The Daily Kickoff

Your Wednesday Kickoff: Austin-Violette was a CCL upset for the ages

J. Sam Jones

What you need to know

Austin FC fall in historic CCL upset

The Verde & Black were part of arguably the biggest upset in Concacaf Champions League history, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Haitian side Violette AC despite winning their Round-of-16 second leg 2-0 behind Sebastián Driussi’s second-half brace.

Philadelphia Union advance in CCL after dominating Alianza FC at home

The Philadelphia Union became the first MLS team to book their spot in the 2023 Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals Tuesday night, trouncing Alianza FC of El Salvador 4-0 at Subaru Park after playing to a scoreless draw in last week's Round-of-16 first leg. They’ll face Liga MX’s Atlas, who pulled off an absurd comeback against Olimpia last night, winning 4-0 to advance 5-4 on aggregate.

CCL continues tonight

Vancouver start things off by defending a 5-0 aggregate lead on the road at Real Espana. Kick is set for 6 pm ET. Then, tonight’s main event begins at 8:15 pm ET as Orlando City look to upset Tigres. The Lions enter needing a win after a 0-0 draw in the first leg. And, finally, LAFC look to close out their Round of 16 matchup against Alajuelense with a stress-free home defense of a 3-0 lead. Kick is at 10:30 pm ET. Check out the full schedule here.

MLS NEXT Pro unveils 2023 season schedule with new playoff format

MLS NEXT Pro on Tuesday revealed details about its sophomore 2023 season, which kicks off on March 24 and will feature seven new teams as well as an expanded playoff format. Nearly every regular-season match, plus all Decision Day matches, playoff matches and MLS NEXT Pro Cup, will be streamed live on MLS Season Pass via the Apple TV app. Those matches not available on MLS Season Pass will be streamed live on mlsnextpro.com.

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CCL reviews and previews

Ok. deep breaths here. I promised myself this whole thing wasn’t going to be just about dunking on Austin. Dear reader, let me tell you, that is going to be tough. But you and I both need to keep in mind there’s even more CCL excitement to come tonight. We can’t only look back. Even if it's tempting to turn around and stare at the person who just dropped and subsequently exploded a two-liter of Coke in the grocery store so you can be happy (it wasn’t you/see if you can help), they probably would just rather everyone ignored them for a bit. We’ll give them some time and start with…

Told ya

Yesterday we talked (confidently) about how the Union seemed to be in prime position to take care of business against Alianza. They did exactly that and set themselves up for a quarterfinal matchup with Liga MX’s Atlas.

Yeah, last night’s result for the Union could be described as expected. But then again, not everything is given in CCL is it Au—oh no, I said I wouldn’t, let’s move on quickly.

Vancouver and LAFC just really need to do absolutely nothing

The Whitecaps and LAFC have the benefit of taking huge leads into their second-leg meetings tonight. Vancouver crushed Real Espana 5-0 in the first leg, and LAFC put in an impressive shift on the road at Alajuelense, winning 3-0. All they have to do tonight is keep things from spiraling into a total disaster. That’s, of course, easier said than done, isn’t it Au—ah, man, oops, sorry, let’s just move this along again, please.

Orlando City go for something special

The Lions did exactly what they needed to in the first-leg matchup with Tigres. With almost everyone doubting their ability to go up against a Liga MX superpower, Orlando, still integrating new pieces into their system, locked things down enough to earn a 0-0 draw. Now, they have a genuine chance to pull off the upset.

We know, in general, Orlando will come to play defensively. If anything, they haven’t exactly been prone to falling into chaotic games that are must-see for neutrals. They’ll want everything as steady as possible and Oscar Pareja will probably have them prepared enough to keep it that way. That task has even gotten a little easier thanks to the fact star striker André-Pierre Gignac won’t be available for Tigres tonight.

Please note I said easier, not easy. This is still one of the most talented teams in the region. But, so far, Orlando haven’t been totally overwhelmed by that. It feels like they’ll be able to keep this close. The question is whether or not they can string enough together in attack to actually make “close” matter. They need a win tonight. Or they need to keep things at 0-0 and pray for some penalty luck. The winning-outright thing is the more efficient option here.

For a team that’s scored just once from open play through their first four games and has generated the lowest open play xG of any team in MLS so far, that might be asking a lot. It doesn’t necessarily feel likely their attack will suddenly click against one of this competition’s favorites, but they don’t even really need it to necessarily. This is a “by any means necessary” situation where a set-piece goal or a clumsily earned penalty all counts the same. All that anyone will remember is that they pulled off the upset. Kind of like…………..…………………………………………………………

Kind of like Violette did against Austin?

KIND OF LIKE VIOLETTE DID AGAINST AUSTIN.

Look, I’m not trying to make Austin feel any worse about this than they already do, but we have to take stock of what we just saw there. I’ve been trying to come up with a comparison for how big an upset this actually was and I think I’ve gone somewhere past Appalachian State beating Michigan and ended up near Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson and the Miracle on Ice. I mean, we’re talking about a Violette team that barely even exists due to the current issues in Haiti, hasn’t played a full league season in years and needed to pull absolute randoms in from other teams to fill out their roster last night.

The Miracle on Ice feels somewhat apt due to it being a bunch of college kids beating a team of pros. But that feels too serious. What if we’re looking at something even more ridiculous? Like that time the Washington Generals, the team specifically designed to lose to the Harlem Globetrotters, accidentally won a game back in 1971. That hasn’t happened since then. If we played this one out 51 years in a row in these exact same conditions, Violette probably get a few more wins, but, like, how many more? I’m only kind of joking. That’s not to discredit Violette at all, by the way, it’s more to point out how incredible the thing they just pulled off actually is.

Anyway, there might be some recency bias in my judgment here. There’s no denying we saw something truly spectacular over the last week though. Something that only feels like it could happen in soccer where the game-changing moments that so rarely occur can occur in an instant and not entirely on purpose.

Now, Austin need to move on as quickly as possible. And they likely will. But you do kind of have to wonder how much this might be in the back of their minds going forward. That can either be a motivational tool or a panic-inducing stressor activated in critical moments. Either way, we’ll be talking about this one for a long, long time.

Other Things

Four-team groups and more games confirmed for 2026 World Cup: Details around the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America have more clarity after Tuesday’s FIFA Council Meeting. The expanded 48-team tournament, co-hosted across the US, Canada and Mexico, will include 104 games (up from 64) and 12 groups of four teams. See the full list of changes here.

Seattle Sounders guaranteed spot in expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: Seattle will have one of Concacaf’s four spots in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup that begins in 2025, news that arrived following Tuesday’s FIFA Council Meeting. Winners of the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 CCL competitions will qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 – creating additional pathways for MLS teams to reach the global stage.

Insigne to miss Toronto FC's next 3-4 games with groin injury: Lorenzo Insigne will miss Toronto FC’s next 3-4 league matches. That timeline could keep the Italian international forward out through mid-April, reportedly re-aggravating his groin injury last week while preparing for TFC’s home opener. Insigne’s initial setback occurred in TFC’s season-opening loss at D.C. United on Feb. 25, exiting during the first half on a non-contact play.

Toronto FC add defender Gutiérrez via waivers: Toronto FC have claimed defender Cristián Gutiérrez off waivers from Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Gutiérrez, 26, joins Toronto after spending the past three seasons with Vancouver, where he supplied six assists across 42 regular-season games.

USMNT-Mexico friendly set for April in inaugural Allstate Continental Clásico: The US-Mexico rivalry will play out once again on April 19 in Glendale, Ariz., for the inaugural Allstate Continental Clásico. An annual event created to test the US men's national team against top-level opposition from North, Central or South America, the Allstate Continental Clásico kicks off this year with the USMNT facing their biggest arch-nemesis on the international stage.

USMNT beat Mexico for Club América winger Zendejas: Alejandro Zendejas will be wearing the Stars and Stripes on a permanent basis. The US men's national team and Zendejas announced Tuesday the Mexican-born dual citizen has formally committed to the USMNT, after representing both countries at the senior level in recent years. With Zendejas 100 percent on board, the Club América winger appears all but assured of a call-up for this month's international window that will see the US face Grenada (March 24) and El Salvador (March 27) in the Concacaf Nations League.

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