Austin FC begins inaugural Leagues Cup hosting Mexican league foe Mazatlán FC
Austin FC forwards Gyasi Zardes and Maxi Urruti were in a jovial mood Thursday.
Meeting with the media along with coach Josh Wolff prior to the inaugural Leagues Cup that starts Friday, the club’s two main strikers were nothing but smiles and jokes in dealing with each other.
But when it comes to facing Mazatlán FC of the Mexican league at Q2 Stadium, Austin FC will have a strictly business approach in its third competition of the season apart from the regular MLS slate.
In a unique event featuring every team from the MLS and Liga MX, El Tree hosts two games in eight days in the initial three-team group stage, hoping to be one of the two squads to advance to a 32-team knockout tournament.
Austin FC is one of only two MLS teams who is in a group with two Liga MX teams — Philadelphia is the other — making its first Leagues Cup experience even more distinctive.
Most El Tree players said they weren’t familiar with the personnel or strategy of Mazatlán or FC Juárez, who Austin FC plays July 29, prior to this week, but Zardes said he’s had plenty of experience vs. Liga MX teams during his 11-year career.
“When I was with the Galaxy, we played Mexican teams a lot, and even with Columbus we played a couple of teams,” Zardes said. “I used to watch Liga MX a bunch, but I don’t watch it as much with our travel and their games taking place at the same time. But our league has grown, and it will be interesting to see how we do.”
From a broader view, Friday’s game would seem to be the easier of the two for Austin FC. Mazatlán is off to a slow start in the current Liga MX season, finished last in the prior campaign and has one of the smallest payrolls in Mexico at roughly $4 million, while Juárez is undefeated in its first three games, including an impressive win over league power Club América.
But Wolff said the talent level on all Liga MX teams is high and that a new opponent from a different league presents challenges.
“I don’t expect our players to have as probably an intimate idea of who they are, but we try to present that in our opposition scouting,” Wolff said. “We’ve had five games we’ve been able to watch, some of which were preseason and last season. We look at what they look like with the ball and without the ball, and we look for areas to exploit. We do our diligence to try and identify starters and get that information to our players, so they know who they’ll be dealing with.”
Winning the group would give Austin FC the better chance of making a long run in the competition, as finishing second would send El Tree on the road to LAFC, arguably the most talented team in the MLS, to begin the knockout stage. Since LAFC won the MLS Cup last year, it received an automatic bye into the knockout round.
Finishing first in the group would give Austin FC a home game vs. FC Dallas, Charlotte FC or Necaxa in the first round of the knockout stage sometime Aug. 2-4.
But at the moment, Austin FC is focused on Mazatlán and enjoying a new experience.
“It’s a new opportunity to win a trophy, and I’m excited to embrace the challenge,” Zardes said. “It’s exciting to play against some clubs from Mexico, and the biggest thing is to focus on the group stage right now.”
Healthier than expected?
It appears injuries that midfielders Sebastián Driussi and Dani Pereira suffered during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Kansas City aren’t serious and they will be available Friday.
Center back Alex Ring also could be available as he’s taken part in training this week, but whether any of those three starts is another question.
But Wolff has a reputation for putting the team’s best foot forward at home, so we’ll know how close those three are to full health when the starting lineups are revealed prior to kickoff.
“You go after this with every intention of winning,” Wolff said. “Our best players will play. That’s how we address it, just like we have for every competition. We want to put the best 11 out there to get a result and put ourselves in a good position for the second game. We want to win our group, but you don’t win your group if you don’t win the first game.”
Leagues Cup details
There will be no draws in the Leagues Cup. If a match is tied after 90 minutes, a penalty shootout will immediately follow.
In the group stage, teams earn three points for a win in regulation, two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss.
Hosting rights for the knockout stage are based on the 2022 MLS standings, so Austin FC will play at home the entire competition unless it meets LAFC, Philadelphia or Montreal.
The competition has a third-place game, with the top-three teams qualifying for next year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Friday's match
Mazatlán FC at Austin FC, 7:30 p.m., Q2 Stadium, Apple TV, 97.5
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin FC players, coaches ready for new Leagues Cup competition
