendar for FC Cincinnati. Still, some of its young stars have been with their national teams as a variety of events take place over these two weeks.
FC Cincinnati, as a whole, used the week to rest and reset for the second half of the season. Still, first-team stars Miles Robinson, Teenage Hadabe and Stefan Chirila all represented their nations, with FCC 2 standout Amir Daley also making his international debut as well.
Robinson, who was called in for two friendlies with the United States Men's National Team initially, has since been additionally called in to represent the USMNT at this year's Gold Cup – the top international tournament in Concacaf. This is Robinson's third consecutive call-up to the Gold Cup. In the first friendly, played on June 7 against Türkiye, Robinson started for the United States but fell to the visiting side 2-1. The second friendly is set to be played on June 10 against Switzerland. Still, Robinson will remain with the national team through the Gold Cup, meaning he could miss as many as four matches with FCC should the USMNT make the finals on July 6.
Hadebe, in his first formal call-up to the national team in 2025, captained his Zimbabwe side in two friendlies and earned man of the match for The Warriors in the first game. The center back and his national team held their training camp in Morocco, playing Burkina Faso and Niger. The Warriors fell to Burkina Faso 2-0 in the first match but defeated Niger 1-0 in the second. Hadebe is set to return to FC Cincinnati.
Amir Daley, a standout for FC Cincinnati 2 who made his first team debut earlier this season, was also selected to represent Antigua and Barbuda this window in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier matches against Cuba and Honduras. Daley played all 90 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Cuba, resulting in the Caribbean nation being eliminated from qualification in the second round of World Cup qualifying. They are set to take on Honduras (who secured advancement to the third round earlier this window) on June 10 in Tegucigalpa to close out the round of group play.
Lastly, the youngest member of FC Cincinnati, Stefan Chirila, received his second call-up to the Romanian U18 national team and traveled to Croatia to train with the squad ahead of two friendlies with their host nation in Prague. The 18-year-old FC Cincinnati Academy product featured in both friendlies, starting the first match and coming on as a sub in the second. He has since returned to Cincinnati and trained with FCC on Tuesday as the club resumed regular training ahead of their league match with New England this Saturday.
FC Cincinnati 2 working the process
FC Cincinnati was challenged early in the 2025 calendar for a myriad of reasons. Between injuries early in preseason, shuffling in the roster, double-match weeks and irregular player availability, The Orange and Blue had to weather a proverbial storm to come out the other side with results.
While those challenges faced FCC, FC Cincinnati 2 and the FC Cincinnati Academy have helped support the first team through those challenges. With inconsistent numbers in training, several second-team players have been brought up to supplement the first team, and some of those players were drafted into action, playing minutes in matches when needed. Noah Adnan, Amir Daley and Kenji Mbomba-Dem all made first-team debuts in the Concacaf Champions Cup, with Peter Mangione also making a roster but was never called upon to appear.
For FC Cincinnati, that support was essential. While those players mentioned above all played minutes for the team, several more players from both the second team and academy were called up to train and help the first team in their preparation. A vital but sometimes not very recognized contribution by the masses.
However, for FC Cincinnati 2, it made things challenging in the early stages of the season and led to a slow start to the MLS NEXT Pro campaign. In the same way that FC Cincinnati was stretched thin, FC Cincinnati 2 was as well and tested the limits of the FC Cincinnati Academy in the same ways.
A cascading effect. Challenges at the top make ripples down the organization as the system looks to rush in and fill the breach. Academy players get called into service for the second team (or even the first team) in the same ways second-team players do.
At the top, those struggles are notable due to the club's need to get results regardless of the challenges. For the rest of the organization, though, those challenges are opportunities. Those are chances for players to train up a level, to gain experience or exposure with the group they're reaching to join, and to show the ability the next generation may have in store with a little more time to incubate their talent.
It's also an opportunity to remind young players in the pipeline what's possible.
"You want to demonstrate the pathway. You want to be able to show that guys are going from the academy and taking this next step before they go into the first team," Director of Player Pathway Jeff Larentowicz said in a conversation with the media before FC Cincinnati 2 training earlier this spring. "I think year after year, the first team level gets stronger, and that gap grows from the professional level to the amateur level."
The challenges of a development pipeline become more dramatic with every passing year, given the status of MLS as a growing league. Beyond the success of FC Cincinnati in recent years, the quality of the league has improved year-over-year. Better players join the league every year from all corners of the globe and, thus makes not only the quality of player higher, but the quality of player needed to succeed in the league higher. It makes the challenge of introducing young players to the professional ranks more daunting, and the need for a bridge to the higher levels more useful.
"When I kind of stepped into this a couple years ago, it was, 'how do we get this group younger and give them kind of the developmental time that they need to get into the first team?'" Larentowicz explained. "Ultimately, everyone's job here in this building – academy, second team – is to support the first team, Pat (Noonan) and his staff. Early on with them, with player availability and health, especially through preseason, we were there to supplement and to help them. What it ultimately does is it takes away a little bit from the team concept of FCC 2, and you're really just there to support it."
Another nuanced part of the squad is how it was constructed and the philosophical approach to building a reserve team. As FC Cincinnati continues to look to improve, having a pipeline of players to the first team is an important feature. However, having young players who are able to grow into the first team is ideal. So, in creating an environment ripe for development, the team has been constructed in a way that reflects a desire to foster and develop talent from within while also bringing in players from an international pool who fit an age range that makes sense.
"Last year we were slightly older. I think you can kind of compete in (MLS NEXT Pro) with those players quicker, sooner," Larentowicz continued. "Last year was kind of a way to establish the group and create more of a foundation, whereas this year, on average, we're about a year younger in players that we use. Hopefully that trend continues to be an upward trend in terms of talent and downward trend in terms of age. What we learned last year is that you can win games. But ultimately, the idea and the job is to get guys in the first team."
There were, and are holdovers from, the FC Cincinnati 2 roster in 2024 that won the regular season Eastern Conference title in MLS NEXT Pro. Those players have created a leadership core so that young prospects from the FC Cincinnati Academy, like Andrei Chrila (16), Carson Locker (17), Will Kusiel (17) and Adamare Chavez (16) can play significant minutes for the squad and learn. Or for players like Andrés Dávillia (18, Colombia), Yamir Uculmana (19, Peru) and Yair Ramos (19, Venezuela) to acclimate to American culture and develop within the system at FC Cincinnati.
Chirila, a defender and the young brother of first-team forward Stefan, is an excellent example of this. Despite being 16, the young center-back regularly features with the first team in training. However, due to his age, he still competes with academy teams, given the opportunity is right. By training across levels, Andrei is gaining valuable experience. However, he is still one of the most reliable players on FCC 2, currently ranking second in minutes played. Amir Daley is another player on the opposite end of the spectrum. A little older than Chirila at 23 years old, Daley has been impressed since joining FCC2 after graduating from Duke. He earned opportunities and impressed FCC Head Coach Pat Noonan before being injured in his first-team debut. After returning from that injury, Daley continued to impress and was selected to represent Antigua and Barbuda at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in June.
"It kind of cuts two ways though. On one hand, you're not building the team camaraderie with the second team, but that's okay as the positive is you're seeing multiple players get opportunities with the first team," Larentowicz added. "Guys are in with the first team right away and getting looks with them that maybe they wouldn't otherwise."
