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MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 04: Ilie Sanchez #6 of Austin FC is challenged by Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF during the MLS match between Inter Miami CF and Austin FC at Nu Stadium on April 04, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Tomas Diniz Santos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Tomas Diniz Santos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
It\u2019s going to be interesting to see what Austin FC<\/a> can do once it finally gets healthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Playing without starting midfielders Owen Wolff and Dani Pereira<\/a> for the third straight match Saturday, the Verde & Black once again produced a draw with one of the best clubs in MLS.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n And though a scoreless draw at home two weeks prior against LAFC<\/a> was impressive, tying Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami \u2014 who are also the defending league champions \u2014 2-2 on the road<\/a> in the opening of the club\u2019s new stadium is Austin FC\u2019s signature performance of 2026 so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not only was Austin FC, who received goals from Guilherme Biro and Jayden Nelson, the better side for most of the match, it did so with a starting lineup that may not be repeated the rest of the league season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are some key takeaways from the contest as Austin FC (1-2-3, 6 points) returns home Saturday to face the Los Angeles Galaxy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Austin FC contained Lionel Messi<\/p>\n It\u2019s not possible to stop Messi, yet Austin FC contained him about as well as a club can.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Sure, he scored a goal in the first half on a well-timed run in the box and clinical header, got off other threatening shots and burned some Verde & Black players on the dribble a few times. But he didn\u2019t dominate the Verde & Black\u2019s backline like has others in MLS.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a plan defensively of always (having two players) against him,\u201d Austin FC coach Nico Est\u00e9vez said. \u201cI think everyone had a great effort in that. We said it doesn\u2019t matter who, but someone has to be there to help. \u2026 You saw (forward) Christian Ram\u00edrez doing it. \u2026 Collectively, we did an amazing job to reduce the opportunities he had.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In particular, center backs Oleksandr Svatok and Brendan Hines-Ike and defensive midfielders Nicolas Dubers\u00e1rsky and Ilie S\u00e1nchez performed well. Dubers\u00e1rsky, who is from Argentina like Messi and looks like a completely different player than he was seven months ago, wasn\u2019t afraid to jostle his fellow countryman.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cOther Argentines want to show something when they play against Messi,\u201d Est\u00e9vez said. \u201cHe told us earlier in the week that he wasn\u2019t going to be afraid to tackle him.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Austin FC’s attack excelled<\/p>\n Austin FC was dangerous in its attack for 75 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though he didn\u2019t score, Myrto Uzuni was a threat up top for most of the game and seems to be playing with a newfound confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Midfielders Joseph Rosales, Facundo Torres and Nelson all had good performances, and if Austin FC had better luck, it might have had four goals in the first half.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ram\u00edrez was taken down in the box in the first minute in what appeared to be a clear penalty that wasn\u2019t awarded, while both Uzuni and Torres had shots hit the crossbar or post.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re involved in more dynamic movements from players up top,\u201d Est\u00e9vez said. \u201cWe\u2019re understanding what we need to do to be more fluid on offense. We\u2019re very close to what we want to be as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n And while Miami\u2019s defense was slow and sloppy at times, Austin FC has the potential to be very dangerous offensively starting in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Within the next four weeks, Austin FC should have Wolff, Pereira and forward Brandon Vazquez available again. (Wolff could return as soon as Saturday.)<\/p>\n The club\u2019s current weakness is its bench \u2014 bringing in players like Besard Sabovic and CJ Fodrey late in the second half won\u2019t strike much fear into other clubs \u2014 which is one of the reasons it had to survive a Miami attacking onslaught the final 15 minutes. But when Austin FC has a full, healthy roster, it\u2019s not going to lose much when it makes second-half subs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen everyone is getting healthy, it\u2019s going to be hard to pick a starting 11,\u201d Est\u00e9vez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n David Beckham takes notice of Austin FC<\/p>\n Austin FC ruined Miami\u2019s party on the opening night of Nu Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It\u2019s something that the South Florida club\u2019s ownership noticed.\u00a0<\/p>\n David Beckham, who is a co-owner of the club, played for Manchester United, Real Madrid and the English national team, and whose wife is a member of the musical group the Spice Girls, stopped by the Austin FC locker room to say he was impressed with the coaching staff\u2019s game plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think that shows the kind of class that David Beckham has,\u201d Est\u00e9vez said. \u201cThe thing you have to ask your team and your players is to feel proud about your performance. And I think we are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Man of the match: Myrto Uzuni<\/p>\n Though Biro could also receive this, Uzuni was stellar. He provided the assist on Nelson\u2019s goal and was a constant threat. His work ethic has also caught the attention of his teammates.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a designated player making runs back, and he\u2019s the one that’s making runs that most guys don\u2019t want to make,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cYou don\u2019t get that from designated players a lot of the time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 04: Ilie Sanchez #6 of Austin FC is challenged by Lionel Messi #10 of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[17159,10073,1660,123,125,124,5692],"class_list":["post-219598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-austin-fc","tag-inter-miami","tag-lionel-messi","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-mls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n