Cup progression, an emotional super sub, Shashoua's impact and some quick hits
My Birmingham Legion FC talking points following their 2-1 win over Forward Madison FC in Saturday's USL Jägermeister Cup game
It’s been a while, but Tuesday Talking Points are back.
Since the last edition of this series, Birmingham have played eight games, adapted to a new formation, changed their captain, signed two new players, sold one, loaned one in, loaned one out and most recently qualified for the quarterfinals of the USL Jägermeister Cup.
Needless to say, we have a lot to talk about.
The Jägermeister Cup in sight
There’s no better place to start off than with Saturday’s 2-1 win over Forward Madison.
The Three Sparks needed a win in 90 minutes to assure themselves of progressing and got the job done, albeit late on, with a stunning Sebastián Saucedo goal. With only eight teams left, it might be time to start believing Birmingham Legion could get its first silverware this season.
“We’re now three games away,” Mark Briggs said. “Why can’t we win a trophy? Why can’t we go and get silverware?
“We’ve got the quality,” he continued. “Performances are coming together. We’re going in a good direction. Why can’t it be us? Why can’t we be the team that can lift silverware?”
Any team that makes it to the final eight of a tournament should believe in its chances. Even Greenville Triumph SC, the competition’s sole remaining USL League One team, have their chance. Knockout soccer is unpredictable, and with just three wins needed for glory, it’s anyone’s trophy to claim.
That belief should be made only stronger by looking at who’s still in the competition. Or, more exactly, who isn’t.
In the past two seasons, two teams have dominated the USL Championship. Louisville City and Charleston Battery finished first and second in last year’s Players’ Shield standings, and both are currently on track to surpass their previous season’s points tally.
But neither one progressed in the cup.
Louisville had the bad luck of finishing as the third-best wildcard by a single goal. They also only barely missed out on top spot in the group too, coming second to Loudoun United on head-to-head despite outscoring the Virginia team over the course of the group stages.
Charleston was a more straightforward elimination, having lost their opening two games of the tournament.
What this means for Birmingham, and the seven other remaining teams, is that the two prospective favorites are no longer in the running. Add in that FC Tulsa (1st in the West), New Mexico United (3rd in the West) and North Carolina FC (4th in the East) also went out, that’s a lot of heavy hitters missing the call.
Just three teams left in the cup — San Antonio (2nd in West), Sacramento Republic (4th in West) and Loudoun United (3rd in East) — are currently in home playoff spots. Two of them, Sacramento and Loudoun, face off in the next round.
That leaves Greenville (a League One team), Hartford Athletic (bottom of the East), Rhode Island (10th in the East), Indy Eleven (7th in the East) and of course Birmingham Legion (8th in the East) as the other five teams.
While Birmingham are in no way favorites, they look just as likely to win it as anybody else.
The Three Sparks already beaten Sacramento once this season, and they’ve played Indy Eleven and Rhode Island twice. Though they lost the first and drew the second against both teams, they outplayed their opponent on the second try on both occasions and would have won with a bit more ruthlessness in front of goal.
At the end of the day, knockout soccer can be as much about luck and effort on the day as it is about tactics or talent. If the stars align for the Three Sparks, there’s no reason to believe they cannot go all the way.
“Of course [we believe],” Saucedo said. “At the end of the day, it’s 11v11 out there. We have special players, a lot of teams have special players, but to be fair in my career I’ve played so many games and so many finals, it comes down to who wants it more and who’s willing to defend for one another.
“And we have that,” he continued. “We have that team, we have those players, we have that coaching staff and we have the ownership that’ll back us up.”
An emotional day for Sebastián Saucedo
If you haven’t watched Sebastián Saucedo’s post-game interview yet, you absolutely should.
The forward got the game-winning goal with a beautiful shot in the 81st minute, but it meant so much more than that. When asked about it after the game, he spoke at length about it, tearing up at times as he did.
“It’s a very special moment,” Saucedo said. “Personally, I’ve been dealing with a year and a half of very, very difficult things off the field. Very, very emotional.
“It’s very difficult for players to go through things off the field and be given another shot,” he added. “You think ‘what a goal’ and those amazing things that I love to do. Thanks to Mark [Briggs] and Birmingham Legion and the ownership and Jay [Heaps] especially, I’m able to do that tonight.”
Prior to joining Birmingham Legion last month, Saucedo had been out of the game for over a year. In both his initial press conference after joining and Saturday’s post-game comments, he alluded to personal difficulties in his life keeping him away from the sport he loves.
“It was a very, very tough year and a half,” Saucedo said. “Very emotional because of that. I’ve never dealt with something so harsh in my career.
“I thought it was over,” he added. “A year and a half without soccer, I thought ‘dang, what’s life after soccer?’ Sometimes we take that stuff for granted.”
When the Three Sparks gave him a shot, offering him a short-term deal until the end of the season, it felt like a last chance to prove he still had what it took. Shortly after signing, on June 21, 2025, he played his first competitive game since February 2024 when coming on as a late substitute.
But even though Saucedo had been training with the team a couple of weeks ahead of his official announcement, his year out had taken a bigger toll on his fitness than either he or the coaching staff realized. Not fully up to the standards he needed to be, the forward pulled his hamstring in his first game back.
Saturday was his first time in the matchday squad since that ill-fated debut, and this time he took full advantage of it.
“Tonight I felt different,” Saucedo said. “It has been a solid four weeks of me working hard every day, losing weight, getting match fit.”
Not only did Saucedo get the winning goal, he put in a near-flawless 13-minute shift.
The forward completed every one of his seven pass attempts, five of them in the final third, and also succeeded with his one dribble attempt. After the goal, with Legion trying to slow the game down and use him as hold-up outlet, he won three of his four duels and drew two fouls to give his teammates a much-needed reprieve.
His goal, just four minutes after his introduction, came from his only shot on target. The xG was worth just 0.04 xG, but the goalkeeper never stood a chance.
“You know the ruthlessness I always talk about? Bofo [Saucedo’s nickname] has that in abundance,” Briggs said. “Give Bofo a chance and he won’t miss. Put him in front of goal and he very rarely misses. I’ve seen him do that on a number of occasions.”
Saucedo admitted after the game that, due to his injury setback, he is still building back his fitness. But he also expressed a desire to keep helping the team, and notably the hope his contract would be extended beyond the end of the current season.
If Saturday’s cameo is any indication of what he can bring to the side even when lacking match fitness, Legion fans will hope it only gets better and earns him that extension.
Samuel Shashoua shines
Saucedo was not the only midseason newcomer to make a big impact on Saturday.
Samuel Shashoua, who joined on loan from Minnesota United two weeks ago, made his second appearance for the club. While his first had shown sparks of what the Englishman was capable of, it also left many fans asking for more.
On Saturday, Shashoua delivered a performance much closer to the level of a player who was once one of the brightest prospects in the Tottenham Hotspur Academy.
“I was really happy with Sam tonight,” Briggs said. “I thought Sam and Tyler and Enzo, in that first half, were excellent in regards to the positions they took up and their decisions in possession.”
With Shashoua and Tyler Pasher inverting wings from the get go, the emphasis was clearly on getting crosses and balls into the box. Shashoua delivered just that with a team-high six crosses, four of them accurate. One led to Ronaldo Damus’ 30th minute goal, while another saw AJ Paterson head the ball just over the bar not even 10 minutes into the game.
In addition to his crossing ability, the Englishman had three attempts of his own, testing the keeper with each one, and attempted 18 final-third passes.
“They brought me in to be ruthless in front of goal, goals and assists, that’s what I’m here for,” Shashoua said. “The quicker that happens, the better.”
It was a mature performance from a player who, though just 26-years-old, is one of the more experienced heads in the team. By virtue of his background coming through one of the best academies in Europe, his opportunities to train with elite players from that same club’s senior team, and time spent in the Spanish second league, Shashoua joins the club with significant pedigree.
Though he’s only here on loan and joined just under two weeks ago, it has seen him adopt a leadership role from the off.
“I think that can translate everywhere,” Shashoua said. “I like to lead by example by how I play, but also vocally, trying to be a leader in training and a leader on matchdays. That’s something that I think I’m going to grow into more as the time goes on, something that they want from me and something I’ve always enjoyed doing in my time.”
As with Saucedo, Shashoua said he is still not at the fitness and sharpness levels he wants to be. While in his case it is due to a lack of games for his parent club, it leads to the same conclusion as with the Mexican-American forward.
Shashoua should only get better as the games progress, and Legion will certainly reap the benefits if he does.
Quick hits
A lot more happened both in Saturday’s game and the other encounters since I last wrote one of these. I don’t have time to dive deep into all of it, so here’s a brief overview:
Birmingham Legion loanees: Temi Ereku and Lucca Dourado returned to the Magic City as part of Forward Madison’s squad. Ereku started and played one hour, his first start for his loan club, while Dourado came off the bench around the same time his fellow-loanee came off. Though Dourado was the form player coming into the encounter — the Brazilian had two goals and two assists in the three games leading up to Saturday — Ereku was the one to impress. Playing as the central-most defender in a five-man backline, the young Nigerian showed himself more than capable in the role and had a few nice interventions to thwart his parent club. If he can parlay that performance into more starts for the Flamingos, he will hopefully be ready for a serious role with the Three Sparks upon his return next year.
Administrative error: One storyline that will have gone under the radar given the result is that of Legion’s lineup misshap. Prior to kickoff, Sebastian Tregarthen was listed as a starter but warmed up with the subs, while Stephen Turnbull was named to the bench but warmed up as a starter. It’s unclear when Legion staff became aware of the mistake, but by that point it was too late to correct it. Had Briggs chosen to start Turnbull as intended, it would have counted as a substitution and Tregarthen would not have been eligible to come on later in the game. Playing the young Uruguayan was however a risky decision to make, given the intensity of a substitute’s warmup is nowhere near that of a starter’s. Tregarthen did remarkably well to perform for 65 minutes despite the lack of a proper warmup up, and he can probably thank his young age for avoiding any muscle injuries as a result of the late switch. Briggs also applauded Turnbull’s selflessness after the game in how he dealt with the situation, while saying he did not want to go into the details of how such a mistake occurred. All in all, the Three Sparks survived a situation that could have had a much more severe impact on the team and result, but I would expect that some backroom staff member probably put themselves in hot water as a result of it.
Hamouda’s return: Ramiz Hamouda has not had the easiest of times in recent months. After picking up a slight injury right before heading off on international duty, the USMNT U17 international got concussed in his first game back for the club. When he finally made his return two weeks later, he immediately picked up a second concussion. As such, Saturday was just his second start in the last 13 games, nearly the entirety of Mark Briggs’ tenure. But even though he was asked to play an unfamiliar left wing-back role, the young defender showed exactly why he is so highly rated in the national setup. Hamouda showed the maturity beyond his years Legion fans have come to expect of him and earned rave reviews from his coach as a result. Whether he gets more game time in that unfamiliar wing-back role remains to be seen, though with Moses Mensah out long-term it seems a serious possibility. Regardless, it certainly continues to look like Hamouda’s days in Black and Gold are numbered, for all the right reasons. “I thought he was excellent,” Briggs said. “We put him in a position that’s not his position, but the kid’s just top, top level. The kid has everything to go on and play at the top. Every decision he makes in possession of the ball is always the right decision. He’s so comfortable with the ball, he doesn’t get phased by things.”
Swap deal, Part 1: Earlier that same day, Birmingham Legion announced already their sixth midseason acquisition of the year. Maliek Howell, a 26-year-old centerback for Las Vegas Lights and the Jamaican national team, joined the Three Sparks with Kobe Hernández-Foster departing as part of the transaction. Howell seems a serviceable defensive option with good USL Championship experience, though centerback did not necessarily look like a position of need for Legion with Phanuel Kavita, Jake Rufe, AJ Paterson, Ramiz Hamouda and Tiago Suárez all trusted in the role. Hopefully Howell’s arrival is not a signal that Kavita’s injury is worse than feared, with the Rwanda international missing the last three games after pulling his hamstring against Rhode Island.
Swap deal, Part 2: As mentioned above, Kobe Hernández-Foster left the club as part of the same transaction, though only “his rights” were transferred to the Lights. That is because KHF is actually expected to end up at Detroit City, with his very temporary move to Las Vegas just one domino in a larger transaction between the Nevada and Michigan clubs. His departure was a bit surprising given the importance he had played since joining Birmingham last year, but from being near ever-present prior to Mark Briggs’ arrival, the young midfielder has barely featured under the Englishman. With the player wanting more game time and the coach not rating him all that highly, the move was a logical outcome. It remains to be seen if Legion replace him, or if they are happy to roll with only Sam McIllhaton and Roman Torres as the backup central midfielders.
A new captain: One big change in the past few weeks occurred against North Carolina FC, when Tyler Pasher was handed the armband. With Enzo Martínez also taking to the field, it was a clear shift in leadership for the Three Sparks. I have not had a chance to ask Mark Briggs about the decision yet, but I had heard that it was coming for a couple of weeks prior to it actually taking place, leading to wonder why NCFC was the chosen game to do it. And while I understand that Pasher has been one of the most consistent performers since the Englishman’s arrival, changing the captain midseason is a big deal and I’m not sure why it was done. Unlike Martínez, Pasher does not come across as the most vocal of leaders, and the Uruguayan was also known for working the referee, something he can no longer do without the protection of the armband. However, when I’ve previously asked him about the additional roles connected with the captaincy, Martínez has never really come across as if he embraced those responsibilities. As such, I’m reserving judgement until I get a chance to ask both Briggs and Pasher about their feelings on it, but it certainly seems like an odd one from the outside. For what it’s worth, I never understood why Martínez took over from Phanuel Kavita at the start of this season in the first place.
Delgado’s starting streak: Another notable change in recent weeks has been the man between the sticks. Fernando Delgado, who turned 19 a day before the Forward Madison game, entered the encounter on three consecutive league starts after featuring in just one USL Championship game prior to that streak. However, Briggs revealed the change is due to an shoulder injury to Matt van Oekel, which is currently preventing the veteran goalkeeper from diving properly to one side. When asked about his role on the team, MVO, who is just 10-games shy of the all-time record for a Birmingham Legion player, made it clear he’s not giving up his spot any time soon. “I want to play as long as I possibly can,” van Oekel said. “Until my legs fall off, I’d like to keep playing.”