Aitor García of FC Juárez celebrates of his two goals against Austin FC in the Leagues Cup group stage Credit: credit: Leagues Cup

After suffering a second consecutive 3-1 defeat at home, Austin FC is officially out of the Leagues Cup, exiting as one of just 15 clubs (out of 47) to fail to advance to the knockout stage.

Saturday night’s defeat to FC Juárez – eight days following a loss to Mazatlán FC by the same scoreline – capped off an embarrassing showing for the Verde and Black in the inaugural midseason mashup tournament involving clubs from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.

After things broke Austin’s way in a midweek match between Juárez and Mazatlán, a win in any form Saturday would have been good enough to see ATXFC advance to a Round of 32 date with LAFC in California. Early on in the match, it seemed like that was exactly the direction El Tree was headed.

Through the opening 25 minutes, Austin FC dominated the game with dangerous attack after dangerous attack, playing some of its best-looking soccer of the season. After several of those opportunities resulted in near-misses, Ethan Finlay finally broke the seal in the 23rd minute off a gorgeous through ball assist from Owen Wolff. As it turned out, though, Austin FC would be made to regret the multiple missed chances that preceded the goal.

That’s because in the 35th minute, Juárez got exactly the lifeline it needed when Sebastián Saucedo’s low-driven free kick – almost certainly a cross rather than an attempt on goal – curl right past a helpless Brad Stuver and into the side netting.

“The first [Juárez] goal sucks the life out of the stadium. It sucks the life out of the team, I think, to some degree,” Josh Wolff said.

All of Austin FC’s momentum from the first half-hour dissipated and never returned, and the second half belonged entirely to FC Juárez. The visitors scored twice in the span of seven minutes around the hour mark. The first was a peach of a goal, as Aitor García’s acrobatic finish capped off some beautiful build-up for the visitors.

Shortly after, García struck again after being allowed by Austin’s spotty defense to dribble to his ideal shooting spot in front of goal.

“You give up a goal and then you give up a second goal quite quick. … It showed a lack of maturity, and we looked a little naive,” Wolff said.

For Juárez, the key to the match was simple: wanting it more than the home team. “You compare them against us with the salaries and all that type of stuff, we’re nowhere near Austin,” Saucedo said. “What wins is passion and heart. And at the end of the day, that’s what paid off.”

Austin FC now has three weeks off before MLS play resumes with an important road match against St. Louis CITY FC.

For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit The Austin Chronicle‘s Austin FC hub. Follow “The Verde Report” columnist Eric Goodman on Twitter: @goodman.

This article appears in July 28 • 2023.

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Eric Goodman has covered Austin FC for the Austin Chronicle since before the club first kicked a ball in 2021. His column, The Verde Report, continues the Chronicle's decades-long tradition of soccer-focused commentary, serving as a spiritual successor to Nick Barbaro's Soccer Watch column. Eric has also covered multiple Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups as a freelance sports journalist, and is a two-time Emmy-winning producer.