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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 17, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies have welcomed the return of Afrim Taku, acquiring the Albanian midfielder from the Charlotte Independence, pending league and federation approval. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Taku, 30, rejoins the Rowdies after spending half of last season with Tampa Bay. He signed in June and made 15 appearances, playing a little more than 1,000 minutes. He recorded 30 key passes and one assist while winning 63 percent of his tackles.

Taku signed with the Independence in February and featured in 26 matches for Charlotte. He has completed 87 percent of his passes this season and recorded two assists. He played against the Rowdies on September 7 and created four chances.

Prior to signing with the Rowdies last season, Taku had played his entire career in Albania for KF Tirani, Skrapari and Skënderbeu Korçë. He won three Albanian Cups and two Albanian SuperCups and played nine matches for Skënderbeu in the 2017-18 UEFA Europa League before departing for the United States.

With Taku’s addition, the Rowdies roster now stands at 24 players.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 16, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies dropped a couple of points Saturday night but continued the march toward postseason qualification following a 1-1 draw against Atlanta United 2.

Here’s Three Things from the match…

1. Clinch time approaches
The Rowdies went into Saturday night knowing that it was not possible to formally clinch a berth in the USL Championship playoffs no matter the result they earned. However, even after dropping a couple of points, it’s highly likely the Rowdies will clinch a return to the postseason this week.

New York Red Bulls II and the Indy Eleven clinched on Saturday night and now the Rowdies, as well as potentially Nashville SC, are within touching distance. With the Rowdies (at Ottawa), Saint Louis FC (vs New York), Birmingham Legion FC (at Nashville) and Charleston (at Atlanta) all playing midweek matches this week, the permutations are complicated.

The shortest explanation is that if the Rowdies beat Ottawa on Wednesday night at TD Place, they’re in. A win would put Tampa Bay on 56 points with 16 wins. Even if the Charleston Battery win out for the rest of the season, they would finish on 56 points but lose the first tiebreaker with 15 wins. That would make the Battery the eighth team unable to finish above Tampa Bay, officially punching a postseason ticket for the Rowdies.

Winning in Ottawa won’t be easy, but the Rowdies should be motivated by the postseason math. If things don’t go well in Ontario, the Rowdies would also clinch with a Battery loss in Atlanta in a match that kicks off 30 minutes later Wednesday night.

2. The possession puzzle
Atlanta came to Al Lang Stadium with a gameplan the Rowdies have become all too familiar with in the last few seasons. We’ve seen examples for the last few seasons that when teams overmatched on paper visit the Rowdies in St. Petersburg, they try to limit the Rowdies attack by holding the ball for as long as possible rather than sitting in deep and defending with everyone behind the ball.

Luckily for Atlanta, the go-to game plan for a match at Al Lang is how they prefer to play regardless of opponent, so the visitors are extremely good at doing what they needed to do to get a result.

The question, though, is do the Rowdies need the ball to play well?

Tampa Bay had just 38.3 percent of possession on Saturday night, a new season-low. Yet the Rowdies still matched Atlanta in shots and goals. Going into Saturday’s match, the Rowdies had averaged 52.9 percent possession.

Here’s a look at how the Rowdies have performed this season, broken down by possession percentage.

The data presents an interesting trend. The Rowdies are unbeaten this season when they have less than 50 percent possession and tend to get worse results the more possession they have. 

With that in mind, Tampa Bay shouldn’t mind the matches like Saturday night where an opponent comes to Al Lang intent on holding the ball as much as possible. That plays into the Rowdies hand, but Tampa Bay needs to be absolutely clinical in those matches. The Rowdies put just two of their 10 shots on target Saturday night and dropped points as a result.

3. Guenzatti scores again, Fernandes assists again
Sebastian Guenzatti scored his 15th goal of the season Saturday, tying Georgi Hristov’s Modern Era for goals in a season from 2017, having already broken Hristov’s record for goals in a regular season.

It shouldn’t be too surprising that Guenzatti’s goal came on an assist from Leo Fernandes, Tampa Bay’s assist leader with eight on the year. This is the third time this season that Fernandes has assisted Guenzatti on a finish.

The two grew up together in the New York City area, frequently facing off against one another at the club level before finally becoming teammates with the New York Cosmos in 2015, as chronicled in this Tampa Bay Times piece from June. They reunited with the Rowdies in 2017 and are now the only two players left on Tampa Bay’s roster from that season.

“Everybody knows me and Leo have been playing together for a while,” Guenzatti said Saturday night. “We’ve known each other growing up always playing against each other. It’s easy when you’ve played with somebody for that long, over 15 years. It makes it that much easier. Leo is an amazing player. I don’t have to say it. The assists he gives are unbelievable. The balls he puts into the box are amazing. Today he gave me a great pass, the one that forwards always look for.”

The dynamic duo has combined for 19 goals and 13 assists so far this year, a great return from two of the Rowdies most senior players.  

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 14, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies were held to a 1-1 home draw by a savvy Atlanta United 2 side on Saturday night, the Rowdies first draw in more than two months.

The result keeps Tampa Bay (15-5-8, 53 points) in third place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference with six games left to play. The 2019 Rowdies have now equaled the 2017 team’s Modern Era record for most points earned in a season.

“When you’re at home, you want to win and we always put a big emphasis on performance,” Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins said. “There’s lot of positives in terms of performance but I don’t think we were at our best tonight. … When you’re playing against a possession-based team, it can be difficult (to chase a game.)”

Atlanta (6-16-6, 24 points) executed its game plan well, making the Rowdies spend most of the night chasing the ball by dominating possession. The visitors recorded 61.7 percent possession, limiting the Rowdies to a season-low 38.3 percent. Tampa Bay has averaged just short of 53 percent possession this season.

In the first meeting between the sides, the Rowdies cancelled an early deficit and won 4-1 despite having just 42.6 percent possession. History did not repeat itself Saturday night.

After a positive start from the Rowdies, Atlanta took advantage of a botched Rowdies clearance in the 13th minute with Laurence Wyke heading his side ahead 1-0 from short range.

With a lead in hand, Atlanta settled in and made things difficult for the Rowdies.

Tampa Bay felt unfortunate to not be given a penalty kick in the 27th minute after Sebastian Guenzatti’s legs were impeded by Atlanta defender Wesly Decas just inside Atlanta’s 18-yard box.

Guenzatti would take the decision out of the referee’s hands just four minutes later, receiving a pass from Leo Fernandes and poking it past Atlanta goalkeeper Dylan Castanheira to tie the match in the 31st minute.

It was Guenzatti’s team-high 15th goal of the season and Fernandes’ team-high eighth assist of the year. Guenzatti’s 15 goals equal Georgi Hristov’s Modern Era record for goals in a season from 2017.

“We’re disappointed with the score obviously,” Guenzatti said. “I think we deserved a little more but we’ve got to show it. … (A draw) isn’t very good. We were looking for a win.”

Malik Johnson nearly put the Rowdies ahead in the 71st minute with but Castanheira made the first of two saves in a dodgy few minutes for Atlanta midway through the second half. Wesly Decas nearly scored an own goal in the 73rd minute by deflecting a Jordan Doherty cross, only for Castanheira to make a diving save.

The Rowdies now head north of the border to take on Ottawa Fury FC on Wednesday night at TD Place before returning home to host Bethlehem Steel FC next Saturday, September 21. Tickets are available here.

Scoring Summary
Atlanta: Laurence Wyke – 13th minute
Tampa Bay: Sebastian Guenzatti – 31st minute (assisted by Leo Fernandes)

Caution Summary
Atlanta: Jackson Conway – 35th minute
Tampa Bay: Dom Oduro – 68th minute

Starting Lineups
Tampa Bay (3-5-2): GK John McCarthy; D Tarek Morad, Pape Diakite, Caleb Richards; M Malik Johnson, Dom Oduro, Andrew Tinari (Kwadwo Poku 60′), Jordan Doherty (Lucky Mkosana 78′), Leo Fernandes; F Sebastian Guenzatti (c), Juan Tejada (Jaime Siaj 70′)

Atlanta (4-3-3): GK Dylan Castanheira; D George Bello (Guillermo Benitez 45′), Wesly Decas, Laurence Wyke, Michael Ambrose; M Jack Metcalf (c), Jose Hernandez (George Campbell 63′), Kevin Kratz; F Amir Bashti, Luiz Fernando (Laurent Kissiedou 77′), Jackson Conway

The Basics
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Atlanta United 2
Saturday, September 14, 7:30 p.m. ET
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Follow us for live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday

Tickets
Tickets for Saturday’s match are available by calling (727) 222-2000 or clicking here. Gates will open at 6:30 p.m., 60 minutes before kickoff. 

How to Watch
The match will be broadcast online on ESPN+ here. International viewers can watch online here.

Records
Tampa Bay: 15-5-7 (W-L-T), 3rd place; 7-3-4 at home 
Atlanta United 2: 6-16-5 (W-L-T), 16th place; 1-8-4 on road

Rowdies Notes
The Tampa Bay Rowdies return home this week in third place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference following a 3-1 road win over the Charlotte Independence last weekend. At the time, that victory moved the Rowdies from fourth to second place, but Indy’s win over Ottawa Fury FC on Wednesday night bumped the Rowdies down to third.

That win was Tampa Bay’s 15 of the season, a new record for wins in a Modern Era regular season. The Rowdies won 14 games in the 2017 regular season. Tampa Bay enters tonight’s match with 52 points this season, just short of the 53 points they earned in 2017, a Modern Era record.

The Rowdies were mired in a slump from the end of July all the way through August, but started September off on the right foot last week. Tampa Bay lost four of six matches between July 26 and August 31 after losing just once in the 20 matches prior to July 26. 

Juan Tejada scored twice in the win over the Independence to reach double digits on the season with his ninth and 10th goals of his first professional season. Tejada has been a revelation this season for his work rate and ability to find open space. Eight of his 10 goals have been with his first touch and eight have been within the 6-yard box or on the line.

Tejada has only taken 30 shots this season, meaning one-third of his efforts (33.3 percent) lead to goals. Lucky Mkosana has the second-best conversion on the roster with seven goals from 25 shots (28 percent) including his time with Louisville City FC.

Sebastian Guenzatti leads the Rowdies with 14 goals this season, good for fourth-best in the USL Championship. This is just the second time in 10 seasons of Modern Era play that the Rowdies have had a pair of scorers reach double digit goals. The previous occasion was 2013 when Georgi Hristov scored 12 and Luke Mulholland scored 11.

Jaime Siaj scored the Rowdies third goal against Charlotte last weekend, his second goal of the season. Siaj had to wait until July 20 to make his Rowdies debut due to a series of minor injuries, but has proven a useful attacker off the bench since then. With a small sample size, he scores once every 95.5 minutes. 

Injury Report
QUESTIONABLE – Yann Ekra (leg)
QUESTIONABLE – Zach Steinberger (leg)

Suspension Warning
Pape Diakite (yellow card accumulation)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 12, 2019) — The Bundesliga is returning to Al Lang Stadium this January when two of Germany’s best clubs go head-to-head in downtown St. Petersburg.

Eintracht Frankfurt and Hertha Berlin will play a friendly on January 9, 2020 in the build-up to the Florida Cup. Eintracht will hold its winter training camp at IMG Academy in in Bradenton.

“Florida is an ideal place for our preparations,” Eintracht sporting director Fredi Bobic told Bundesliga.com. “We want to soak up the spirit and fitness that we acquired there again this year, and at the same time we’re really looking forward to the match against Hertha. This tour also forms part of our international activities in the USA, and will again prove that we are a great ambassador for the Bundesliga.”

This will Eintracht’s second match at Al Lang after they defeated Sao Paulo FC (Brazil) 2-1 in the 2019 Florida Cup.

Eintracht has a couple of Americans at the club, with Timmy Chandler a first-team regular while Mason Judge, a Clearwater Chargers product, is a member of the U19s.

Ticket information will be available in the near future.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 9, 2019) — September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the Tampa Bay Rowdies are once again fighting to raise awareness and funds to battle childhood cancer.

More than 11,000 children aged 15 and under will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States this year alone. The Rowdies will dedicate each of their two home matches this month to charitable organizations helping to fight against the No. 1 killer of children in the United States.

Tampa Bay hosts Atlanta United 2 on Saturday, September 14 at 7:30 with a portion of proceeds benefitting the Benjamin Gilkey Fund for Innovative Cancer Research at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

The Rowdies will then host Bethlehem Steel FC one week later on Saturday, September 21 at 7:30 with a portion of proceeds benefitting Moffitt Cancer Center.

Prior to both matches, the Rowdies will host a pregame clinic for children 12 and under on the youth field at Al Lang Stadium. The registration fee of $10 will be donated to that night’s charitable partner. Additionally, the Rowdies will wear special Go Gold warm-up jerseys before the game and fans can bid on those jerseys via silent auction.

Register for the Sept. 14 clinic here.
Register for the Sept. 21 clinic here.

For each of those matches, the Rowdies will donate $250 for each Rowdies goal and another $250 for a shutout to that night’s respective partner. There will also be halftime check presentations from local partners and businesses as we raise funds to fight against childhood cancer. Fans will be able to donate via text message during the match.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 9, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies won their 15th game of the season Saturday night, setting a new Modern Era record for wins in a regular season, surpassing their 14 wins from the 2017 season.

Here’s Three Things from the 3-1 win over the Charlotte Independence…

1. Terrific Tejada
Rowdies forward Juan Tejada got himself back on the scoresheet Saturday night with two typical Juan Tejada goals. They weren’t spectacular strikes, they were the product of his work rate and ability to find the open space at the right time.

Tejada now has 10 goals on the season, a remarkable return for a player in his first professional season. The story has been told before, but Tejada was a preseason camp invitee that earned himself a contract. Since then, he worked his way into the starting lineup on the opening day of the season and he has appeared in all but two matches this season.

Reaching double digits is a significant achievement as he is not the Rowdies leading scorer. For the first time in 10 seasons of modern team history, the Rowdies have a pair of double digit scorers. Sebastian Guenzatti leads the team with 14 goals.

In 2011, Aaron King came close with nine goals behind Mike Ambersley’s 11. In 2013, Luke Mulholland scored nine goals behind Georgi Hristov’s 12. Joe Cole scored nine goals in 2016 behind Hristov’s 11. In 2017, Martin Paterson scored nine goals behind Hristov’s 13.

There have been plenty of close calls, but finally the Rowdies boast a strike partnership of two double digit scorers.

2. Back to second
The Rowdies are one of just three teams in the current Eastern Conference playoff field to win in its last time out, meaning Tampa Bay had the chance to move up in the standings this weekend. The Rowdies headed into the match in fourth place, but with No. 2 Nashville and No. 3 Indy losing this weekend in Saint Louis and Charleston, respectively, the Rowdies have moved back into second.

Margins at the top of the table are razor thin, with the top six separated by only six points from New York Red Bulls II down to North Carolina FC. With seven games remaining in the regular season (some teams have as few as six, some as many as nine) really anything can happen.

The Rowdies have three games and five road games left on the schedule, but only three of those matches are against teams in the current playoff field (at Ottawa, at Louisville and vs Indy). No Eastern Conference team has clinched a playoff spot, but the magic numbers required to do so are getting seriously low and we should start seeing teams officially reach the playoffs in the next week or so.

There is a scenario that the Rowdies could clinch a playoff berth with a win Saturday night against Atlanta United 2, but it would require the Charleston Battery losing at both Swope Park on Wednesday night and Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

3. Midfield reshuffle
Head Coach Neill Collins made a few changes to his midfield Saturday night, with Jordan Doherty coming back into the starting lineup in place of Andrew Tinari. Kwadwo Poku played further forward as the No. 10 with Doherty pairing Dom Oduro as the two more defensive-minded midfielders.

While all three goals came from forwards, it appears that Tampa Bay’s midfield clicked pretty well in the victory. Apart from Leo Fernandes (71 percent), the worst passing percentage in the group was Doherty at an impressive 88 percent. Poku led the way at 94, just ahead of Oduro (93) and Johnson (92.) Fernandes’ numbers were primarily dragged down by the volume of crosses he served into the box. Fernandes picked up an assist on the first goal.

It’s clear Collins has an abundance of choice for personnel in the midfield, with Shawn Barry also making an appearance off the bench in his continued return to fitness.

Doherty hasn’t been a regular starter this season, but the Rowdies have an incredibly impressive record in the matches he does start. Tampa Bay is 7-1-2 (W-L-T) in those matches, eight of which have been away from home.

MATTHEWS, N.C. (September 7, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies dominated the Charlotte Independence on the road Saturday night, picking up a 3-1 road win to start September off on the right foot.

The Rowdies (15-5-7, 52 points) had slumped from the end of July through August to the tune of four losses in six matches, but put that behind them with a good performance in North Carolina to cross the 50-point threshold on the season.

Juan Tejada bagged a brace and Jaime Siaj added a third goal as the Rowdies cruised to victory.

Tampa Bay was on the front foot from the very start with a scoring chance barely 20 seconds into the match. While that didn’t create a goal, the Rowdies wouldn’t have to wait too much longer. Tejada was the beneficiary of some great work in tight spaces by Leo Fernandes before the Brazilian crossed the ball to the near post for Tejada to tap underneath Charlotte goalkeeper Brandon Miller for a 1-0 lead.

Charlotte (5-12-11, 26 points) was overmatched on the night but kept the margin at 1-0 for the remainder of the first half.

Tejada opened the second half even faster than he opened the first half, scoring his 10th goal of the season just four minutes after play resumed. Fernandes dribbled the ball across the top of the box, pulling defenders with him, before passing to Sebastian Guenzatti, who then found Tejada alone in the empty space Fernandes had created for another simple finish.

Tampa Bay added an insurance goal in the 74th minute when second-half substitutes Jaime Siaj and Lucky Mkosana played a clever give-and-go on the edge of the box, leaving Siaj space to shoot between Miller’s legs for a 3-0 Rowdies lead.

Charlotte didn’t register a shot on target until the 83rd minute, when an Independence free kick led to a series of three consecutive shots on frame. Rowdies goalkeeper John McCarthy saved the first two but couldn’t keep Hugh Roberts’ effort out of the net as Charlotte cut its deficit to 3-1 very late in the match.

The win was Tampa Bay’s 15th of the year, a new Modern Era record for wins in a regular season. The previous record of 14 was set in 2017.

The Rowdies will be back at home next week to host Atlanta United 2 on Saturday, September 14 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available here.

Scoring Summary
Tampa Bay: Juan Tejada – 7th minute (assisted by Leo Fernandes)
Tampa Bay: Juan Tejada – 49th minute (assisted by Sebastian Guenzatti)
Tampa Bay: Jaime Siaj – 74th minute (assisted by Lucky Mkosana)
Charlotte: Hugh Roberts – 83rd minute

Caution Summary
Charlotte: Steven Thicot – 71st minute

Starting Lineups
Rowdies: GK John McCarthy; D Tarek Morad, Pape Diakite, Caleb Richards; M Malik Johnson (Shawn Barry 81′), Dom Oduro, Kwadwo Poku (Lucky Mkosana 62′), Jordan Doherty, Leo Fernandes; F Sebastian Guenzatti (c), Juan Tejada (Jaime Siaj 70′)

Charlotte: GK Brandon Miller; D Hugh Roberts, Steven Thicot (Clay Dimick 83′), Aaron Maund, Abdoulie Mansally; M Valentin Sabella (Isaac Angking 75′), Ricardo Bocanegra, Alex Martinez, Afrim Taku; F Dom Oduro (Jorge Herrera 58′), Enzo Martinez