AUSTIN (KXAN) — Haitian side Violette AC is scheduled to play its second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League in Austin on Tuesday against Austin FC, and they signed several new players to field a full team because some regular players can’t get into the U.S.
Two players from FC Motown, a National Premier Soccer League side in Morristown, New Jersey, with ties to the Haitian club will help fill in as several of Violette’s regular players had entry visas denied and won’t be allowed in the U.S. Two other players who already live in the U.S. have also been tapped to help fill out the squad, according to a report by Haitian soccer journalist Caleb Jephte Pierre.
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FC Motown confirmed on its Twitter account that defender Samuel Pompee will play for Violette, as well as midfielder Maudwindo Germain. Dumy Fede and Jude St. Louis are also joining the side to play in Austin, according to Pierre. All four players have been added to Violette AC’s roster page on the CONCACAF website and were not on the active roster for the previous match.
Pierre said Roberto Louima, Elyvens Dejean and Dany Camille — all starters in the previous match — didn’t make the trip with the team. It’s not clear how many others didn’t make the trip, but reports have said up to seven players from the first match won’t be available.
“We’re preparing ourselves, our staff and our players to compete tomorrow, just like we did when we went to the Dominican,” Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff said. “Nothing changes.”
Following Violette’s shocking 3-0 first-leg win March 7 over Austin FC at Estadio Cibao in the Dominican Republic, the club’s general manager alluded to a situation like this, saying that it had 12 members who had proper visas to travel — and that included coaches.
With Violette’s win and the aggregate scoring format of the tournament, Austin FC has to win by at least four goals to advance to the next round. The second leg kicks off at 7 p.m. from Q2 Stadium.