'We've tried to build that belief': Savoring a second straight dramatic win
With three dramatic 2-1 wins in their most recent four matches, the September version of Austin FC is more fun than the version that dropped points earlier in the season.
Earlier this season, Austin FC had some match results that head coach Nico Estévez felt didn't match the performances his team gave. We heard him speak earnestly, if unsatisfyingly, about the players' hard work in practice and expected goals that outpaced actual goals.
Now, following Verde's second consecutive 2-1 win in which the winning goal was scored at essentially the last moment possible — this one being the team's first-ever win over Seattle Sounders FC at Q2 Stadium — it's clear the pendulum has swung.
"Throughout the season, we've tried to build that belief," Estévez said following Sunday night's win, "Those goals that we scored late in the game against Kansas [City], referring to CJ Fodrey's match winner on Sept. 7, "and then against Minnesota," nodding to Fodrey's goal on Wednesday to send Verde to the U.S. Open Cup finals.
"Even with knowing that Seattle was coming here, late in the game, in the heat, it is always difficult, and then we can take advantage of those moments and we have just to keep going until the final whistle, because it's worth it," he observed. "And right now, we're in this moment where we're having that part of luck, but also that part of belief that gives us the composure and the poise in those late minutes to be very clean in our crossing, and in our final action."
Brad Stuver, reflecting in the locker room after the match, similarly commented on the recent run of good fortune.
"It kind of takes me back to 2022 a little bit, where everyone in the stadium, everyone in the locker room, kind of had this idea that it didn't matter what was going on in the game," he said. "You knew that this team was going to find a way to get a result. These late winners kind of have that same feeling. Obviously, it's only been a few games, but it brings so much energy and so much determination to the guys that it's like, okay, when you look at last year, these same situations, we may have been the ones that give up a goal, and that tanks your mentality. I think this year, everyone knows that as long as we're in a game going into the last 10 or 15, minutes ... we have a chance."
Adversity after halftime
Of course, you can't have a late match-winner if you aren't tied beforehand, and for Austin FC, that came in particularly deflating fashion, with Georgi Minoungou scoring a little more than 30 seconds after coming into the match as a halftime sub, with literally his first touch of the match.
Then, at minute 60, Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer brought in two players he was holding in reserve — Jordan Morris and Jesus Ferreira, who, between them, have 127 MLS goals.
"Look at how deep the roster is," Estévez said, dashing off an aside about how they can invest $1 million more in GAM they secured, for playing in this summer's FIFA Club World Cup, into an already-deep pool of players. "Bringing from the bench Morris and Ferreira, it says a lot about how good a roster they have. We can't forget that they're the Leagues Cup champion, and they beat really good teams in that competition. They competed really well in the Club World Cup. And for us, it's just collectively trying to do the best that we can do."
Stuver was a bit more specific in his analysis.
"We knew that they were going to make changes. Obviously, seeing both Morris and Ferreira on the bench to start the game, we knew that they were going to be very energetic to start the game," he said, which bore out when both players engineered one-on-one chances against Stuver that he stepped up to save.
"Ferreira is going to drop in and be that false number nine or false 10, where he comes underneath, they grab the ball, and Jordan just runs it behind the back line like nobody," he added. "So we knew that it was coming, and we knew that they're two of the most prolific scorers in this league, and it's difficult when you go against those type of players, but I think the guys did well to kind of force them into wider scenarios."
He then assessed, "Overall, good team win."
With five saves on the night, Stuver is inching closer to the MLS record for regular-season saves over five consecutive seasons, with goalkeeping-legend-turned-broadcaster Tony Meola still leading with 620, and Stuver close behind at 615.
"Seeing your name next to him, maybe seeing your name above him in a record book, is kind of surreal," Stuver said. "And I mean, for me, it's just I've been trying to do what I can to help this team for the last five years, and this is just a culmination of all that hard work and just the work that has gone in on the day-to-day."
'We have to stay connected'
Myrto Uzuni, who scored the match-winner, had it set up by Fodrey, heading a Dani Pereira ball to the far post directly into his path. It's the inverse of Wednesday's historic goal, which Uzuni set up for Fodrey with an attempt that disarmed Loons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.
"We both are playing the game to get a goal, and we both make pretty good runs," Fodrey said, discussing how he and Uzuni have been able to complement each other and play in a way that one finishes what the other started.
"We have to stay connected in a game," Uzuni said of their roles when they find themselves on the field together. "So we cannot stay separate [from] each other. So we have to be always connected. Because this is one mechanism, the football is simple ... we just have to stay together and we can score many goals."
Uzuni — who has now scored five goals in his last eight league matches — also colorfully reflected on the routine that's paying dividends now.
"The people who are near me, they know exactly my routine, like my routine is only home and training every fucking day," he said. "This is my routine, because I know the football is finished fast, so I have to take the maximum [from] football. And that's why it's my ability to be physical, because I take care of my body ... It's a hard job. It's not easy to play football. Maybe the people from outside, they see, but it's a lot — discipline, eating, running, massage — and about everything you know is coming all together. And to arrive at this level of professional [play], you have to be like so much discipline to have in your mind."
Injury update
Speaking of taking care of one's body, Estévez noted that Mikkel Desler, who came off late in the first half, continues to struggle with what he described as "discomfort." While he indicated the sub was more precautionary than necessary, Estévez is also cognizant of how helpful Desler would be to Verde in securing their first trophy next week.
"He has discomfort and it gets tight and it doesn't allow him to keep going," he shared. "We're going to try to do different things in order to have him ready for the next games."
Estévez also revealed that Guilherme Biro is dealing with an issue, which is why he was held out on Sunday.
"He's dealing with some inflammation in the knee, and we want to make sure that he can recover well," Estévez said.
Where things stand
Austin FC vaulted to 6th in the West with the win, now on 44 points with a chance to clinch a playoff spot next week in their 31st of 34 regular-season matches. They'll play Real Salt Lake away on Saturday night; RSL lost 4-1 on Sunday to the Supercharged Very Fun Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min version of LAFC, and are now three points below the playoff line and in need of a win.
According to Austin FC Communications, there's a win-and-you're-in and even possibly a draw-and-get-help scenario allowing Verde to clinch their second-ever trip to the playoffs on Saturday. Were the playoffs to start today, Austin would face Minnesota in a best-of-three series — a matchup that seems like it's destined to be, though as it tends to be this time of year, the West table is quite fluid, and Austin's very much in the opening phases of a Choose Your Own Playoff Adventure with a complicating final to game for.
Asked if he'll rotate against RSL to prepare for Nashville three days later, Estévez smiled, "I don't know yet. I need to rest a little. It has been a very, very tough week, but we will think about [it in] the next couple of days, how we can make the best out of these two games ... three games, because St. Louis also," referring to the Oct. 4 match at Q2 Stadium that follows the final, "it's important at home."
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
For the second straight match, Austin FC found a way to win at the very last moment. The win propels them into 6th place with just four regular-season games left.
CJ Fodrey was the hero on Wednesday night, in part because of Nico Estévez's belief in him. Also, we saw Estévez as perhaps the happiest he's been since coming to Austin.
Earlier this season, Austin FC had some match results that head coach Nico Estévez felt didn't match the performances his team gave. We heard him speak earnestly, if unsatisfyingly, about the players' hard work in practice and expected goals that outpaced actual goals.
Now, following Verde's second consecutive 2-1 win in which the winning goal was scored at essentially the last moment possible — this one being the team's first-ever win over Seattle Sounders FC at Q2 Stadium — it's clear the pendulum has swung.
"Throughout the season, we've tried to build that belief," Estévez said following Sunday night's win, "Those goals that we scored late in the game against Kansas [City], referring to CJ Fodrey's match winner on Sept. 7, "and then against Minnesota," nodding to Fodrey's goal on Wednesday to send Verde to the U.S. Open Cup finals.
"Even with knowing that Seattle was coming here, late in the game, in the heat, it is always difficult, and then we can take advantage of those moments and we have just to keep going until the final whistle, because it's worth it," he observed. "And right now, we're in this moment where we're having that part of luck, but also that part of belief that gives us the composure and the poise in those late minutes to be very clean in our crossing, and in our final action."
Brad Stuver, reflecting in the locker room after the match, similarly commented on the recent run of good fortune.
"It kind of takes me back to 2022 a little bit, where everyone in the stadium, everyone in the locker room, kind of had this idea that it didn't matter what was going on in the game," he said. "You knew that this team was going to find a way to get a result. These late winners kind of have that same feeling. Obviously, it's only been a few games, but it brings so much energy and so much determination to the guys that it's like, okay, when you look at last year, these same situations, we may have been the ones that give up a goal, and that tanks your mentality. I think this year, everyone knows that as long as we're in a game going into the last 10 or 15, minutes ... we have a chance."
Adversity after halftime
Of course, you can't have a late match-winner if you aren't tied beforehand, and for Austin FC, that came in particularly deflating fashion, with Georgi Minoungou scoring a little more than 30 seconds after coming into the match as a halftime sub, with literally his first touch of the match.
Then, at minute 60, Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer brought in two players he was holding in reserve — Jordan Morris and Jesus Ferreira, who, between them, have 127 MLS goals.
"Look at how deep the roster is," Estévez said, dashing off an aside about how they can invest $1 million more in GAM they secured, for playing in this summer's FIFA Club World Cup, into an already-deep pool of players. "Bringing from the bench Morris and Ferreira, it says a lot about how good a roster they have. We can't forget that they're the Leagues Cup champion, and they beat really good teams in that competition. They competed really well in the Club World Cup. And for us, it's just collectively trying to do the best that we can do."
Stuver was a bit more specific in his analysis.
"We knew that they were going to make changes. Obviously, seeing both Morris and Ferreira on the bench to start the game, we knew that they were going to be very energetic to start the game," he said, which bore out when both players engineered one-on-one chances against Stuver that he stepped up to save.
"Ferreira is going to drop in and be that false number nine or false 10, where he comes underneath, they grab the ball, and Jordan just runs it behind the back line like nobody," he added. "So we knew that it was coming, and we knew that they're two of the most prolific scorers in this league, and it's difficult when you go against those type of players, but I think the guys did well to kind of force them into wider scenarios."
He then assessed, "Overall, good team win."
With five saves on the night, Stuver is inching closer to the MLS record for regular-season saves over five consecutive seasons, with goalkeeping-legend-turned-broadcaster Tony Meola still leading with 620, and Stuver close behind at 615.
"Seeing your name next to him, maybe seeing your name above him in a record book, is kind of surreal," Stuver said. "And I mean, for me, it's just I've been trying to do what I can to help this team for the last five years, and this is just a culmination of all that hard work and just the work that has gone in on the day-to-day."
'We have to stay connected'
Myrto Uzuni, who scored the match-winner, had it set up by Fodrey, heading a Dani Pereira ball to the far post directly into his path. It's the inverse of Wednesday's historic goal, which Uzuni set up for Fodrey with an attempt that disarmed Loons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.
"We both are playing the game to get a goal, and we both make pretty good runs," Fodrey said, discussing how he and Uzuni have been able to complement each other and play in a way that one finishes what the other started.
"We have to stay connected in a game," Uzuni said of their roles when they find themselves on the field together. "So we cannot stay separate [from] each other. So we have to be always connected. Because this is one mechanism, the football is simple ... we just have to stay together and we can score many goals."
Uzuni — who has now scored five goals in his last eight league matches — also colorfully reflected on the routine that's paying dividends now.
"The people who are near me, they know exactly my routine, like my routine is only home and training every fucking day," he said. "This is my routine, because I know the football is finished fast, so I have to take the maximum [from] football. And that's why it's my ability to be physical, because I take care of my body ... It's a hard job. It's not easy to play football. Maybe the people from outside, they see, but it's a lot — discipline, eating, running, massage — and about everything you know is coming all together. And to arrive at this level of professional [play], you have to be like so much discipline to have in your mind."
Injury update
Speaking of taking care of one's body, Estévez noted that Mikkel Desler, who came off late in the first half, continues to struggle with what he described as "discomfort." While he indicated the sub was more precautionary than necessary, Estévez is also cognizant of how helpful Desler would be to Verde in securing their first trophy next week.
"He has discomfort and it gets tight and it doesn't allow him to keep going," he shared. "We're going to try to do different things in order to have him ready for the next games."
Estévez also revealed that Guilherme Biro is dealing with an issue, which is why he was held out on Sunday.
"He's dealing with some inflammation in the knee, and we want to make sure that he can recover well," Estévez said.
Where things stand
Austin FC vaulted to 6th in the West with the win, now on 44 points with a chance to clinch a playoff spot next week in their 31st of 34 regular-season matches. They'll play Real Salt Lake away on Saturday night; RSL lost 4-1 on Sunday to the Supercharged Very Fun Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min version of LAFC, and are now three points below the playoff line and in need of a win.
According to Austin FC Communications, there's a win-and-you're-in and even possibly a draw-and-get-help scenario allowing Verde to clinch their second-ever trip to the playoffs on Saturday. Were the playoffs to start today, Austin would face Minnesota in a best-of-three series — a matchup that seems like it's destined to be, though as it tends to be this time of year, the West table is quite fluid, and Austin's very much in the opening phases of a Choose Your Own Playoff Adventure with a complicating final to game for.
Asked if he'll rotate against RSL to prepare for Nashville three days later, Estévez smiled, "I don't know yet. I need to rest a little. It has been a very, very tough week, but we will think about [it in] the next couple of days, how we can make the best out of these two games ... three games, because St. Louis also," referring to the Oct. 4 match at Q2 Stadium that follows the final, "it's important at home."
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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