History for Violette, and infamy for Austin
Remember the name Violette AC.
The Haitian club posted arguably the single greatest upset in CONCACAF Champions League history, overcoming some massive disadvantages and an excellent opponent in Austin FC to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals 3-2 on aggregate.
Violette became the first Caribbean-based team to eliminate an MLS side since Trinidad and Tobago club W Connection got past the New York Red Bulls in 2009’s preliminary round.
More notably, Violette’s advancement came amid some astoundingly difficult circumstances. The Haitian side had gone 290 days without a competitive game due to political unrest preventing their domestic league from being played, yet beat Austin 3-0 at a neutral venue in the Dominican Republic last week.
Visa problems restricted numerous Violette players and staff from entering the United States for the second leg. Hudson River Blue reported that the club signed defender Mardoché Samuel Pompée and winger Maudwindo Germain from NPSL club FC Motown — both former Violette players — to stock their roster. In the end, the Haitian champions had 14 total players (and only one goalkeeper) in uniform; Pompée was reportedly not cleared in time to be in uniform, while Germain started on the right wing.
Austin, fielding 2022 MLS MVP candidate Sebastián Driussi after resting him in the first leg, piled the pressure on Violette from the start. Saves from goalkeeper Paul Robert Décius, and some narrow misses from Gyasi Zardes and Owen Wolff kept the game scoreless.
Austin’s chances seemed limitless, as they produced 18 shot attempts in the first 45 minutes. Driussi thought he had a crucial 25th minute opener, but after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was called back after Ethan Finlay was seen to handle the ball in the build-up. The star attacking midfielder would then be denied by an incredible save from Décius as the Verde kept lobbing crosses into the goalmouth from promising spots.
Austin finally changed things up with an attack through the middle, but the outcome was similar: Zardes slipped a shot past Décius in first-half stoppage time, only for an offside flag to deny him the opener.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 51st minute, as Driussi managed to at last solve Décius. It was yet another in the bombardment of crosses, with Emiliano Rigoni picking out an open Driussi for a thunderous volley from 11 yards.
Even that goal wouldn’t come completely cleanly, as a clash over the ball after it had bounced out of the back of the net saw Driussi kicked, a brief scuffle between the teams, and a VAR check all come and go before play finally resumed.
Driussi then had a seemingly clear goal blocked by Wendy St. Felix, but after so much frustration, got an absolute gift to make it 2-0.
Alex Ring’s service from a recycled corner found Driussi breaking the offside trap, but in truth, the Argentine’s header was easy work. Sadly for Décius, his brilliant performance had a momentary letdown, and an easy save slipped off his hands and over the line.
This being the CONCACAF Champions League, the strangeness ramped up from there. As Zardes pleaded his case for a penalty kick, Décius very nearly had his pocket picked by Diego Fagundez while trying to milk the clock for some precious seconds.
A VAR check over the Zardes incident lasted over four agonizing minutes, but referee Oshane Nation at last concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn his initial call. Violette maintained their narrow lead.
Austin had already thrown the kitchen sink at Violette, so the late stages had to be something along the lines of tossing anything else that wasn’t bolted down. Wolff’s sliced attempt at a side-volley left everyone in the stadium holding their breath before floating inches wide, while Driussi’s attempt at a shot from 70 yards or so was arguably less of a threat.
With Violette putting all 11 men within 30 yards of their own goal, the refereeing crew agreed to 10 minutes of stoppage time. Adam Lundqvist’s bullet of a half-volley flashed wide after a glancing deflection in traffic, while every chance Violette had to put the ball into the Q2 Stadium stands was taken.
At long last, Nation — who tacked on about 90 additional seconds due to stoppage-time knocks for Décius and several Violette players cramping up from their efforts — ended what has to go down as an all-time classic for the CCL.
[lawrence-related id=15144,15180,15148]
