Cooper Sanchez lauded by Tata Martino after confident start for Atlanta United vs. FC Cincinnati

In August, Cooper Sanchez signed a Homegrown Player deal with Atlanta United.

On Saturday, he made club history.

Sanchez, who started in Atlanta United’s 2-0 loss to FC Cincinnati, became the youngest-ever player to start a season opener for the Five Stripes (17 years, 332 days old). It came with Alexey Miranchuk beginning the evening on the bench while continuing to recover from a preseason injury and Will Reilly out due to a hamstring strain.

While Atlanta couldn’t walk off the pitch a winner, Sanchez, who played 73 minutes before coming off for Tristan Muyumba, delivered a solid shift.

“He’s someone who helps us press very well, whether it’s man-to-man or covering the spaces that we need to cover in those moments,” Tata Martino said. “He’s a very technical player, so it’s normal that at his young age that he’s giving into some of the older players in terms of being a protagonist on the field, but we think he has the abilities and the technique to be able to take on more of a protagonist role in our midfield.”

An example of that pressing ability came in the 17th minute. With Cincinnati looking to advance the ball out of its own half of the field, Bryan Ramirez sent a pass over to Samuel Gidi. Sanchez was able to make a quick adjustment to take Gidi off the ball and force it out of play to put an end the attack.

Starting Sanchez — in the season opener, no less — was a major signal of trust on the part of Martino, who liked what he’d seen from the teenager during training and preseason.

And while Sanchez started in Atlanta’s away match at Inter Miami in October — the first of his MLS career — the stakes were much different then, given Atlanta had been eliminated from the playoff picture for weeks at that point. On Saturday, Martino felt Sanchez had met the moment.

“We felt that he’s been working very well,” Martino said. “He’s a young player. He’s very dynamic. He has good technique, and we felt that he was ready to play. And I feel that he had a very correct game.”