'I treat every team like a championship team': Austin FC readies for Leagues Cup

Are Driussi and Pereira available?

Two big question marks for Austin heading into this match is whether Sebastián Driussi and Dani Pereira will be able to play. Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff hinted Thursday that their names could be called against the Mexican side on Friday night. 

“Sebastian is okay," Wolff remarked. "He's doing well. So I think him and Pepe have done a good job in recovery and we'll look forward to their availability.” 

For this tournament, Wolff has called up some Austin FC II players to beef up the roster, with 28 tapped so far — with a few more spots available if need be – and Wolff plans on adjusting the current roster how he sees fit. 

“We hope to be able to use some of the ATX II guys," Wolff hinted, "but first and foremost it's about putting the best 11 out there and certainly getting a result that puts us in a good position for the second game.”

The ultimate goal is to win a trophy, and even with injuries to key players, and Wolff indicated that the approach to Leagues Cup isn't different than any other tournament they enter. 

“You utilize your best players and you go after this with every intention of winning," Wolff noted, "and our best players are gonna play and that's the way we addressed it just as we have for every competition." 

Captain Gallagher has returned

Another player whose availability might be in question — for happy reasons — is fullback Jon Gallagher, who was part of this week's All-Star festivities. While the MLS All-Stars did lose 5-0 to Arsenal, and while Gallagher drew a tough assignment in trying to neutralize Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz, he told The Striker after the match how much he enjoyed it. 

"It was a good experience," he shared. "I mean, it doesn't feel good losing five-nil anytime, but they're such a good team ... it's a unique situation where we haven't trained together, we don't have much tactics and you get punished by one of the best teams in the world. It's not really about the results tonight. It's about reaping the rewards of getting here and right now it feels a little weird, losing five-nil but now a great experience and then getting to captain the team as well for the second half, I mean, never imagined that." 

He added, regarding the caliber of talent he was matched up against, "They're special players, but at the same time, I'm going one be one against these guys constantly. I think if we had worked on shape and tactics, maybe we can deny them the space and the ability to have those one-v-one duels, but still is a great opportunity. You know, apart from maybe the last goal, I thought that I held my own and didn't get dribbled past on a couple of deals ... happy enough that I was able to hang with them." 

Gallagher flew back early Thursday, noting that while he hadn't been in contact with the team much while he was in D.C., he was planning to report back and felt ready to go for as long as needed on Friday. 

After the Mazatlán match, Austin FC gets some time to heal up further before the Saturday, July 29 match against FC Juarez to close out group play. The group winner would play the second-place team from the FC Dallas/Charlotte FC/Necaxa group in the Round of 32, whereas the second-place team from the group would travel to LAFC.