The Unheralded Veteran Keeping Austin FC’s Season Alive

It took Austin FC nearly half a calendar year from the start of the 2026 MLS regular season on February 21 to finally win its first road game in Seattle on August 19. Apparently, the Verde and Black were just waiting patiently for their chance to pillage in the Pacific Northwest, because the club has now rolled off three consecutive victories in that corner of the continent, all by the exact same 2-1 scoreline.

That was the club’s winning margin August 29 in Portland over the Timbers, and against all logic and expectation, it was the club’s winning margin this past Sunday against the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps.

This was one of those wonky games only soccer can produce, where the winning team was dominated in just about every metric (possession, shots, expected goals, etc.) apart from the only one that really matters at the end of the day: actual goals. For that, Austin FC can thank veteran striker Christian Ramírez, who took the club’s only two shots on target and scored with both. Credit also teammates Facundo Torres and Joseph Rosales for their excellent assists on the first and second goals, respectively, but Ramírez made sure the chances counted.

Ramírez has been a godsend for Austin FC this season, ever since he fell like manna from heaven into their laps when the LA Galaxy waived his contract on the eve of the season’s start. With his brace on Sunday, Ramírez became the club’s leading MLS scorer with seven goals on the season, and has demonstrated exactly why, at 35 years old, he still brings tremendous value to a team. 

“He’s bought into what the team is doing,” ATX interim coach Davy Arnaud said. “He goes out and works the same way every single day. And I think for me, guys that are like this are invaluable to be part of a roster. You can rely on them all the time, and they’re the reasons that groups come together.”

Of course, Ramírez’s biggest gift he’s given Austin FC is his production, especially as DP striker Brandon Vázquez still seeks his first goal since returning from knee surgery in early May. But the bilingual Southern California native has also carved out a critical role in the ATX locker room as a “glue guy” and mentor to some of the club’s youngest players. 

“I’ve had guys in my career who brought me under their wing and and showed me the ropes and gave me advice, and I think I try and do that, especially with Ervin [Torres] and Jorge [Alastuey], who came from the second team, and I see so much potential in them. They now come to me for things before games or in training and ask questions,” Ramírez said. “And then you have the guys who speak Spanish who come to me when they want to complain, or come to me when they don’t like something… and I try [to bridge the] gap between them and the rest of the group, or them and the staff.”

The ability of Arnaud and vets like Ramírez to keep the Verde squad cohesive despite a challenging season is no doubt a huge reason why the club has continued to remain in the playoff hunt. With the three PNW wins separated by a trio of draws at home, the club is unbeaten in its last six games and is now one of five teams within a single point of the final Western Conference playoff spot, with still nine matches remaining in the regular season.

The first of those is a road trip closer to home, as Austin FC takes on a red-hot FC Dallas in Frisco Saturday evening.

This article appears in September 18 • 2026.