Samuel Gidi Cites Welcoming Teammates and Study Sessions Before his Arrival as Key to Settling in with FC Cincinnati Quickly
MLS FC Cincinnati

Samuel Gidi Cites Welcoming Teammates and Study Sessions Before his Arrival as Key to Settling in with FC Cincinnati Quickly

Published on September 25, 2025 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release


Every year in Major League Soccer, newcomers join the squad during the summer window and need to integrate into a team that has been operating at full steam ahead for several months.

FC Cincinnati have had several players do so this window, with the team reshaping itself in some key ways to best equip themselves for a late and postseason push to end 2025. Each of those players also bring different scenarios that make their addition unique. Even within subgroups, there are defining elements.

For example, three of the players who joined the club this window were brought in on loan, and each has a unique situation. Ayoub Jabbari joined from a French team, coming to MLS for the first time. Brenner (and his rejoining FCC is well-documented) returns to MLS from Europe, and Dominic Marczuk, a European international, joins FCC from RSL, making this an in-league loan.

All are unique in their own ways. However, for two FC Cincinnati newcomers, their additions are more permanent than the loans their new teammates joined on (at the moment), and they are jumping onto this moving train late in the voyage, looking to quickly start shovelling coal into the engines not just for this season but for future ones as well. You rarely get a second chance at a first impression after all.

Samuel Gidi, or, as he prefers to be called socially, Sami, and Ender Echenique have each joined the club this window and have had an impact quickly. Both young players, joining on the U22 Initiative roster designation, have moved to America from their respective homes in Venezuela and Slovakia*, and have now contributed to goals and victories in short order.

Echenique, who has turned heads (literally) with his exciting speed and work rate, arrived early in the window and has thus had more time to mesh with his teammates. He debuted during the 2025 Leagues Cup and has since scored his first goal for the club and provided a match-winning assist.

The newer addition, Gidi, only arrived recently. The signing of the Ghana-born Slovakian youth national team midfielder was announced on August 19, but he could not join the club in Cincinnati until several weeks later, as he awaited approval of his immigration paperwork. But since his arrival, 'Sami' has made a positive impact.

"He's already integrated," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said of Gidi when he first arrived two weeks ago. "You can see it physically, as far as a couple demanding training sessions that we had, and he was standing out in a lot of good ways."

"With the ball, some really good actions and ideas," Noonan added. "Good intensity, good kind of game understanding for a lot that's new to him. So very pleased with how he started."

Gidi has since made his first start for FCC, doing so against LA Galaxy after his debut as a late substitute against Nashville SC the previous week.

For a young player coming from overseas, Gidi has quickly and seamlessly integrated himself into the group, both on and off the pitch. He explained that, in his opinion, the reason for this is two-fold.

The first is that, prior to his arrival in Cincinnati, Gidi was able to have multiple video call sessions with FCC coaches to help him understand what to expect upon arrival. He was able to take those sessions, study them and work on his own, so when he arrived, he already had an understanding of how the team wanted to play.

Tie that in with Gidi following the team and watching all of FC Cincinnati's games on MLS Season Pass (a benefit of the international broadcasting package from Apple), and he had a pretty good sense of how he could impact the game.

"For me, it's more about adapting to (FCC's) play. Before coming, they gave me information and we had a couple of sessions to show me how to move in play, how to defend, this stuff. So I think I had an idea before coming so it was much easier for me when I arrived here, I would say," Gidi explained earlier this week. "But there's still time to learn so much more stuff, and I think we'll get there for sure."

"As far as a couple demanding training sessions that we've had, he was standing out in a lot of good ways," Noonan added on Gidi's arrival. "We've been able to layer in information to him while he's been away, and he's been paying attention to all the games and training, so it's helped him to get up to speed a little bit."

The second element of his settling in thus far has been the human element. Moving internationally is a common aspect of professional soccer that comes with the territory, but that doesn't make it any easier. So, while Gidi was excited to make the move to Cincinnati from Slovakia - and he has experience of doing so, having already moved from Ghana to Slovakia to join his team there - it doesn't necessarily make it easier.

"I think it is a good next step in life. So I agreed to this because I felt it was a good step," Gidi said in his media availability. "It's cool. (Cincinnati) is bigger than what I'm used to, but I'm getting used to it.

"I'll say, as I've been here, the boys have been good, and they welcome me really well. That's helped me also to get in the team much easier. If you have players who are willing to help you get into a team like this, it feels good, and I'm happy about that."

One player who has made himself available to Gidi prominently is Obinna Nwododo, who has now become known for being one of the first players to welcome newcomers to the squad and find ways to make himself available to young players. The African connection, in addition to both being midfielders, makes for an easy-to-imagine mentor-mentee relationship forming. However, many FCC teammates have highlighted how Nwobodo, as he becomes a more seasoned leader on the team, has been very meaningful and intentional in the way he welcomes all to the club, regardless of their background.

"We've been talking a lot and he's been helping me adapt," Gidi said of Nwobodo. "We talk every day, I would say. He talks to me about how they play here, about intensity, physicality and everything we want. So I should be ready and used to it very soon."

On the field, Gidi has impressed in his two appearances, providing FC Cincinnati with another option in midfield to utilize. While soft spoken and rather unwilling to talk positively about himself, Gidi eventually described his style of play as "calm," a trait that is immediately noticeable in his play. Calmness to Gidi means being in control, a trait that he feels is innate and struggles to explain in detail, but says this is the skill he possesses, whereas other players have great traits that he does not have. It is his hope, though, that he can add that calmness to the game so that others may excel in their great skills.

This description of his game, while simple, is one his coach echoed in the postgame interview held after his first start in Los Angeles.

"Good calmness on the ball. I think what we've seen in the time since he's arrived is a good comfort level, a good understanding of Evander's positioning, Pavel's positioning, whoever he's been working with...and being able to connect our back line to our wing backs to Evander," Pat Noonan explained. "I think his movement off the ball and how he engages defenders to break pressure has been impressive. Defensively, there were a couple of moments where I think he was over-aggressive, and play got behind him. But some of these things are natural for a new player, a young player getting acclimated to so many things.

"But he's been strong enough that in a key moment, we're putting him in there to start, and so that speaks to the trust we have in him."

FC Cincinnati has placed a lot of trust in him early, starting him on the road, but as Noonan said, it speaks to his quality that they trust him this quickly. For Sami, though, a standout characteristic of his first few weeks at FC Cincinnati is the level of competition he faces inside the club. So he knows that the first opportunity was exactly that - an opportunity. If he wants more, he has to work hard, because there are guys who want that opportunity as well.

"It was exciting, and it's really competitive. Every guy on this team is ready to play anytime the coach calls upon him," Gidi said of the opportunity to join a team like FC Cincinnati in the middle of a chase for trophies. "So I feel great to start my first game, and I'm looking forward to hopefully many more, but I know it won't be easy. I need to work hard for this."

Gidi will have his next opportunity this weekend when FC Cincinnati host Orlando City SC for Sunday Night Soccer at TQL Stadium. The kick-off is set for 7 p.m. on Sunday night and is the marquee matchup of the week on MLS Season Pass.

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Major League Soccer Stories from September 25, 2025


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