Evander brings lofty expectations to FC Cincinnati: "I want to win" | OneFootball

By Jon Arnold

Chris Albright has been watching Evander for a long time.

FC Cincinnati's general manager saw what he did the last two seasons with the Portland Timbers, of course, but also had the player on his radar when the Brazilian attacker was still with Danish club Midtjylland – and Albright himself was still working with the Philadelphia Union.

So when it came to replacing Luciano Acosta this offseason – “no small task,” as Albright noted this week – there was a clear favorite in mind.

“When you looked around the league at who could replace that level of production, there’s only a few names in that discussion,” Albright told MLSsoccer.com.

“Evander was one of them and three, four years younger. That was obviously attractive, knowing it was a piece we could build around for the foreseeable future.”

That’s exactly what Cincinnati hope to do.

Already, Evander has one goal and one assist in four MLS matches plus two goals and another assist in Concacaf Champions Cup play. Now, he heads into Saturday afternoon’s marquee match with Atlanta United hoping to set the tone and bounce back with three points against an Eastern Conference rival (2:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).

“I want to win,” Evander told MLSsoccer.com this week. “I want to be part of the playoffs and push the team to the title. If we can win Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup, everything, I want to win. I know this group has a lot of quality and power to win both trophies.

“That’s going to be my role in the team: Try to push them to the highest level possible and push them to success.”

Getting situated

Evander arrived in Cincinnati via one of the league’s first cash-for-player trades, moving from Portland in exchange for $12 million plus incentives and a portion of the sell-on. While the deal was announced in mid-February, conversations started before then, with the Timbers open to moving on from their star No. 10.

“From the first talk we had, the connection was good. I already knew the team also from playing two years in the league. I knew Cincinnati was a very strong team, always going for the playoffs and winning trophies,” said Evander, a 2024 Landon Donovan MLS MVP finalist and Best XI midfielder.

“That’s what made me move to the city, to the club. My passion, as well, to bring this winning mentality, it matches up and that’s why I wanted to move forward.”

It’s one thing to talk and another to actually get on the training field. Evander said this feels like the first week he’s actually gotten proper training with his teammates. He’s yet to get to any of Cincinnati’s restaurants or check out much of anything – though he’s looking forward to the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament this summer where he hopes to check out a match or two.

He’s also figuring out exactly how to work with fellow new arrival Kévin Denkey, who joined from Cercle Brugge on a club-record fee, and with Luca Orellano, who's back after an initial loan from Vasco da Gama (coincidentally Evander’s boyhood club).

“I just got here, so I’m still getting to know everybody. I’m a guy who takes time to be open with everybody, but I think the connection is going the right way,” he said.

“We’re getting to know each other better, getting that connection we need to get. It’s all about time.”

High expectations

While FCC were eliminated from the Concacaf Champions Cup in the Round of 16, falling 4-2 to Tigres on aggregate, the tournament and the first few weeks of the MLS season provided several moments that hint at what the reworked Orange & Blue attack could look like at its full power.

In the team’s first match of 2025, Evander had a goal and an assist in just a half-hour of action as Cincinnati rolled to a 4-1 win over Motagua in continental play. Days later, FCC opened the MLS season with a home victory in which Evander made his first start at TQL Stadium. He also scored a trademark first-time finish at Tigres off Orellano's spectacular set-up.

Yet, Evander isn’t content to allow those flashes to be the finished product. With Atlanta in town this weekend, he said fans should begin to expect big things from the team. He's expecting big things himself, after all.

“I think the pressure needs to come, and we need to feel it. We need to enjoy being under pressure,” the former Brazil youth international said. “That’s the life of a soccer player. We need to know that moments like that will happen, and now we need to be under pressure to win this game at home.

“We need to enjoy this moment. When I say pressure, it’s always in a good way. I think as a soccer player we have everything around us to just focus on the game, and now it’s time to switch and go for the three points and try to win the game.”

More to come

Albright confessed he hopes Evander feels more and more comfortable getting verbal as a leader, communicating that high standard he expresses for himself to those around him. At the moment, Evander’s example and presence are doing enough to show the lofty goals he speaks about for himself.

“He’s a lovely kid. He’s really easy to be around,” Albright said. “His body language, the way he responds to his teammates and responds to adversity on the field has been excellent. That’s something you’d want out of a leader, out of one of your best players.”

It’s exactly what Albright thought he would get from a player he saw excel in Denmark, in Portland and is on his way to doing the same in Cincinnati.