The last time Nico Estévez stood on the sidelines of Toyota Stadium, he watched his FC Dallas team draw 3-3 at home to Real Salt Lake.
Three away games later, Estévez was dismissed as head coach.
Now the head coach of Austin FC, the coach prepares to return to Toyota Stadium, not coaching the home team anymore, but as a rival.
“It’s always special to go to a place where you’ve lived, raised your kids, worked there, had a lot of days working with a lot of nice people around and also the games there with the fans and some moments we remember,” Estévez said in a press conference on Wednesday. “You always try to remember the positive ones, the ones where we’re good and everyone was happy. It’s a great feeling to go to a place where you and your family had a good time.”
Saturday’s game is not only a reunion for Estévez or a rivalry for the fans and teams, but a second chance for both teams to settle the score after their earlier match this season ended in a 1-1 draw on Aug. 16.
In that tie, midfielder Owen Wolff was able to score the equalizer with a header from defender Mikkel Desler’s cross. These same plays will be crucial to any success that the Verde and Black will have with the shape that FC Dallas plays.
Based on the Austin FC Aug. 16 game, the team would have to rely on excellence to move the ball quickly enough to break FC Dallas’s predicted defensive shape of five defenders and four midfielders.
Nicolás Dubersarsky has been back in the starting lineup since an Aug. 30 game against San Jose. The midfielder’s defensive presence will be key in unlocking Wolff in the attacking third, hoping to continue an impressive run of form that totals eight goal contributions in the last seven games.
The game can also result in major playoff implications. With five teams in between them in the standings, an Austin FC win would push the Verde and Black closer to securing their playoff spot. A Dallas win would close the gap between them and ninth, the lowest seed to qualify for the playoffs.
“For Dallas being at home, trying to get into the playoff hunt, I definitely think you’ll see more tenacity, more intensity as the game goes,” goalkeeper Brad Stuver said.
With the intensity that will come from such a game, and for Wolff and Dubersarsky to find their successes, the team as a whole will have to perform at a higher level than it has during away games. For their six wins on the road, the Verde and Black have also lost seven, compared to their five wins and two losses at home.
“Now we have the opportunity to add another win, and in this moment, … having only six games to play, every win puts you closer to the objective,” Estévez said. “It puts you closer to what everyone wants. This is why that win against Kansas was really important for us because it gives us an opportunity to be in a good position to attack the next six games.”
Estévez’s return to FC Dallas — and the second showdown of the season between the Texas teams — will take place on Saturday with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
