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CHARLOTTE – After their most recent win against F.C. Cincinnati this past weekend, Charlotte FC is officially five matches into their inaugural season. Through those five games, head coach Miguel Ramírez is most proud of his team’s ability to compete against every opponent they’ve faced regardless of what the final score was.

“The understanding and the capacity to compete. I believe that we are a tough opponent, even if there is something better than us in front, I believe we are tough. Our guys compete and compete, don’t give up and keep fighting”

“This is something difficult to have, difficult to coach, I believe this something you either have or don’t have. I don’t know if you can coach this. But we have it, and we have the kind of players who want to keep competing and challenge the opponent.”

The team has overcome varying challenges throughout their journey which has only made the progress they’ve made that much sweeter.

“The other day I was looking at the stats of other expansion teams and you can see just how hard it is. How hard it is to get results and I don’t think people really realize how hard it is to compete in such a competitive league with so many excellent players.”

“There are so many factors that play a part, and our journey has been so long and difficult, that it’s just difficult to explain the challenges we’ve faced to get to the level of competing we are currently at. And I think for that reason is why we feel even happier and prouder, and conscious of what it really means to be competitive right at the start.”

Next up for Ramírez’s team is the Eastern Conference leaders, the Philadelphia Union, a tough, seasoned opponent for a team still very much in its infancy. As for what Ramírez expects next from his team: keep going, don’t let up, and consistency.

“We don’t stop, we keep playing, and trying to be consistent is the target now. To be reliable... the difference between our best and worst days needs to decrease, the gap between those needs to become less and less. This is the target for me as a coach”

“Now, it’s a very tough test against an amazing team, with a coach with a lot of experience with the same team. Even in just two years with the same group, in the second year things are much quicker and easier so imagine after all the years that Philly as their coach [Jim Curtin].”

Ramírez will have two of his key players, Christian Makoun and Alan Franco, back from international duty for the road trip to Philadelphia.