Christian Lattanzio delighted after Charlotte FC’s friendly win over Chelsea

Charlotte FC’s friendly against Chelsea on Wednesday night was arguably a perfect first encounter with a European giant.

In front of a crowd of 52,673 at Bank of America Stadium – the second-highest in the club’s history – the new Major League Soccer club more than held their own against Premier League opposition.

By the time Christian Pulisic put the visitors 1-0 up in the 30th minute, Charlotte could have been a few goals ahead. And the fact that it was USMNT star Pulisic who scored the goal would have softened the blow slightly.

Watch the story of Charlotte FC’s journey to MLS in 90 Minutes The Making of Charlotte FC, presented by DoorDash, on 90 Minutes channels now. Subscribe to our new US YouTube channel.

CLTFC continued to struggle with Chelsea either side of half-time and were rewarded in the final minute when 16-year-old Brian Romero charged into the box and was awarded a penalty, his shot hitting Trevoh Chalobah’s arm .

Daniel Rios converted, before Charlotte beat Chelsea 5-3 in a penalty shootout – Rios again rallied to get things started with a magnificent effort from Panenka.

A top performance against a Premier League giant, a goal for impactful teenager ‘Captain America’ and a penalty shootout victory. What more could The Crown ask for?

“You could say that Chelsea may be in the second week of pre-season, but I can tell you that players of this quality, it’s difficult to play against them. It doesn’t matter,” interim coach Christian Lattanzio said after the game. “They couldn’t play the football so smoothly because I think our guys were determined to work hard and press the whole game. I’m very proud of the way we played. And then after, even winning, it was the icing on the cake.

On Romero’s catchy cameo, he added: ” [Romero] has this great confidence to do it against anyone. I don’t think he was fazed playing against Chelsea. He was playing like [they were] players and he does that against the players.

Wednesday’s result was all the more impressive as Charlotte licked her wounds after giving up a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to Inter Miami last weekend.

Attention will now return to MLS play with Charlotte visiting Toronto FC on Saturday. But while it was still just a friendly, the stature of the opposition and the way they play should serve as a huge confidence boost.

“I think that says a lot about the character of the boys because we had a tough game in Miami and then played at home. [before] this incredible crowd against one of the best teams in the world,” said Lattanzio. “Only two years ago they won the Champions League, which tells us the level we were up against today. It takes a lot of heart, it takes a lot of courage, it takes a lot of resilience to go out there and try to play like the boys did. »