Get to Know Vincent Nogueira

One of the Union's new signings this offseason is Vincent Nogueira, the 26 year-old French midfielder. As you might have guessed by his last name, he is of Portuguese descent, though he was born in Besançon, France. Nogueira started his professional career with FC Sochaux-Montbéliard's youth team and then joined the senior team in 2007. Nogueira made a total of 144 appearances with Sochaux, scoring six goals during that time. He was even named Sochaux's captain.

Nogueira has wasted no time in getting comfortable on the pitch for the Union. According to the Union's match-day twitter feed (@TheUMatchDay) he has been very active in preseason matches. The feed has mentioned him multiple times as having set other players on for runs to goal. In the most recent match against Montreal, which went to penalty kicks, he scored the final goal, sealing the victory for the Union.

Based on the Union's twitter feed, it looks like Nogueira will be able to play the role of creator in the midfield that the Union have been searching for over the last few seasons. He had an assist with Jack McInerney's goal against New York in a 2-1 loss for the Union. According to Sochaux Anglais, Nogueira "has made a name for himself on set pieces"

He's already received praise from both Maurice Edu and Coach Hackworth, who were impressed with his first performance after signing with the team. Hackworth was quoted in a Yahoo article from January as saying "Nogueira is very much a possession-oriented guy" and that the Union planned to run him and Edu as box-to-box midfielders.

Hopefully Nogueira can perform well this season and fill the provider/creator role that the Union have been searching for.