Brimming with confidence under new coach, Atlanta United eyes a playoff spot
Atlanta United head coach Gonzalo Pineda (center) watches his club practice ahead of its match with Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Emil Moffatt/WABE News
Atlanta United’s push to make the MLS playoffs continues Wednesday as the club faces FC Cincinnati at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Atlanta has momentum after a 3-0 victory against Orlando last Friday. It was the first win for new head coach Gonzalo Pineda. With only 11 games left in the regular season, he says the team simply needs to focus on winning matches the rest of the way.
“We are in a position where it depends on us because we face many of the teams that we are competing against for a playoff spot, so it’s up to us,” said Pineda.
Atlanta is currently one point behind Montreal for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Only a few weeks into his stint leading the club, Pineda faces the pressure of making the postseason.
“I’m happy I’m in this situation, because it’s a good situation for us, we’re very close from that playoff line and we have confidence in the team that we can make it,” said Pineda. “But it’s game-after-game where we are going to prove it.”
Defender George Bello came off the bench on Friday after returning from his stint with the U.S. men’s national team. Bello says he’s seen a difference in the team’s confidence following a subpar start to the season and a head coaching change.
“Now that we’re in form, we just got to keep it going, make the playoffs and go from there,” said Bello. “Like I said, there’s a lots of ups and downs in soccer, you just gotta keep going and when your good form comes, you just gotta try to ride that wave for as long as you can.”
Atlanta and Cincinnati played to a 1-1 draw in July. Through an interpreter, defender Alan Franco says the two clubs match up well.
“We want to go into every match trying playing the same form,” he said. “We know that Cincinnati is a good team, so it’s going to be a difficult game, but we’re preparing like we always do to just try to focus on us.”
Wednesday’s match begins at 7 p.m.
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