Author: Jonathan Tannenwald

Olwethu Makhanya is just 21 years old, and this year will be his second as a regular player for the Union. But in a centerback unit with so many newcomers, that’s enough to qualify him as a veteran.

In fact, it’s enough to qualify him as a rising leader. Though Japhet Sery Larsen and Geiner Martínez are both older, Makhanya is the only one of the expected regulars who has played in Bradley Carnell’s system, and knows the Union’s standards on and off the field.

“We had two important players from the back line leaving the team,” he told The Inquirer, referring to centerback Jakob Glesnes and left back Kai Wagner. “So that leaves people like me who were here last season to try and take on leading, try to help the new guys coming in to understand what we try to do. So yeah, I feel like it’s a new challenge for me to try and be a leader, and lead the new guys.”

No position on the field requires more chemistry than centerback. Whether in a group of two (as the Union use) or three, each player must know where the others were, are, and will be, and often without being able to talk about it in real time.

That made it crucial to get Makhanya and Sery Larsen as many reps together as possible in the preseason, and that seemed to be achieved over the Union’s five games. Martínez arrived later, but he played in the last two games and was on the field with Makhanya in each.

“I feel like five games is enough,” Makhanya said. “Obviously it’s not going to be perfect from the start, but I feel like it’s going to be enough at least to prepare us for the start [of the season].”

He has also enjoyed getting to know Sery Larsen and Martínez off the field.

“They’re very good people,” Makhanya said. “They’re already blending in with the team. Very good human beings, they work hard, [are] willing to learn, and that’s all we need as a team.”

Selflessness within the group

Though Glesnes’ departure impacts Makhanya most directly, Wagner’s departure matters, too. There are no true left backs on the Union’s roster right now, and though the club is actively shopping for a new starter, they haven’t signed one yet.

For now, Frankie Westfield and Nathan Harriel are platooning at the spot, since each has past experience there. Makhanya has had to adjust to that, and will have to adjust again when the new signing arrives.

“Looking at the way that we play, the system, the style of play,” Makhanya said, “I feel like the guys that we have at the moment … everyone can be able to play those positions. As long as they’re able to take in the instructions from the coach, we should be fine.”

Longtime Union fans will know that it’s been a regular theme in these pages over the years that the Union need to have more than two starting-caliber centerbacks, so they can be rotated over the season to stay fresh. That will be very important again this season, with the club’s return to the Champions Cup now and MLS’s Leagues Cup in late summer.

Any player wants to play, of course, but veterans know the importance of the long haul. So it’s to Makhanya’s credit that he’s willing to take a seat for a night if needed.

“I’d be OK,” he said. “As long as it’s something that’s going to help the team, I’d be fine with it.”

It’s not surprising that Makhanya has grown a bond with manager Bradley Carnell. Along with both being South Africa natives, Carnell took a leap of faith to make Makhanya a starter last year when he hadn’t played a second for the first team yet.

That faith was rewarded with a major role in the Union winning the Supporters’ Shield, and doing so with a return to the stingy defense they cherish.

“I feel like the relationship I have with him is really amazing,” Makhanya said. ”He’s a great human being, he’s a good teacher, his instructions are very clear, he’s a very understanding person. So because of who he is, it it’s very easy to work with him.”

Is South Africa watching?

Asked what his goals are for this year, Makhanya started with some humor.

“Firstly for myself, I think I’m going to score a couple of goals this season on set pieces,” he said. He scored twice last year, including a dramatic game-winner in the U.S. Open Cup round-of-16 comeback against Red Bull New York.

But Makhanya meant it when he said he wants to improve his aerial presence this year and “get a few headers” on free kicks and corners. He proved it right away, too, with a headed goal off a corner kick in the season-opening win at Defence Force FC in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

“And then for the group, we obviously have very high expectations, because we already know what we can do,” he said. “So we’re just trying to maintain that and try to find a way forward, and we take it a game at a time.”

There could be one more goal, too, beyond the Union. South Africa’s national team is in the World Cup for the first time since hosting in 2010. Fans and media back home have noticed Makhanya’s success, and have criticized the Bafana Bafana’s staff for thinking less of MLS than perhaps it should.

Carnell, who played for his country at the 2002 tournament, is well aware — and not pleased. Makhanya was diplomatic about it when asked, at least at first.

“I mean, not even being part of the national team last season was kind of disappointing for me, you know, but it’s just a motivation at the same time,” he said. “So yeah, it’s something that’s been in my mind that I’m looking forward to.”

But he added a few choice words a moment later.

“I think they do [look at MLS], but I feel like they don’t really have that much respect for the league,” Makhanya said. “So I guess that’s why I’m maybe not part of the squad, but I can’t really know.”

If he starts this season as well as he played last year, there might be even more people hoping for a better answer.

When the Union kicked off their season on Wednesday night, they were the fourth MLS team to take the field in this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup.

The previous three — San Diego, Nashville, and Los Angeles FC — outscored their opponents by a combined 12-3 over four games.

LAFC accounted for six of those goals, with star forward Dénis Bouanga scoring three and superstar Son Heung-min tallying one and three assists. San Diego’s biggest name, last year’s MLS Newcomer of the Year Anders Dreyer, led his team to an outstanding 4-2 aggregate win over Mexico’s Pumas UNAM.

You needn’t have walked through much slush around Philadelphia this week to wonder which MLS team would be first to fall. But surely it wouldn’t be the Union, with such a talent advantage over Trinidad’s Defence Force FC.

Then the Union’s starting lineup was revealed, and the mood turned to shock. Manager Bradley Carnell chose to start Stas Korzeniowski at forward, Alejandro Bedoya at right attacking midfield, Nathan Harriel at centerback, Andrew Rick in goal, and most surprising, attacking midfielder Jeremy Rafanello at right back.

Bruno Damiani, Indiana Vassilev, Japhet Sery Larsen, and Andre Blake were all on the bench. Geiner Martínez and Olivier Mbaizo weren’t on the game squad in the first place. Nor was Jovan Lukić, though at least Carnell had signaled that was coming due to an injury.

Right after kickoff, Concacaf’s world feed broadcast hinted at another unusual circumstance. Jesús Bueno had issues getting a visa to enter Trinidad. He spent Tuesday night in nearby Antigua, got the visa Wednesday morning, and only arrived in Port-of-Spain at lunchtime Wednesday.

Later in the game, a source with knowledge of the matter told The Inquirer that Martínez also had a visa issue. That helped clarify things a little more.

But it was still a surprise to see this lineup. Was Carnell taking the opponent lightly? He spoke repeatedly after the game about his respect for Defence Force, but his lineup choices also said something.

Some watchers recalled that another of Bedoya’s teams made choices in Trinidad in 2017, 20 miles down the road in Couva. He was stuck on the bench for the U.S. men’s team’s infamous loss to Trinidad & Tobago that knocked the Americans out of the 2018 World Cup.

At the final whistle, all those thoughts were long gone. The Union won in a 5-0 rout, with Milan Iloski’s 29th-minute free kick opening the floodgates. Ezekiel Alladoh scored his first goal for the Union off a superb Frankie Westfield cross, Olwethu Makhanya slammed in a header off an Iloski corner, and Bruno Damiani scored twice as a substitute.

Cavan Sullivan also made his first goal contribution for the Union’s first team, with a terrific assist on Damiani’s first goal. The 16-year-old had multiple nifty moments on the ball in his 25-minute run as a substitute, one of which earned a penalty kick after a nice combination play with Westfield. Damiani stepped up to score it.

On the same night that Westfield’s brother Rocco led Father Judge to a second straight Catholic League boys’ basketball final at the Palestra, Frankie was a strong nominee for the Union’s player of the game. He recorded 39-of-46 passing, five scoring chances created, four clearances, one block, and seven duels won of the 12 contested.

That was almost all overshadowed in the 70^th minute, when the cameras showed Westfield holding his right hamstring. With Harriel off the field, the only other left back option available was midfielder Ben Bender on the bench.

Westfield shook off the pain for a while, but he exited in the 84^th minute for Vassilev. That meant both outside backs were attacking midfielders. At least at that point it didn’t matter anymore.

“Rafa’s a guy who is very versatile, he can play anywhere,” Carnell said afterward. “This was just more by need, and we knew he could do the job. We just needed positive guys to give energy, [to] want to do what’s best for the team, and that’s what Jeremy is.”

The gamble paid off, and with some style in the end. Carnell was rightly pleased at the final whistle, praising his team for surviving Defence Force’s early-game surge before imposing its will.

“I think we did have a challenge for sure, and I think through the second half performance of our guys — give them credit,” he said. “We showed a real professional performance in the second half.”

But he had still gambled, and it’s a good thing he won.

Though Agustín Anello has lived more than half his life outside the United States, the Florida native still feels like an American.

So when the Union called with an offer, he was interested. Even better, he had two friends already on the team in Nathan Harriel and Bruno Damiani. From there, Anello did his homework and decided it was time to come home.

“The guys have really made it feel like home, so that’s quite nice,” Anello told The Inquirer. “You know how things work when a lot of things come together, and, yeah, the feeling of coming back to my country to play was also a big factor. So I feel a lot of things came together for this to to be possible.”

He knew of the Union’s track record, including last year’s Supporters’ Shield, and of the style they play. That intrigued him too.

“Philly reached out, and, obviously, the great season they had the year before, the way they train, the work ethic — they’re all factors that obviously push [and were] important factors, at least, for me to come,” Anello said. “I think it’s a style of play that fits my game style. There’s a lot of transitions, a lot of importance inside the attacking area, a lot of pressing, a lot of passion.”

Anello sees himself fitting in one of the striker spots, but also in one of the attacking midfield spots. Union manager Bradley Carnell has the same idea.

“He’s got a good technique with dribbling, so he can be off the shoulder of the outside back dribbling in a one-v-one,” Carnell said. “He can pick up in the pocket too, [which is] how we like to play as well with interior 10s [attacking midfielders]. So he shows a lot of flexibility within our game model.”

An unusual journey to get here

Anello was born in the Miami suburb of Hialeah to Argentine parents and grew up in Cape Coral, on the west side of South Florida near Fort Myers. He moved with his family to Barcelona, Spain, at age 10 because of his father’s work and didn’t set foot in the U.S. again until the summer of 2022.

“I got to live what my parents lived, what my dad and uncles lived when they were little, playing in the streets with their friends,” he said. “That was a very big thing in my childhood. … I feel full American and full Argentinian at the same time, so, yeah, I think I have that blood running in me.”

Anello rose through the youth ranks of Belgian club Lommel and turned pro there in 2021. In early 2023, he made the first of four moves around Europe over the next 16 months.

He did well enough along the way to attract U.S. Soccer’s attention, and earn an invitation to an under-23 team camp in November 2023 that surveyed candidates for the 2024 Olympic team. His teammates there included Nathan Harriel and Jack McGlynn, whom the Union traded to the Houston Dynamo last February.

That wasn’t when the seed for a move to MLS was planted, but it’s also a moment that Anello and Harriel remember well.

“It was a long time ago, but at the same time, at the camp, he was a great guy,” Harriel said, noting that Carnell sought out him and Damiani when Anello’s name came on the radar. “He’ll be great for the locker room. He fits in really well, hard worker, creative, he’s a good dribbler.”

In August 2024, Anello crossed the Atlantic to join Uruguayan club Boston River. His new teammates included Union prospect José Riasco, who was on loan there, and Damiani. Anello and Damiani became good friends, and that also ended up coming in handy down the road.

“I talked with Bruno mostly,” Anello said, at times when Damiani came home to Uruguay during MLS’s breaks. “He told me good things about the club, how the boys were, the facilities, the training ethic. And, yeah, those things obviously are adding-up factors to take this step.”

(Damiani was away getting his green card when this piece was reported, so wasn’t available for comment.)

Off to a quick start

Anello also had observed the growth of MLS, and American soccer as a whole, from the quality of play to stadiums and training facilities. It also does not hurt to come home in a year when the biggest World Cup in history will be here.

“It’s exciting, to be honest, just seeing the league grow, the World Cup coming up,” he said. “I think there’s going to be a lot more eyes. So, yeah, me and my agents, my family, thought it was the best time to come.”

He hasn’t had much time to train with his new club, since he only joined the squad this month. When Anello started the preseason finale against CF Montréal, he had only been in one full practice session with his teammates.

But he fit in well enough to play the first half and delivered a sharp assist to Milan Iloski for the Union’s second goal of the game. The buildup was good, too: Ezekiel Alladoh made a strong run up the middle with the ball, Anello ran down the left side to get in position, and Alladoh put the pass on a plate.

“It’s good to take a step at a time,” Anello said. “I just want to get integrated as fast as possible, start getting my qualities out, start to get comfortable with the team, and start making an impact.”

That was sage advice, and he has lived up to it so far.

After 37 days of preseason, three centerback signings, three striker signings, and negotiations for a left back that aren’t done yet, the Union will play their first game of 2026 on Wednesday.

Bradley Carnell’s squad should be favored in its visit to Defence Force FC of Trinidad & Tobago in the Concacaf Champions Cup (6 p.m., FS2). But this group of Union players hasn’t played an official game together, and, as the manager said in the preseason, you don’t know until you know.

Now, it’s time to find out.

“I think we’re always ready,” Carnell said in a news conference from Trinidad on Tuesday morning. “We know it’s early in our in our season, and we know that there’s a schedule coming up that’s really tough. And so we’ve been working hard over the last couple of weeks to get everybody integrated as best as we could.”

Carnell had to contend with a series of absences during camp. Indiana Vassilev and Milan Iloski suffered injuries that they’ve recovered from, Bruno Damiani and Cavan Sullivan started the year with knocks, and Damiani was away for a few days this month to finish getting his U.S. green card.

Jovan Lukić also was a late addition to the list, as Carnell revealed Tuesday that the midfielder took a hit to the ribs in a recent practice.

“It’s preseason — there’s always a couple of things here and there,” he said. “But we’ve got a good competitive group here, ready to go.”

Of Lukić’s status, he said, “we’re still assessing that, and we’ll see if that makes sense or not” for him to play Wednesday.

The Union have never played Defence Force, partially because no team from Trinidad has reached the Champions Cup since the 2016-17 edition. Defence Force hasn’t qualified since 2002, though it has a notable history as winners in 1978 and 1985.

The present-day squad is led by a familiar name, winger Kevin Molino. He played for Orlando, Minnesota, and Columbus from 2011 to 2023, then joined Defence Force in late 2024.

“This is the challenge and the joy of the Champions Cup,” Carnell said.

Carnival in Trinidad

As if hosting a U.S. team in the region’s top soccer tournament wasn’t a big enough deal, Wednesday’s game will come right after Trinidad held its annual two-day Carnival around Mardi Gras.

That should add even more buzz to the atmosphere at Hasely Crawford Stadium, one of Concacaf’s most historic venues. It’s the home of Trinidad and Tobago’s national soccer teams and the site of one of the U.S. men’s team’s all-time wins: the 1989 triumph to earn qualification for the 1990 World Cup, ending a 40-year tournament drought.

Andre Blake is the only current Union player who has played a senior-level game in the venue, a World Cup qualifier last November that ended in a 1-1 tie. That might surprise some fans, but it’s true. Danley Jean Jacques hasn’t yet with Haiti, and Alejandro Bedoya never did with the United States.

Union defender Nathan Harriel said that while “there’s temptation — it’s really easy to go out and want to be a part of something,” the team is making sure this stays a business trip.

“There’s a lot of people here. It’s loud, noisy,” he said. “At the same time, we’re focused on the one thing at hand, and that’s getting a result on Wednesday. There’s distractions in any city you go to. … Just being able to manage that in the best way possible and just stay focused on the mission at hand is the most important.”

And for those players who’ve played in Concacaf tournaments before, especially the Champions Cup, they know to always expect the unexpected.

“I remember a few years ago in El Salvador, a dog ran on the field and grabbed the ball,” Harriel said, recalling the Union’s 2023 visit to Alianza. “So at the same time, you have to enjoy it, because you never know when you’ll be back. And you have to respect every opponent in this tournament — everybody is qualified to be in it, and we understand that.”