With ‘heartbeat of this team’ still sidelined, Austin FC looking for 1st win of 2024

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin FC is still hunting for its first win after three matches this season, and there’s one thing everybody can agree on.

The team needs Sebastian Driussi.

The captain and midfield maestro, runner-up for Major League Soccer MVP in 2022, has been sidelined with a hamstring injury all season. Head coach Josh Wolff didn’t think the injury would keep Driussi out this long, and even though he was on the sideline against St. Louis City FC last week, he wasn’t fit to play and Verde drew its second match of the season 2-2.

St. Louis scored a goal late to equalize, but who is to say that Austin couldn’t have scored three or four goals with its bonafide star setting his teammates up?

“He’s been involved in a lot of the training sessions this week, but he’s still questionable,” Wolff said. “He’s one of the best players in the league. We need him healthy, and in large regards, he’s the heartbeat of this team. I think the team has performed well in his absence, but we need him fit and to perform.”

Wolff took it further and said the club needs all its designated players to perform, Emiliano Rigoni and Alex Ring as the others with the special roster designation in which their large salaries don’t count against the team’s salary cap. Rigoni has generated just two shots after starting the first two matches at forward and Ring had an assist against St. Louis. He’s also serving as the team’s captain with Driussi out.

Driussi thought it was important to be with the team last week, Wolff said. Even though he knew he wasn’t playing, Driussi wanted his presence to be a source of calm and to show his teammates that he was still engaged in the game.

“He wanted to be on the bench because he’s a captain. He’s a leader,” Wolff said. “He wants to be next to his soldiers and be there as much physically and emotionally for them as he can be. He said to me he thought it was important that he was out there, and I supported that 100%.”

It’s his first year with Austin FC, but forward Diego Rubio has been in MLS long enough to know how much Driussi can impact a match. Once Driussi is healthy and back into playing shape, that should undoubtedly benefit the new striker and make Austin’s run-of-play attack more potent.

“We all know what Seba can do,” Rubio said. “Other teams don’t want to play against him. He creates space for all the players, so it’s important that he gets back.”

To Austin’s credit, they should have beat St. Louis had it not been for a stoppage-time goal and they managed a point on the road in a hostile environment in Seattle, so Verde’s time without its star hasn’t been completely wasted.

Austin hosts Philadelphia at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and the Union has had an odd week. Its March 9 home match against Seattle was suspended due to a waterlogged field following constant downpours. Philly bowed out of CONCACAF Champions Cup play Tuesday after being blasted by Mexican side Pachuca 6-0 at Estadio Hidalgo. Wolff isn’t reading into that result too much and knows the Union will be hungry to get back on track.

“They’re an experienced group and that team will be ready to play,” Wolff said. “It’s not easy to go down to Mexico and play. I’ve seen it for 25 years. It’s complex and more challenging than we give it credit for. We have to focus on the Philly that we believe is going to come here with the players they have. They’ve been very consistent over the past four, five years.”