By Chris Mattingly
Over the last few years, Niall McCabe has started and then stopped due to various setbacks. Wednesday night’s international friendly offered another fresh beginning — this time, the midfielder hopes, to a much longer run of time on the pitch.
McCabe returned to action at Lynn Family Stadium against FC Kaiserslautern, with the Louisville City FC original registering his first appearance since the club’s March 25 home opener.
“I think it was really important that we get him these minutes tonight,” coach Danny Cruz said. “He’s missed a lot of time this year. He’s worked as hard as he can to get back. Our hope is that he responds well from this and we can keep building his fitness.”
McCabe was on track to have a breakout season in 2022 with 3 goals and 5 assists in 11 starts. It all came to a screeching halt when the Irishman broke his foot warming up for an August matchup with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
McCabe then scored just four minutes into LouCity’s 2023 campaign, appearing back in form immediately. But three games into the year he was on the shelf again with a sore foot.
“Between fractures, infections and sickness it’s been a lot,” McCabe said. “You just have to kind of grind away. The gym can be a tough place when everyone’s out on the training ground. You just have to work away and know it’ll come eventually.”
McCabe, 32, entered as a halftime substitute against FC Kaiserslautern and logged about 30 minutes. It helped, he said, to have a friendly on the schedule as he returned to full health.
“It was an ideal game,” McCabe said. “There weren’t points on the line, so Danny could give me the minutes I needed rather than hoping a league game is going exactly how he wanted and he can afford to put me in.”
McCabe turned professional in 2015 out of Young Harris College in Georgia, signing his first contract with LouCity. And he never left, now sitting only six regular season appearances away from a milestone 200th entering Saturday’s USL Championship game against Las Vegas Lights FC.
Cruz called McCabe “a huge piece of what we’re trying to do here,” adding that “there’s no question about it — he’s one of the best midfielders this league has seen.”
“What it does for the group, more importantly, is it pushes guys to have to be at their best,” Cruz said. “Because if Niall McCabe’s not starting, he’s a guy that’s going to put pressure on you. For us, that’s a good problem to have.”
