As the reigning USL Championship winner, San Antonio FC will have a lot of eyes on it and targets on its back in 2023, but not every player who will face those new challenges was able to enjoy the successes that brought them on.
SAFC head coach Alen Marcina estimates roughly 40% of the 2023 squad will be new players. While these new additions may still just be learning how to fit in at SAFC and exploring their new home, they also understand what they’re getting into.
“I think [coming in to defend this title] is great pressure to have, it gives you a little bit of an innate confidence,” said winger Niko Hansen, one of just three new players SAFC has announced for the 2023 season so far. “They've shown that they've been the best and they are the best, and I think I want to come in and continue that legacy for them. I'm excited for that pressure and coming in and getting the best from every team.”
Though Hansen wasn’t a part of SAFC’s championship squad, he brings a considerable amount of experience and skill after six seasons in MLS with Columbus Crew SC, Houston Dynamo FC and Minnesota United FC, scoring seven goals and assisting nine in 86 appearances.
Check out some highlights from our most recent addition, Niko Hansen! 🎥 💪#Defend210 pic.twitter.com/OutNd0Mnzi
— San Antonio FC (@SanAntonioFC) January 12, 2023
After his most recent stop in Minnesota, Hansen was actually happy that he had to squint his eyes while being interviewed, a sign that he was back in a sunny, warmer climate. After spending a year and a half in Houston, he also knows how brutal the weather will be during summer, only this time he doesn’t have to endure quite as much humidity.
Hansen is not only reunited with the nicer Texas weather but also a former teammate of his: Connor Maloney, who Columbus selected alongside Hansen in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. Both players were under contract with Columbus from 2017 to 2019, with Maloney going on a pair of loan stints to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC during that time, and they seem to have built a good bond which facilitated the reunion with SAFC.
“We actually reached out to each other when this was in the works,” Hansen said. “It was good to talk to him and hear from him what his experience has been like seeing everything that they've built here and the organization and everything, so I think that had a big role to play in me coming here.”
As part of SAFC’s leadership group, Maloney is one of the returnees most responsible for helping integrate the new players, and it’s likely he finds that easier with Hansen because of their history. Hansen said the returning players have made him feel very welcome and he’s found it easy to integrate, a process that Marcina said is happening gradually.
“It's a preseason-long process, day by day – you don't learn a team identity in two days,” Marcina said. “We have great leaders that are integrating the new players in and each day we learn new principles. It's a reminder for those returning and then it's new information for those coming in, and each day there's principles that are added.”
Light work for the boys 😮💨 #SoccerTennisChamps @SanAntonioFC pic.twitter.com/pb6MR6MO8L
— Mitchell Taintor (@MitchellTaintor) February 11, 2023
On top of integrating with SAFC and adopting its team goals, Hansen is also coming into this season with personal goals as well. For a player that spent six years in MLS, one might expect he’d be keen to have a great year and make the jump back to the top flight, but that wasn’t what came to mind for him.
Instead, Hansen hopes to have a smooth, injury-free year after suffering multiple setbacks during his time in MLS. Although their positions were different, Hansen may remind fans a lot of former SAFC forward Santiago Patiño, who has suffered multiple injury setbacks early in his career but was lethal for SAFC when he was fit.
“I put pressure on myself of showing out finally and being healthy for a year and enjoying the game again,” Hansen said.
Only time will tell if Hansen can accomplish that and how he’s able to build on it. For now, he just has to take it one day, one game, at a time, and his first match with SAFC will come on Saturday as FC Tulsa visits for SAFC’s first preseason match.
That’ll be Hansen’s first chance to wear the SAFC shirt against another team, and he’s also looking forward to what it’ll do for the bonds with his new teammates.
“We are itching to actually play and get bumping against each other a bit,” Hansen said. “Once you move into actually playing against an opponent, I think that's when we really come together, that's when players are really like ‘Alright, now we don't have to yell at each other and get on each other and tackle each other, now we can really get into it and be together and be a family.’ This team has shown that they work together and stay together, and so being able to do it against another team is exciting.”
SAFC will play a friendly each of the next three Saturdays to prepare for its season opener on March 11, when it begins its title defense at home against Oakland Roots SC.