Niche Cache. Honest summary.
After being available and in the squad for all twenty previous games this MLS season and forced to stay sitting on the bench in every single one of them, something amazing happened against Orlando Pride on Sunday NZT. With Tim Ream away at the Gold Cup with the USA team (they lost 2-1 to Mexico in the final) and Andrew Privett dealing with an injury, Bill Tuiloma’s number finally got called. Twenty-first time lucky.
Tui was picked to start alongside Adilson Malanda in central defence and, being the man that he is, he very quickly set about showing Charlotte what they’d been wasting by leaving him on the sidelines. It was Tuiloma’s sumptuous long ball out to the wing that put Nick Scardina into space to set up Pep Biel’s goal after 40 mins (one of a couple marvellous passes he made from inside his own half).
Then, just to make sure the credit didn’t get too diluted, he scored the second one himself in trademarked fashion with a lunging header from a set piece delivery...
That’s not to say that it was a flawless performance because his pace and fitness weren’t what they have been in the past, hence he was subbed off after 84 mins after suffering a bit of cramp (understandable in the midyear heat given how he’s barely played over the last two years). And defensively he’s always had a few hiccups at this level – it’s just that he balances them out with the attacking threats that he adds to any team. As we saw in this match.
But, yeah, sadly Charlotte did cough up a couple of goals in the last twenty-odd minutes to have to settle for a 2-2 draw. Snaps a three-game losing streak though. With a number of absentees in their squad this was still a positive result and Billy T was one of the major contributors.
This happened to be Tuiloma’s first MLS start since April 2024 and only his third in the past two years. Remember that he scored in the US Open Cup when he got a chance as well. It’s scandalous how he’s been stuck on the sidelines there... although they announced the latest MLS Salary Guide a couple weeks ago so keep that in mind if you’ve got any A-League ideas. Not even Auckland FC can compete with that coin (and they already have a kiwi centre-back who is higher up the national team queue than Tuiloma anyway).
Bill Tuiloma:
“Yeah it feels amazing, hopefully there’s more to come. I always, going up for free kicks or corners, tell myself alright this is going to be me putting it in the back of the net. That’s what I tell myself every time. Glad I put it in the back of the net.”
Tim Ream will be back for the next game and Andrew Privett ended up being the dude who replaced Tuiloma for the last few minutes so this could be a one and done situation for Billy T with his usual bench spot beckoning again. But at least he got a chance to show what he still does when given the chance.
