Pat Noonan, two FC Cincinnati players named to MLS Team of Week following Atlanta win
FC Cincinnati stayed busy Thursday, less than 24 hours after defeating Atlanta United FC to tighten its stranglehold on the race for Major League Soccer's Supporters Shield trophy.
League officials announced Luciano Acosta, Alvaro Barreal and head coach Pat Noonan were named to the MLS Team of the Week for their efforts in Wednesday's come-from-behind, 2-1 win at Atlanta.
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Acosta bolstered his candidacy for the Landon Donovan MVP Award with a show-stopping goal against Atlanta, as well as an assist on Brandon Vazquez's eventual game-winner in the 80th minute.
The Team of the Week honor was the 10th of 2023 for Acosta.
Barreal also assisted on the Vazquez goal, providing the final ball into the striker. The assist was Barreal's sixth of 2023, and the Team of the Week honor was his sixth of the year, too.
Noonan, who boasts a 29-12-19 record in charge of FC Cincinnati and has kept the club atop MLS for most of this season, earned his first Team of the Week award for FCC's win against Atlanta.
Noonan earned the award twice last season.
International call-ups for FCC
Midfielder Junior Moreno had already been confirmed as a participant in Venezuela's senior men's national team camp in September, and he'll clash with an FC Cincinnati teammate while they're away on international duty.
Right back Santiago Arias, who is already a veteran of the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, was called up by the Colombian senior men's national team for World Cup qualifying in September. Arias and Colombia are set to face Moreno and Venezuela on Sept. 7 at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia.
The call-ups should have less impact on FC Cincinnati than past ones in 2023 as FC Cincinnati won't play until Sept. 16 following Saturday's home game against Orlando City SC at TQL Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pat Noonan, two FC Cincinnati players named to MLS Team of Week
