CHATTANOOGA CHALLENGE:Rampant Cleveland dances around Tango

Phillip Farrell
9 hours ago
5 min read

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CLEVELAND, Tn. — It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Cleveland. As the crowd trickled into Bear Stadium basking in the light of the 70° heat, the city’s new club, Cleveland United, was about to take to the field. In what was the club’s first ever home match, over 200 fans showed up to witness their new team demolish neighbors Tango FC in a 6-1 rout.

Such was the fluidity of movement in Cleveland United’s attack that it almost seemed as though they were dancing through the holes provided by Tango’s defense. Attacker Ryan Chouyouti particularly impressed, grabbing himself a brace for his efforts and entertaining the crowd with a backflip after his second goal. “I’ve known him a couple of years”, said Head Coach Adam Christensen. He’s a great person. I coached his little brother too. He comes from a good family, they’re awesome. Ryan had a knee injury last year and was out for a while. This is the level he should be playing at. Actually, he should be playing at a higher level. I’m sure everyone enjoyed the backflip too”.

Cleveland’s day, and Tango’s nightmare, got off to a quick start when Shay Gillen got an early goal. This defined the entire first 45 minutes in which Cleveland laid siege to Tango’s box, with the away side seeing very few opportunities of their own. CUFC’s attacking line kept coming in waves, with some excellent and exciting interplay between midfield and attack, spearheaded by Chouyouti. Behind, any combination of Gillen, Stone Davies, Ethan Stewart, and Daniel Garvilla were causing havoc.

The pressure was made to pay on the half-hour mark when Chouyouti collected an excellent through pass to catch Tango’s defenders off guard and slam his first goal past Azrael Phillips in the Tango net. Gillen nearly doubled his own account on 45 minutes after a fine free kick from Davies. Immedietly after, on the cusp of halftime, Chouyouti found his second, knocking in from an excellent cross to make it 2-0 and wow the crowd with his acrobatics. 3-0 at the break, and CUFC were cruising.

I asked Coach Christensen after the game if it can be hard to motivate players to keep giving everything, even when a result seems in the bag. “Yeah”, he said, “it depends on the players. Some when they go up, they stop caring, as though it doesn’t matter. With others, they’ll think about how to get to 4-0 when they’re 3-0 up. The players with the best careers or who demonstrate the best personal growth are the ones who are never satisfied. For me; I always want more. But sometimes players could react badly to it if I tell them it’s not enough. So, I need to find that balance between putting a positive spin on a win and demanding more.”

Such motivation didn’t seem lacking for his team in the second half. Tango deserves immense credit for stepping up their game in the second 45, but there was never any doubting CUFC would win.

Cleveland's players celebrat their win. Photo credit - Philip Farrell - Philip Farrell.jpg

After about an hour, Cleveland’s attackers began peppering Phillips’ goal with shots, demonstrating a great amount of confidence in themselves and the result. And while Phillips did conceded a lot of goals, he played well, being positioned to parry or collect a number of CUFC shots that could have stretched the scoreline even further.

Up front, Tango’s captain Ty Campbell was trying very hard to bring his team into the game, but was marshalled effectively by Garvilla & Co throughout. And to be expected, Cleveland’s peppering of the goal eventually led to more scoring. Davies made it 4-0 on 67 minutes, his third goal in two games, before Christensen ran a number of changes.

Two minutes later, Tango got a goal of their own after some fine interplay between their attackers in a rare foray into CUFC’s box. It ended with a fine shot and beat everyone and made it 5-1. There was no comeback to be had, however, as Cleveland rifled in their sixth of the night on 81 minutes to resoundingly win. “I’m happy with mix of college and in town guys, the way they could play together”, said Christensen. “There’s a lot of quality”.

A 6-1 win and a successful home game on and off the field for Cleveland United. Co-Founder Albert Murza reflected after the game; “The feeling is pretty great. Our main goal was to create a club for spectators to come and enjoy soccer in Cleveland. We had a good crowd. The players made the game interesting to watch, and the weather was just perfect. I could see that fans enjoyed it. Cleveland is an amazing community and the fans showed up”. “I thought Albert was crazy”, reflected Christensen, “when he said a couple of weeks ago, he hoped to have 200-300 per game, I thought that was a little crazy, haha. But lots of people came. The club sold lots of merchandise and made a lot for charity”.

Over 200 fans came to the game. Photo credit - Philip Farrell - Philip Farrell.jpg

Neither Cleveland nor Tango will participate in the Chattanooga Challenge Final on March 1st. Scenic City and Potros will share that honor at Montague Park (6pm). But they can look forward to a new UPSL season this Spring. While Tango has more work to do, based on the 11-2 goal difference they endured in this pre-season tournament, Cleveland looks a strong bet to challenge in Division One.

“I think this side has what it takes”, said Christensen. “Both teams we faced [Scenic City and Tango] were Premier Division in the Fall. We’re gonna be in Division One and facing teams that shouldn’t be at the same level. If we’re beating one 6-1 and going close with another, then this team is gonna do just fine. I think that the biggest thing is that these guys need to keep going. They have the ability they need to do it”. “Coach Christensen has definitely put a good strong team together”, commented Murza. “We still need to work to gain better fluidity between players but we have more time and the growth is there”.

Box Score

Cleveland United FC v Tango FC

Chattanooga Challenge

Venue: Bear Stadium | Cleveland, TN

Attendance: 249

Final Score: Cleveland United 6-1 Tango

Man of the Match: Ryan Chouyouti (CUFC) – scored two goals to cap off a dominant Cleveland display, of which he was central to for over an hour.