'Falta de respeto': Rodolfo Borrell and Nico Estevez talk about all the Austin FC players who made it to training and the one who didn't

Monday's press conference, mostly involving the new Austin FC head coach at his first practice, was preceded by a special announcement from the sporting director.

It was an unusual cameo for an unusual time.

Sebastián Driussi failed to report to St. David’s Performance Center for the team’s first practice of 2025 on Monday, after not showing up to the medical check-in on Saturday.

That somehow necessitated Austin FC sporting director Rodolfo Borrell step up to the mike at the press conference even before head coach Nico Estévez did. While there were no official news about Driussi’s reported transfer to River Plate, Borrell did make clear that Driussi is in the process of going rogue.

“There was not any agreement between us and him for him to remain in Argentina,” he said. “I want to make this very clear. The player was reported to the league, to MLS, on Saturday, he was reported yesterday, and will be reported today again after the finish of the [training[ session, if he doesn't appear. And MLS is taking all the all the measures, the legal measures that they have to take in this particular case.”

Estévez, for his part, dubbed Driussi’s staying away as “falta de respeto” — a lack of respect for the players who did show up and work — and pointedly observed, “I make plans with the players that we have here.”

Maybe the dealmaking between River and Austin won’t work out and Driussi will patch things up and be part of the team in 2025 … but it’s increasingly looking like that won’t happen.

*Rodolfo Borrell was a guest speaker at today’s Nico Estévez press conference. There was a good reason for that. (Austin FC Communications/video still)*

A quick rundown

Here are some highlights featuring players who showed up (in collaboration with Moisés Chiullán, who repped Verde All Day at today’s press conference).

Everyone’s healthy so far following the first-day check-in and Sunday’s beep test, won by Mikkel Desler, who’s captured on video saying, “I turn off my brain and just run.”
Though Coachella Valley Invitational planning was underway before Estévez got here, he thinks that will be a good experience — though under Estévez’s tenure with Dallas, that team got to go to Spain. (Given all the Spain in the front office now, perhaps that’s in the works. Gonna ask about that at some point.)
As was the case last year, a number of VerDos players trained with the first team. On Monday, it was midfielders Ervin Torres and Diego Abarca, plus defenders Rubén Bonachera, Antonio Gomez, and Nicolás Van Rijn.
From a Spanish-language answer that gives a sense of what it’ll be like this year: “There has to be some patience as we create a new identity, an identity about which they feel proud. Our work and our energy is important during this preseason and the season to follow, because a team is not how it starts, it’s how it finishes. I feel like the entire season is going to be a learning process in training.” He did follow that, however, with acknowledgement of wanting to build a team that makes fans proud.
Estévez is familiar with new forward Brandon Vázquez from their involvement in the U.S. Men’s National Team, and he’s bullish on the striker’s potential in Verde.
The captaincy is open, with one of last year’s captains no longer with the team and the other appearing to be moving that direction. “Everyone has the chance” to be captain, Estévez said. “What we have to create as a team that is mature, and then they all have leadership skills that can help the team.” He said they’ll use the preseason to decide on who the smart choice would be. (He didn’t phrase it quite like that, but to indicate who I believe will get it, I phrased it that way.)

Numbers update

We’re now getting more confirmation of what number switcheroos have happened in the offseason, though nothing is official until numbers are registered with the league. Dani Pereira does indeed have No. 8 after gifting (or possibly selling) No. 6 to longtime No. 6 wearer Ilie Sanchez, Osman Bukari and Jáder Obrian have indeed switched, with Bukari taking over No. 11 and Obrian sliding into the possibly cursed No. 7 jersey. (We already knew Diego Rubio switched from No. 14 to No. 21, and we’re not quite sure why. No. 21 was made available when Oleksandr Svatok took the No. 5 jersey that Jhojan Valencia left behind.)

So far, all other players we’ve seen are keeping their same numbers from last year. No. 14 appears unclaimed at the moment. No. 10 could also be up for grabs.

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