Texas Based Players called up for Copa America

Four players based in Texas will be playing in this year’s Copa America which gets underway on Thursday night.

Adalberto Carrasquilla of Houston Dynamo will represent Panama and Julio Cascante of Austin FC will represent Costa Rica. Jamaica will have two USL Championship players in Jahmali White from El Paso Locomotive and Kevon Lambert of San Antonio FC who received a late call up after Leon Bailey declined the call up.

Jahmali White will likely not see much action, brought in as a back up goalkeeper, but he has played six games for the Reggae Boyz, although only one of those has come in a competitive international. He is joined by fellow Texas team player Kevon Lambert, who came in as the 27^th man. Lambert was something of a surprise call up, despite holding 25 caps he has not played for Jamaica since 2020. That may lead to the USL Championship fans in Texas being frustrated at losing two important players for such a vital stage of the season but not seeing any action for Jamaica.

Adalberto Carrasquilla has become a crucial part of the Panama side in recent years, since his first appearance in 2018. Now holding 54 caps he will be heavily used in the tournament. Carrasquilla is in career best form for Panama, winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup golden ball award for being the best player in the tournament, he will be eager to produce again against harder opposition.

The final Texas based player in the Copa America is Julio Cascante who has used an impressive season with Austin FC to start firmly establishing himself in the Costa Rican national team. After making his debut back in 2015 it took until 2023 when he was doing well for Austin to make his way back to the side and he’s been hard to remove, playing eight games since returning to the set up.

Beyond just seeing their players involved Texans will also get plenty of opportunities to see the tournament, hosting 8 games throughout the Copa America including two quarter-finals.

The first of those matches will be June 21^st with Peru taking on Chile at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Jamaica’s pair of Texas based players will feel at home with two of their three group stage matches being played in Texas, against Mexico at NRG Stadium in Houston and against Venezuela at Q2 Stadium in Austin.

The tournament gets underway in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium tomorrow night when defending champions Argentina take on debutants Canada.

Off the ball movement providing San Antonio FC with opportunities

SAN ANTONIO – It may have been a frustrating match on Saturday against Orange County SC as San Antonio FC had to settle for a scoreless draw but there were some good opportunities from the hosts that should be pointed out.

Most of San Antonio’s good work came with players off the ball making smart runs, that either put them into space or fooled the defense.

Some smart movement from Juan Agudelo in the 36^th minute created the space for a cross.

Agudelo cuts inside, with five OCSC defenders covering the space, that tricks all the coverage to run and cover the open space in the middle of the park (in orange).  That then leaves a ton of space open for Shannon Gomez to run in to.

That then allows Gomez to get the cross away but his service wasn’t good enough to create a clear chance.

Agudelo did the same again on a second half free kick.

His run centrally pushes three defenders towards him, that leaves Taintor free for the shot which is well saved.

The same good work off the ball was happening on the opposite end of the pitch.

With a player central for Orange County it would have been easy for Trova Bomi to cover the man, but he trusts his team mate and runs to cover the short ball in, which is a smart move as he blocks and then clears the shot.

It wasn’t all perfect though, and San Antonio should have been punished for falling for the same trap it had been laying all match in the 73^rd minute.

Some good work from Orange Country sucked the SAFC defense centrally and allowed for a through-ball to Ethan Zubak but he shot right at Pablo Sisniega.

There just weren’t enough moments for San Antonio FC to get the goal they needed but on the whole the movement off the ball is there. Alen Marcina insists things will click and this was a good sign that he’s right.

Matildas set to experiment against Mexico

SAN ANTONIO — Australia manager Tony Gustavsson may not like the word “experiment” but that’s exactly what he’ll be doing as the Matildas take on Mexico at Toyota Field on Tuesday night (7 p.m. tickets available here).

It’s been a two week camp for the Australians to prepare for this match, which has been very useful with so many players out injured, it has forced an adjustment in plans ahead of the Olympic Games.

“We did something different this time. We actually played a couple of closed door scrimmages. I can’t tell you too much about that,” said Gustavsson. “But it was a massive opportunity for us to try different things; different players ,different tactics, different game management staff, in a closed door environment to not reveal too much going into the Olympics. So the preparation in this camp has been almost only about us and trying things we feel we need to fix.”

For captain Steph Catley this training period has been crucial ahead of a big year for her side.

“Yeah, it’s been brilliant. Like I said, it’s unusual to get this kind of time to train together and get things that we wouldn’t normally do,” said Catley. “They’re able to do it a lot and train a lot and work on things that we haven’t been able to without the presence of the game and sort of stress and preparing for a game. So it’s been really nice as new players come in and do really well.”

Part of that involved getting out as a team and getting to enjoy the city of San Antonio and on an auspicious day.

“San Antonio is fantastic Yeah, I went for a walk with my colleagues last night and just embraced the atmosphere and in a nice environment there and then today it was a bit different experience obviously with Eclipse,” said Gustavsson. “We’re all standing out on the finding a spot where we can see through the cloud or the big buildings and the clouds and it’s been a very good experience so far.”

Mexico creates an interesting prospect for Australia, a team they haven’t seen in almost 20 years, this will allow for some good preparation for Paris.

“Mexico as an opposition helps us prepare against a team that is very variable organized but also very aggressive. I’m actually impressed about their pressing game against top opposition looking at the Gold Cup games as well. For us to see what can we do with the ball against a team that is not just organized but also are very, very aggressive in pressing. So we’re working on that to see how we can break down an organized pressing team,” said Gustavsson. “I’ve said it before so many times in the World Cup. We were one of the top three teams in the world breaking the last line but we have worked a lot on breaking the first and second line with more control so can we do that and it’s such a pressing team integral probably going to custom commonly it depends on losing the ball and someone will areas at times but we need to try now where we are in that process. We’ve done it against all blocks and done it well.”

“I think that’s why we play against competition then we wouldn’t normally all the time. So then when you come into major tournaments and we have come up against a team like Mexico. We’re ready for it and we’ve played against that sort of style, that sort of aggression. And they really are building something special as a team,” said Catley. “So it’s gonna be tough for us to play against a team like that. And like Tony said, where we’re playing a brave style and it’s new for some players and new in some areas and playing against a team their process the way that they do and it’s organized the way that they are. It’s difficult and that’s why we put ourselves in situations to get out on top and feel confident in the way that we played against Mexico.”

Another factor that makes this a difficult match for the Matildas is the injury crisis the team is going for with many players unavailable for selection in this camp.

“Obviously with a lot of plays unavailable coming into this camp, I think it might be one of the one of the most challenging camps going into with players not available for selection either go into camp,” said Gustavsson. “And we then try to twist that I looked at that as an opportunity instead to say Okay, now we’ll get the chance to look at some other plays, tests, test our depth in the roster. And also look at some plays in different positions because common selection for a limited roster you need to have to cover in each position”

With potentially three debutants against Mexico there’s been a lot of things for Australia to try out.

“We have looked at different plays in different positions to see how they can cope and manage that where we might not be able to test all that tomorrow. So when I make decisions on a roster and selections and such a basis it as much of training content as I do in games,” said Gustavsson. “So it’s not just what you see against Mexico tomorrow, or what you saw against Canada or the qualifiers that’s going to dictate selection. It’s also what players do in training environments. But I think a couple of players have impressed me. A couple of new players have been able to adjust quickly to this tempo. And some players have had struggle with it, and that’s normal.”

Mexico will be on a high from their win over the US and the chance to add another major win to the shelf, but it’s clear Australia isn’t taking anything for granted.

New Era Dawns for San Antonio FC

SAN ANTONIO — After a long offseason it’s almost time for San Antonio FC to begin their assault on the 2024 USL Championship, which kicks off at Toyota Field on Saturday night.

While there’s no change to ownership or the coaching staff, Head Coach Alen Marcina has signaled that 2024 marks a change for the club, beginning a new era. This, coupled with an odd US Open Cup format shapes to make 2024 a year of change for the club and one that may shift how fans think about the club and the sport.

Previously Marcina has insisted on playing long balls, having his speedy attackers run in behind, and built on a stout defense. “We don’t care about possession” was a common refrain from the Canadian. But 2024 looms differently, Marcina has said that he expects the team to focus more on retaining possession, on building up rather than doing a smash and grab (read Jonathan Check’s brilliant look at this here). It remains to be seen if his “chaos creators” catch phrase of 2023 will also go away but no doubt the “mentality monsters” cliché will always apply to the club.

That was something fans noticed with the only open-door friendly of pre-season, the 2-0 win over Antigua. It was hard to miss, it’s something drastically different to how San Antonio FC has played in the last two seasons and immediately got attention. The good sign is, that with only a few weeks of pre-season the players were already familiar with the change in style.

Marcina has sometimes faced criticism (including from this outlet) for a lack of flexibility, plan b was often to do plan a harder. That led to teams figuring out San Antonio FC, especially in the middle of last season. As a result this new style makes SAFC more dynamic, and being more dynamic makes you harder to beat, on top of that your opponents can’t win if they don’t have the ball. One could argue that there might be more draws with this style, but that’s not necessarily true, Marcina will likely still play a high-press, but the draw has underrated importance in a regular season schedule anyway.

Of course part of this change in system has been necessitated by the high-profile outs that happened to the club in the off-season. Tani Oluwaseyi and Sam Adeniran have both had phenomenal starts to their 2024 Major League Soccer seasons which leaves a gap up front. There is some notable recruitment there in the familiar face of Luis Solignac returning from El Paso and Juan Agudelo, the former USMNT man. Add in Kameron Lacey and the returning Santiago Patino and the club may have the most depth up front it’s ever had.

The opposite end of the park has had some more dramatic departures. Fan favorite Jordan Farr has left for the Tampa Bay Rowdies which has left a big hole in goal, although Farr had clearly fallen out of favor at the end of last season. Also leaving in the backline are Connor Maloney, who is now on his well earned retirement and Fabien Garcia who the club released in January.

There was some nervousness about that gap in goal, but the club has two interesting options now in Pablo Sisniega who will be determined to revive his floundering career and Kendall McIntosh being brought in from Sporting Kansas City who fell out of their set up at the end of last year.

Defensively Austrian Richard Windbichler has joined from Chengdu Rongcheng in the Chinese Super League. The defender had a torrid time in the A-League with Melbourne City but seemed to have found his level in China, he’ll bring useful experience. He will be joined by Kendall Burks who comes in from Chicago Fire’s reserves, but has always been on the fringes, a good season here could be massive for his career and Marcina will give him chances.

On top of all of this there’s a real chance at a deep run in the US Open Cup. With the disgraceful behavior of Major League Soccer only eight of those clubs have joined the competition, it likely means San Antonio will join the tournament even later than normal. That may force an early match up against defending Champions Houston Dynamo it’s a much shorter path to the Champions League and one that SAFC would do well to make an honest effort yet.

As usual ahead of the first match of the season there’s more questions than answers, but Saturday will see some of those questions begin to be answered.

Away goal sends Houston through to CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16

HOUSTON – A 1-0 win at Shell Energy Stadium was enough for Houston Dynamo to advance to the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16, defeating St. Louis City on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw.

That made Sebastian Kowlczyk’s goal in St. Louis last week the crucial goal in the tie so it was fitting that he sent the ball into the box for the winner. On the hour mark his free-kick found Erik Sviatchenko who brought it down for Daniel Steres, returning the favor, cutting the ball back to Sviatchenko to hit a perfectly placed shot.

Having home advantage for the second leg is often a crucial factor in a two-legged tie and that was something Dynamo Head Coach Ben Olsen pointed to post match.

“We have a busy calendar, but this team expects to win at home. At times, that means we must show some resiliency, and that is part of the culture we want to build in Houston. We want Shell Energy Stadium to be a tough place to play, and that’s regardless of how much time we have in-between games.”

Dynamo was largely on top through the match, getting its first chance in the 11^th minute through Brad Smith’s cross to Gabe Segal but the effort was saved.

It wasn’t all plain sailing though, Steve Clark had to bail out his defense in the 26^th minute after a giveaway in the box. That allowed former San Antonio man Sam Adeniran to get a shot away at the near post that was well saved before he dealt with the follow up.

In the 34^th minute a double-chance fell to Houston with a Jan Gregus shot from distance spilled and falling to Kowalczyk whose shot was saved.

Adeniran nearly opened the scoring for the visitors in the 55^th minute as he was racing clean through on goal only to be denied by Ethan Bartlow’s covering run which blocked the shot, which would be the last clear chance for St. Louis.

Houston Dynamo will face Columbus Crew in the Round of 16, playing the first leg at home next Wednesday.

All photos courtesy Houston Dynamo

Texans Abroad Week of February 16 2024

February 16 2024

Belgian Pro League

KVC Westerlo 2:1 Standard Liege

Bryan Reynolds played a full 90 at right back but struggled to have a major impact as Westerlo defeated Standard Liege to leapfrog them in to 10^th place.

Dutch Eerste Divisie

Willem II 2:1 ADO Den Haag

Justin Che started and played the first half but was substituted after a difficult performance, losing possession 15 times. The loss dropped ADO to third place, out of the automatic promotion places.

English Premier League 2, Division 1

Norwich City U21 3:3 Fulham U21

Devan Tanton played a full 90 at right back for Fulham, receiving a yellow card in the 38^th minute in an entertaining draw. The result dropped Fulham to 5^th place behind a resurgent Liverpool.

February 17 2024

Turkish Kadinlar Ligi

Fenerbahce Istanbul 2:1 ALG Spor

Haley Lanier Berg was involved as Fenerbahce managed a win to keep a stranglehold on the league title.

English League Championship

Bristol City 0:1 Queen’s Park Rangers

Reggie Cannon was an unused substitute as QPR managed a vital road win. The result kept QPR in 22^nd place, but closed the gap on 21^st Millwall, and safety from relegation, to one point.

German 2.Bundesliga

Hansa Rostock 2:2 Hamburg SV

Nils Froling played 72 minutes as part of a five man midfield. He won 75 percent of his duels and played a strong role defensively in the draw with promotion hunting HSV. The draw kept Rostock in 17^th, a relegation place, but closed the gap to 15^th Braunschweig, and safety, to one point.

St. Pauli 1:0 Eintracht Braunschweig

Johan Gomez played 69 minutes up front for Braunschweig, managing an 88 percent passing accuracy but didn’t manage to get a shot away as his side fell to league leaders St. Pauli. The loss kept Braunschweig in 15^th place, just one point clear of the relegation playoff place.

Spanish La Liga 2

Espanyol 3:0 Mirandes

Jonathan Gomez played a full 90 at left back for Mirandes and won 66 percent of his duels, making two clearances.  The loss dropped Mirandes to 15^th place.

English League Two

Bradford City 1:0 Sutton United

Jonathan Tomkinson played a full 90 at the left of a back three for Bradford, receiving a yellow card in first half stoppage time for a bad foul. The win kept the Bantams in 13^th place

February 18 2024

Mexican Liga MX

Monterrey 0:0 Toluca

Mauricio Andre Isais was an unused substitute as Toluca was held to a scoreless draw by Monterrey. The result pushed Toluca down to eighth place.

Pumas UNAM 3:0 Santos Laguna

Santiago Munoz played 69 minutes up front for Santos Laguna but failed to have a shot, and had one key pass as his side suffered a heavy defeat. The loss pushed Santos Laguna down to to 14^th place.

Argentine Copa de Liga Profesional

River Plate 1:1 Banfield

Ramiro Funes Mori was an unused substitute as River Plate was held to a 1-1 draw by Banfield. The result dropped River Plate to second place behind Independiente.

February 20 2024

CONCACAF Gold Cup W

Mexico 0:0 Argentina

Kimberly Rodriguez was an unused substitute as Mexico and Argentina played out a scoreless draw. The result sees Mexico in third place in the group stage.

February 21 2024

CONCACAF Gold Cup W

Panama 0:6 Colombia

Angela Baron was an unused substitute as Colombia managed a big victory over Panama to shoot to the top of Group B.

Mexican Liga MX

Toluca 1:0 Santos Laguna

Mauricio Andre Isais was an unused substitute for Toluca, while Santiago Munoz played the first half, starting up front. Munoz struggled, registering no shots and only having 14 touches as Toluca defeated a struggling Santos side. The result kept Toluca in eighth place while Santos Laguna dropped to 16^th.

English Football League Trophy Semifinal

Bradford City 0:1 Wycombe Wanderers

Jonathan Tomkinson played 89 minutes on the left side of Bradford’s back three before being substituted. He managed 3 clearances, 1 interception and 1 block. Tomkinson’s substitution meant he was off the field when Wycombe scored a 90^th minute winner to stop Bradford booking a trip to Wembley for the final.

USMNT January camp concludes with Toyota Field loss

SAN ANTONIO — The United States Men’s National team capped it’s first camp of 2024 with a 1-0 loss against Slovenia in front of a Toyota Field record crowd of 9191. The result was the first time any senior United States team has lost in San Antonio.

Both teams fielded seven debutants in their starting 11s, setting out to get vital experience ahead of the Copa America and the Euros this year.

Slovenia opened the scoring in the 26^th minute through it’s speed with Nejc Gradisar running on to get a through-ball behind the US defense. He forced Patrick Schulte off his line and placed it perfectly in to the bottom right corner of the net. The goal was the first the US Men have ever conceded in San Antonio.

It was an end-to-end start to the match, with no worries of the usual problems of summer matches at Toyota Field the 40 degree weather encouraged a free-flowing game. The first shot came through Aidan Morris, who tried to take advantage of Igor Vekic out of position in the eighth minute but the ball’s bounce made for a hard shot that he sent wide.

Jan Repas and Timi Max Elsnik were threats for the Slovenes, looking pacey up front. For the USA Timmy Tillman’s skill on the ball was showing throughout while DeJuan Jones looked to use his speed on the left going forward; that sometimes led to space opening up for Repas to take advantage of but the team’s defensive coverage quickly made up for that.

Only stunning goalkeeping kept Slovenia ahead on the half-hour mark. A good run from Brian White had him behind the defense, he unselfishly laid off for Tillman, whose shot was saved by Igor Vekic. The rebound fell to Joshua Atencio outside the box but his shot was denied by a defensive block.

Tillman continued to be active, creating opportunities over and over for his side but couldn’t get the US ahead and the sides went into the sheds with Slovenia 1-0 up.

Shaq Moore came out of the half determined to close the gap. He headed wide from a corner in the 55^th minute before shooting into the keepers’ arms one minute later but he was taken off on the hour mark.

Matjaz Kek abandoned his preferred 4-4-2, making defensive changes to try and hold on for the win.

Slovenia nearly iced it in the 70^th minute when the hosts failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Luka Vesner Ticic but his shot was too close to Schulte allowing him to save.

Schulte was at his best in the 75^th minute when he reached out at full stretch to save Danijel Sturm’s free kick from the edge of the penalty area.

With time running out the United States pushed hard for an equalizer, which nearly came in the 77^th minute when Esmir Bajraktarevic shot narrowly wide. The US was passing with fluidity and in the 81^st minute maybe should have had that equalizer when the ball was sent to a wide open John Tolkin only for him to shoot wide, which happened again one minute later.

One eye on the future for Gregg Berhalter

SAN ANTONIO – The United States Men’s National Team takes on Slovenia at Toyota Field on Saturday afternoon and at Friday’s final training session the team looked well connected as they focus on the future.

For Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, the match against Slovenia is the cap to a period of vital preparation for 2024.

“When we sat down with the players and staff on the first day of camp, we set out with objectives, what we’re looking to achieve in this camp. And I can say that, we’re on track for all of them. And now it’s about finishing up the camp with a strong performance.”

It’s hard to ignore the shadow of 2026, and a home World Cup, and there is certainly a long term plan towards that squad in this one.

“I think this is an opportunity for all the players to show that they want to stake a claim to be part of the roster in 2026,” said the Head Coach. “Knowing that for two and a half years out this is the beginning for some of those players. Knowing that we do have two and a half years they’re going to mature but really make an impression on the coaching staff.”

With 17 players looking for their first cap in Saturday’s match, the camp has been a good opportunity for Berhalter and his staff to look at who would be a fit, on and off the pitch for the USMNT going forward.

“Part of the objectives was to compete in every single training session to get maximum effort in every single training session, to really become acquainted with the US Men’s National Team program; represent our culture and then finally, the plan is to teach the way identity to a whole new group of players.”

The goalkeeper position has garnered a lot of attention, with the starter guaranteed to be uncapped, and ESPN’s article yesterday, but that’s not something alarming to the Coach.

“I know lots has been made of the goalkeeper situation,” he said. “But we see that differently. There has been moments in US Soccer history where our number one goalie hasn’t been getting regular time. And that’s just part of the ebb and flow but we’re supporting our guys the whole goalkeeper pool and trying to help them in any way possible. But in terms of tomorrow, the goalkeeper will be an uncapped player and we’re looking forward to seeing something new. It’s been I think a bootcamp to goalkeepers in general.”

Toyota Field is a unique prospect for the US Men’s National Team, it’s been the smallest field the USA has played a home match at in Berhalter’s tenure. That environment has provided something that the American boss is excited for.

“Walking out in the field. See the compactness the tightness of the stadium the fields in great condition. I’m really excited about this opportunity for the group to play a great atmosphere, to kick off 2024”

READ MORE: Several debutants to start international careers in San Antonio

Slovenia can be predictable, knowing Matajz Kek’s style means the team will almost certainly run out in a 4-4-2. But, like the US, they have 17 debutants which has made scouting difficult.

“So personnel wise we see what their roster has been doing with their clubs, but collectively, it’s it was obviously challenging,” said Berhalter. “A lot more going on is this coach and his style and, you know, trying to you know, trying to figure out what they can potentially do, but I think part of adapting and part of you know, having to deal with it.”

But, of course, there is still a match, one that fans will expect a result for, “The first thing is winning is important,” said Berhalter, before giving some insight into how things may play out tomorrow. “But aside from that, you know, we’ve been working on a number of things from a midblock defensive shape to some attacking rotations and it’d be nice to see how that plays out on the field tomorrow.”