Soccer <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a time-honored ritual at many training grounds around the soccer world, one outsiders don\u2019t usually get to witness \u2013 not unless club social-media accounts give us a peek into that inner sanctum, at least.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Sometimes called \u2018the gauntlet,\u2019 it\u2019s how birthdays are celebrated or the injured are welcomed back to the squad after long periods away while recuperating. Players form two rows, then happily slap their teammates about the head and shoulders as they trot down the line of honor. It tends to be both playful and a bit painful, a physical manifestation of the banter and bonding of a typical locker room.<\/p>\n
Those smacks represented something profoundly sweet for\u00a0Brandon Vazquez<\/a> when the doctors cleared him to rejoin his Austin FC<\/a> comrades earlier this spring \u2013 a major milestone on the long, agonizing road back from the torn ACL (knee) that left him sprawled in agony on the pitch during a US Open Cup<\/a> match at San Jose<\/a>\u2019s PayPal Park last July<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vazquez passed another, even bigger one at Q2 Stadium last Sunday, entering ATX\u2019s 2-0 home win<\/a> over\u00a0St. Louis CITY SC<\/a> to a loud ovation nearly 300 days after that life-changing injury.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve been visualizing this moment for a long time,\u201d Vazquez told reporters<\/a> postgame, \u201cjust grinding through every day, pretty much, to get here.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to be back with the team, being able to step back onto the field and hearing the stadium go crazy, it was an amazing feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n BV Returns. \ud83e\uddb8\u200d\u2642\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/I7HfjZt5bu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Austin FC (@AustinFC) May 3, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n ACL: It\u2019s one of the most dreaded acronyms in sports, particularly soccer, where the surgical reconstruction and harrowing nine-to-12-month rehabilitation process has become all too familiar. In the women\u2019s game, it\u2019s grown so common as to spawn the term \u2018ACL club,\u2019 with former NWSL player Jordan Angeli launching a support group with the same name to help those struggling through the psychological aspects of recovery.<\/p>\n Even for Vazquez, whose career has led him on a winding journey from his childhood in Chula Vista, California to Club Tijuana, on to Atlanta United<\/a>, then FC Cincinnati<\/a> and Mexican giants CF Monterrey before landing him in central Texas as a much-anticipated Designated Player last year<\/a>, it was an unprecedented undertaking.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s definitely the hardest one that I’ve had to deal with,\u201d the Mexican-American striker, nicknamed \u2018Superman,\u2019 told MLSsoccer.com during Austin\u2019s preseason camp at the Coachella Valley Invitational.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s been a really long injury mentally, has been very, really challenging. But I try to be an optimist and try to take the best out of every chapter and every challenge that I have in life. So, it’s been really hard. But I\u2019ve got to keep growing and keep improving myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 MLS Espa\u00f1ol (@MLSes) May 3, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n The slow, painful, methodical rebuilding of strength and flexibility is a quietly torturous, deeply personal gauntlet unto itself. Vazquez worked out on his own with physical therapist Mauricio Elizondo and the rest of the club\u2019s medical staff, day after day, for months on end at St. David\u2019s Performance Center, Austin\u2019s training facility. He\u2019d sometimes see his team out on the field but was unable to join in, only occasionally crossing paths with teammates, given words of advice and encouragement from those who\u2019d lived similar experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of days where I finished rehab,\u201d Vazquez told AustinFC.com<\/a>, \u201cand cried on my way home.\u201d<\/p>\n His wife Jessie and their young son Luca \u2013 \u201cthe light of our lives,\u201d in Brandon\u2019s words \u2013 were both solace and motivation, even if he admits to moments of frustration when his body limited his capacity to play with his kid and contribute around the house like he wanted.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mental aspect, definitely,\u201d Vazquez told Apple TV’s Antonella Gonz\u00e1lez in Spanish before Sunday’s match when asked about the most difficult aspect of his recovery. \u201cThere were some very difficult days. So the consistency of staying positive, of showing up with the discipline to push myself every single day and be the best version of myself, that was the hardest part.<\/p>\n “My family, my wife and son, having them by my side has been the very best thing for me; they take my mind off the pain and everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 MLS Espa\u00f1ol (@MLSes) May 3, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Spare a thought for Austin head coach Nico Est\u00e9vez, who has the unenviable task of keeping Vazquez on the \u201ccautious\u201d fitness plan carefully laid out by the club\u2019s performance staff. His involvement on Sunday was restricted to 15 minutes, a number the big striker will surely be eager to push in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n The Verde & Black visit in-form Minnesota United FC<\/a> in the first half of a Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental doubleheader this weekend (7 pm ET |\u00a0Apple TV<\/a>), travel to\u00a0San Diego FC<\/a> at midweek before facing Sporting Kansas City<\/a>, then face St. Louis again in their final match before the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> break.<\/p>\n For a goal-shy side who struggled along for nearly two months without a victory before reeling off back-to-back wins these past two matchdays, there\u2019s finally real reason for optimism as Vazquez returns, along with key midfielders Owen Wolff<\/a> and Dani Pereira<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we all know that there are things we still need to work on, but the team looks better and better with every match,\u201d Vazquez told Gonz\u00e1lez. \u201cThe quality of the players we have is incredible, so I believe that once the pieces fall into place, we\u2019ll undoubtedly be flying.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Grueling recovery<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Mental grind<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Attacking boost<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n