On Tuesday night we get the job done, and by "we" I mean Violette AC and all the CONCACAF Champions League sickos that fell head over heels for the club last Tuesday when they hammered Austin FC 3-0 in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie.
Violette check all the boxes of a memorable Cinderella and then some: They're the only Caribbean side remaining; the team's squad value of $160K is 1/320th of Austin's; prior to the first leg, they hadn't played a professional match in 10 months because of the collapse of the Haitian league; because of the lack of a suitable facility in Port-au-Prince, that opening match was played in the Dominican Republic.
Austin FC's matchup against Violette AC has introduced us to our new favourite stadium, the Estadio Cibao pic.twitter.com/qYocVAcyO0
— COPA90 (@Copa90) March 8, 2023
But what a game it was with 25-year-old forward Miche-Naider Chéry scoring a brace and the Violette fans providing a wonderful backdrop of noise — seriously, I've never heard a better supporters band in my life. The music and singing slapped.
What's more, Tuesday's return leg at Q2 Stadium in Austin (kick-off at 8 p.m. ET on FS2 and TUDN) was already going to be a fascinating encounter of Violette protecting a three-goal lead against an all-out attack from Los Verdes, but now Violette have somehow managed to become an even bigger underdog.
The club expected visa issues when traveling to the United States, and that turned out to be the case with a sizable chunk of players unable to get approved for the trip. But the show will go on because Viollete have made some emergency signings to fill out the bench at the Q2, including three players from semi-professional team FC Motown (NPSL club out of Morristown, New Jersey).
Mardoché Samuel Pompée, direction Austin pour la Ligue des Champions !
Le latéral droit devrait arriver là-bas dans le but de renforcer l’effectif du Violette AC pour le match de ce mardi.Un expérimenté de plus sur qui le VAC peut compter. pic.twitter.com/QPbuT0I0WH
— Caleb Jephte Pierre (@Caleb_Jephte) March 12, 2023
If Samuel Pompée, Fédé Dumy or Maudwindo Germain make an appearance (three FC Motown players joining Violette) and help the team advance, we'll have entered the "this needs to be a Disney+ documentary" territory.
