The lives of Joaquin Pereyra and Tomas Chancalay are intertwined across two continents.
Pereyra was born in late 1998 in Parana, Argentina, a small town roughly 300 miles northwest of the capital Buenos Aires. Exactly one month later, Chancalay was born in Viale, a smaller town 40 miles east of Parana.
The pair of attacking midfielders later played together on Argentina’s Under-20 national team. After their own club careers took them on separate trajectories, the now 27-year-olds have been reunited with Minnesota United this season.
“(Tomas is) going to be a great help” on the field, Pereyra said in Spanish in January, “in addition to the company he provides during our morning mate sessions.”
Putting Yerba Mate in front of soccer is far from surprising for typical Argentines, who drink the caffeinated herbal tea in a ritualistic way akin to how Americans gulp down coffee.
On the field last season, Pereyra was a jolt to the Loons’ attack, producing 14 goal contributions (6 scored, 8 assisted) in 33 regular-season games.
In New England a year ago, Chancalay was more groggy, working his way back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee suffered in the middle of the 2024 season and produced six goal contributions (4 scored, 2 assisted) in 26 games.
Chancalay was a high-priced Designated Player when the Revolution paid a $3 million transfer fee to Racing Club for him in Argentina in November 2024. While on loan with the Revs earlier in 2024, he had scored six goals in 859 minutes for an impressive 0.63 goals per 90 minutes. His 2025 campaign started slowly even before that significant injury.
“I come back in a really good way,” Chancalay told the Pioneer Press in English in January. “I take my mind (off the) ACL, and I’m really ready for play.”
The overlapping layers of Chancalay and Pereyra go down to the same primary position — left attacking midfielder. During their one preseason game together, a 3-0 win over Kansas City on Feb. 7, Chancalay was in that left-side spot, while Pereyra moved into the No. 10 role, or central attacking mid.
New Loons head coach Cam Knowles has made it clear he wants a more attacking style this season and said he was going to experiment with Chancalay and Pereyra in different ways.
“We’ve looked at (Chancalay) as a second forward,” Knowles said. “We look at him as a second (No.) 10. We’ve even looked at Joaquin playing on the right side instead of the left, so there are a few things.”
This trial was before the Loons signed Colombian star James Rodriguez, who plays the No. 10 playmaker role. How the pieces all fit together with Rodriguez, Pereyra, Chancalay and Bongi Hlongwane will be an ongoing experiment to start the season. The first data will come in the Loons’ season opener at Austin FC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Rodriguez received his work visa on Wednesday, which gives him a few official days of prep before a potential debut this weekend.
Knowles liked what he saw from Chancalay during that first preseason game at the Coachella Valley Invitational in Indio, Calif. Chancalay chipped in a cross that set up Anthony Markanich’s first goal against Sporting.
“If we look back at that game, I thought he was excellent,” Knowles said. “His work rate was excellent on both sides of the ball. The players that we have in those attacking positions, the rotations that we can have and the problems we can cause the opposition, he becomes a really good part of that.”
Chancalay missed the final two preseason games while obtaining his U.S. Green Card; that will remove him from the team’s international spots as the club works toward roster compliance by this weekend.
To acquire Chancalay, the Loons spent a paltry sum of $100,000 in a cash-for-player trade the day after Christmas. Chancalay will no longer be a DP with MNUFC in a new deal through the 2027-28 season, but he will still come with a significant budget charge and the accompanying pressure to produce goals. His guaranteed compensation last year in New England was $1.06 million, per the MLS Players Association.
Besides a bond with Pereyra, Chancalay has another fellow Argentine in the Loons’ dressing room: center back Nico Romero.
“It’s always good to have (teammates) from your country,” Chancalay said. “They help me a lot with the first couple days to understand everything here. That’s really good for me. They open the way for me.”
The longtime connection with Pereyra will come in handy for Chancalay.
“I’ve known Tommy for quite a while now,” Pereyra said. “And as I said, the important thing is that we can help him feel good and comfortable in these first few months. After that, I know the kind of player he is, I know how much he can give to the team.”
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