FRISCO, Texas — Austin FC captain Alex Ring was clear and concise when asked about lifting Copa Tejas in the Toyota Stadium parking lot, after waiting nearly 20 minutes on the pitch after securing the 1-1 draw against FC Dallas to claim the first trophy in club history.
“It was a little bit embarrassing I think for FC Dallas to behave like that,” he said. “If you want to not have the other team celebrate in the stadium, win the game.”
Alex Ring on lifting the trophy in the parking lot rather than Toyota Stadium: “It’s embarrassing. If you don’t want us to lift the trophy then you should win the game.” #AustinFC #DTID @copatejas @TheStrikerNews
— Chris Bils (@ChrisBils) July 17, 2022
The quote went viral, and will reverberate among both fan bases in a burgeoning rivalry. And while Ring certainly has a point about how a trophy should be celebrated, the real story is a bit more nuanced.
It’s true that the trophy was held from Austin supporters and players post-match. It’s also true that the supporters’ groups had agreed beforehand that the trophy would not be presented on the pitch if an away team claimed it, at least in part due to FC Dallas concerns about fan safety.
However, it seemed that neither the players nor Verde staff were aware of that decision, and Austin FC supporters remained in their seats as the players stayed on the pitch. Then the players waved the supporters to walk to the other end, near the tunnel, and followed them out the door and toward the bus to claim their prize.
We do it for our city and our fans. This is just the beginning. pic.twitter.com/Vvxh1Mu9UH
— Austin FC (@AustinFC) July 17, 2022
It was a bizarre scene, and I think it’s fair to say that the policy needs to be reviewed before next year’s competition. As cool as the trophy lift ended up being, having the players walk out of the stadium while still in uniform, with fans of both teams still milling around, is a recipe for disaster.
But don’t get the story twisted. FC Dallas and its supporters didn’t withhold the trophy because they were mad or because they didn’t want to give it up. This was a logistical and a planning issue, and a case of security personnel doing as they were told by the FC Dallas front office.
Arnaud fills in
Davy Arnaud and Josh Wolff have been thick as thieves for nearly two decades. Back in their playing days with Sporting Kansas City, they played as dual center forwards in a 4-4-2 formation. And if Wolff was injured, Arnaud would have to carry the load.
On Saturday, when it was learned that Wolff had entered MLS Health and Safety protocols — league terminology for testing positive for COVID-19 — Arnaud knew exactly what he had to do.
“It's been a normal week for us, but we found out today at one of the team meals that Josh wasn’t going to be able to make it,” Arnaud said post-match. “We stuck to our same routine. We tried to continue to do things the same way that we have been doing all year. This is why you have a lot of players so that when someone gets hurt, someone's ready to step up and fill in when they need to. And it's the same with the staff.”
As for Wolff, he stayed involved throughout the day. Different than a suspension, he was allowed to have constant contact with his staff.
“We've been in contact with Josh all day, myself and the staff,” Arnaud said. “We've been in contact, talking about ideas, continuing to talk about the game plan and strategy. It helps. He's our head coach. He's our leader and we obviously want him to be a part of all of it.”
From speaking to the players as they headed back to the locker room following the trophy lift, it sounded like Wolff was included in the celebrations via FaceTime.
As for the coaching itself, Arnaud and his fellow assistants Nolan Sheldon, Rodrigo Ríos and Preston Burpo made their imprint on the match with their second-half substitutions.
Owen Wolff created the turnover and Felipe Martins had the secondary assist on Diego Fagúndez’s equalizer, and Danny Hoesen also helped Verde take control of the match for the final 30 minutes.
“We just felt like the game needed a little bit of energy,” Arnaud said. “We’ve played a lot of games, long stretch of games here, a lot on the road. You could see there was some heavy legs and some fatigue, mental fatigue. So it was important for all three of those guys to come in and they gave us a real pop of energy and turned the game again in a really good way for us.”
For the fans
The players knew what Copa Tejas meant, and one phrase kept coming back in the buildup and the postgame.
“I’m mostly happy (for the fans),” captain Alex Ring said. “It’s an award that is bragging rights for the fans. They supported us through tough times last year and they deserve their bragging rights for this year, but we have bigger things we want to achieve.”
One by one, the players tempered their celebrations with reminders of what is left.
“I think it's a really special night for the club,” left back Jon Gallagher said. “The reality is that it was a good point on the road. When we look in the grand scheme of things, we don't want to get too carried away.”
Added Sebastián Driussi, who assisted Fagúndez’s goal: “The team deserves this cup. I think we made a big sacrifice and a great game but we have to continue. This continues. We have to continue to focus on the objectives we have in front of us.
I think the cup is something very nice for us because, obviously, it came against the rivals from Texas and, well, the truth is that we made a great game.”
Austin FC via Twitter
Gallagher back and fit
Gallagher had a quick turnaround to get back on the pitch after missing the match against Houston Dynamo FC on Tuesday with what he described as a stomach virus.
“I just felt a little ill sleeping (Monday) night,” he said. “I woke up and yeah, stomach virus you know how that stuff goes, I won’t go into too much detail. We waited as long as we could and finally got to four o'clock and my fever was still like 103 (degrees). … It was so hot too, and I couldn’t get out of bed. It sucked that I had to watch it from my bed, but the guys took care of business.”
He said he began feeling better that night and trained again Wednesday, then got his weight and energy back well ahead of Saturday’s match.
“Today I felt good. I ran a lot.”
Frisco frustration
Despite the trophy lift, it’s worth noting that Austin FC is still winless in five meetings with FC Dallas. The Toros got the better of Verde all three times in 2021, and this year’s meetings resulted in two draws — both of them after FCD struck first.
“We gave away easy goals that shouldn't happen, and then we end up chasing,” Ring said.”I think at home we played better than we did here today, but nevertheless giving away goals like that they'll punish you like any any good team in MLS.”
The way things look currently, a playoff match between these two isn’t far fetched.