The MLS season, as the cliche goes, is a marathon. Thirty-four games spread out over nine months from February to October – just to get to the start of the playoffs – often feels mind-numbing, and maintaining focus (or failing to) can make a season-altering difference.
If Austin FC coach Nico Estévez feels like emphasizing this to his team following an ugly 2-0 loss to FC Dallas in Frisco over the weekend, he might be best served showing them footage from an actual marathon.
The 2025 World Athletics Championships men’s marathon, to be exact. In Tokyo on Sunday, Germany’s Amanal Petros and Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu entered the Japan National Stadium for the final few hundred meters of the 26.2-mile race in a dead heat for the lead. But by the time the pair began the final 100-meter sprint, Petros had opened up a two-stride gap to his rival, and believed the gold medal to be his. However, Simbu found something extra in the final meters, charged like hell to the line, and edged out the helpless German in a photo finish to steal the win.
Moral of the story: It’s never too late to achieve your goals, and it’s never too late to see them snatched away if you’re not careful.
With five matches to go in the MLS regular season, Austin FC still sits in a favorable position with regard to clinching a playoff spot. The club is seventh in the Western Conference standings with 41 points. ATX also has a game-in-hand on both clubs directly beneath them in the eighth and ninth spots, the Colorado Rapids on 39 points and the San Jose Earthquakes on 35 points, both with just four games remaining. Below that, it’s Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas on 34 points, clawing to get into the top nine.
For Austin to miss the playoffs entirely, at least three of those teams would have to overtake the Verde and Black. It would be an almighty collapse. But that doesn’t mean the club can afford to get comfortable. Against Dallas, it certainly looked like the home side wanted the three points more than Austin did.
That in itself disturbed Estévez. The self-proclaimed “positive guy” called Saturday’s match a “really poor performance” and expressed concern that Austin didn’t match Dallas’ level of intensity.
Center back Brendan Hines-Ike theorized that he and his teammates might have gotten caught looking ahead to Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal match against Minnesota United. (This column went to press in the hours preceding that match.)
For as much talk as there has been about Austin FC returning to the playoffs for just the second time in five seasons, limping into a play-in matchup and failing to advance would hardly be something to celebrate.
The following two MLS matchups in particular – home against the Seattle Sounders on Sunday and away at Real Salt Lake the following Saturday – will demonstrate a lot about how competitive Austin FC projects to be in the postseason. Neither match will be easy: Austin has won just four of the 19 combined meetings against the two clubs all-time. But the reward for a pair of positive results could be massive.
Estévez and his players have to resist the urge to cruise to the finish line. This time of year, you’re either the chaser or the chased. Austin FC needs to decide if it wants to empty the tank like Simbu, or come up short like Petros.
This article appears in September 19 • 2025.
