¡Vamos Verde!

Austin FC’s captain Ilie Sanchez talks about his departure from Barcelona’s bubble, his relationship with then-Barça B manager Luis Enrique, and the decisions that led him to Major League Soccer and Austin.

The full transcript of this episode of ¡Vamos Verde! is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

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Jimmy Maas [00:00:36] Welcome back to Vamos Verde. I’m Jimmy Moss. And I’m Juan Garcia. A tough weekend one for Austin FC, losing on the road to Seattle.

Juan Garcia [00:00:44] Not the result you’d want, but…

Jimmy Maas [00:00:46] Seattle’s got a sound, you know? They do, they do.

Juan Garcia [00:00:49] They really do. But you know, this week they’ll take on LAFC, the second leg of playing two teams theoretically pushed to their limits in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Jimmy Maas [00:01:00] Yeah, the Seattle of course, last weekend’s opponent, they lost to PSG, Atlético Madrid and the Brazilian power.

Juan Garcia [00:01:10] LAFC tied Flamengo, lost to ES Tunis and Chelsea, I’m not going to call them English powers.

Jimmy Maas [00:01:17] Well, you know, relative to Flamengo, perhaps. Yeah. The other MLS club, Inter Miami, they were eliminated by PSG, Paris Saint-Germain. Head coach, Luis Enrique, that will come up later. They were eliminated in the round of 16 of the Club World Cup. But LAFC, I still think a relatively decent showing considering they kind of came in as underdogs.

Juan Garcia [00:01:40] No doubt, and LAFC was also the last career stop before arriving in Austin for our guest today, Ilie Sanchez.

Jimmy Maas [00:01:47] And as luck would have it, he kicked the deciding goal and the shootout that determined the 2022 MLS championship for LAFC.

Juan Garcia [00:01:56] He was an MLS All-Star earlier in his career. That was when he was with Sporting Kansas City.

Jimmy Maas [00:02:01] Last week, he was part one of our interview, and this week? Part two? Exactly. Ilie Sanchez, he’s so fascinating that we gave him twice the real estate that we normally do one. So set the scene for us. All right, Jimmy.

Juan Garcia [00:02:18] We’re in a picturesque village on the coast of Spain. The warm sea breeze is coming through. You can just smell a hint of ocean saltiness in the air. It’s hot, but it’s not too hot. It’s humid, but not too humid. It’s beautiful. There’s no such thing as too beautiful. It is up there. And you’re just feeling yourself wrapped in the warmth of this coastline. Enjoying the beautiful scene–

Jimmy Maas [00:02:54]

I meant the scene as it pertains to this part of the interview. Okay, set me up again. All right. Okay, Juan, set the scene for us. All right, Jimmy.

Juan Garcia [00:03:04] In a world where soccer is king. The heroes on the pitch lacing up their boots, ready to run out for God and glory, to take on heroes of past and present and set their name in stone in history. One man rises above all others. That man is Luis Enrique, the coach of PSG. But why are we talking about him for his connection to our guest today?

Jimmy Maas [00:03:37] I meant to actually, yeah, for this interview. I want a scene for this interview.

Juan Garcia [00:03:41] Is that not what I’m working towards? I was literally about to get to Ilie Sanchez.

Jimmy Maas [00:03:42] Yeah, I get it. But, you know, a little quicker. So I will do this, okay? All right. In that coastal Spanish city, where it is beautiful, but not too beautiful because there is no such thing. Thank you. Iliás Sanchez, the hero. In part one, he barely made the second team for Barcelona, his hometown club. He scratched, he clawed, he worked his way up to a point where he was captain of arguably one of the most, if not the most talented second team in all of Europe, he’s also perhaps the apple of his coach’s eye.

Juan Garcia [00:04:22] The coach you’re speaking of is current king of UEFA Champions League, Luis Enrique. That’s right.

Jimmy Maas [00:04:27] But as the end of his contract grows near, our hero, Elie Sanchez, grows restless.

Juan Garcia [00:04:43] Now that is a scene, Jimmy. So here’s part two of our interview with Ilié Sánchez.

Jimmy Maas [00:04:51] Like all of us, there comes a time when we’ve got to leave the nest at some point. You could go into details if you want, or you might. That’s why I offered that opportunity. But talk about you leaving Barcelona and the choices that you made at the time that sort of informed your choices where you would take your next steps.

Ilie Sanchez [00:05:11] Bad, bad choices

Jimmy Maas [00:05:13] Yeah, like now I can say that sure. Yeah, but but you didn’t know that at the time because these yeah, these were important lessons For you to figure out your next way

Ilie Sanchez [00:05:23] My first good choice in my professional career was coming to the US, coming to MLS. I had two previous choices before that were not the good ones. But not because of the teams I played for or I chose to play for, chose to pay for, because I made those decisions right away. I finished my fifth season and I want to explain a little bit more so… You get the idea why I made those choices. Fifth season in the second team, I’m 22 years old. I’m the captain of that team. We finished third in second division. What else can I do there?

Jimmy Maas [00:06:09] Right, that’s a… You can’t move up. Second or first…

Ilie Sanchez [00:06:14] And playing every single game, midfielder and center back. I go to the club, talk to sport director, GMs, and ask them about the first team option. In normal circumstances, you won’t make the first thing next season. In football, anything can happen. And I’m saying this because the next story, it’s linked to this, but anything can happened. That conversation was back in February, the season ending June. That’s a different schedule there. I start looking for teams end of February, so I have three, four months to make a decision. The first team that comes knock in my door or I knock in their door and they say yes, but that’s how it works. Agents go ask the team to sign their players. The agent I work with back then goes to different teams and the first team to react to that is Munich 1860. Historical team in Germany.

Juan Garcia [00:07:26] The other Munich

Ilie Sanchez [00:07:27] The other Munich is the Bayern Munich.

Juan Garcia [00:07:29] Right. That’s what I mean. The Munich, a lot of people know is Bayern Munich. They might not realize is lurking in the currently third division of German soccer is the other Munich.

Ilie Sanchez [00:07:40] When I got the offer, they were in second division and with the project to move to first division. And I start convincing myself that that’s the right move for me. What happened? I commit to them, not signed yet with them yet, but Spanish market, usually Italy, they move later. Germany, England, they move a little bit earlier, just because of the timing when their season starts. They start earlier than Spain or Italy. The Spanish market, when I commit to Munich, is not working yet. Is it? I don’t know if it was. No, it was not even open, but the conversations were not in place yet.

If I wait, I may have had some options in Spain, some options somewhere else, with a more clearer project. What happened? I commit to Munich. I remember when I was about to sign, other team called. But my agent said, OK, you can say no and see what the other have to say. You’re already here, so it’s a little bit tricky, the situation. I sign for Communicating 16. With the idea that my coach was going to be Effenberg, the classic midfielder for Bayern Munich that started his career as a coach. When I get there for preseason, early preseason there was a different coach in charge of the team. Ricardo Moniz, a Netherlands coach, a Dutch coach. We start preseason. After eight games, he got sacked. Another coach comes in, and that was the dynamic of that season. I had four coaches in one season. And that already tells me that that decision was rushed and was not right. But you still have another year at least of the contract. I had three years. But after six months, and with the third coach, I already know that there’s no future for me there. At least not that I want to stay there. Obviously, after six months, they won’t sell me because then their sign looked bad. So we have to find a solution. We finished the season. We keep the team in second division. We were fighting with relegation, but we kept the team there. And I can go on loan to a team, but I cannot, they, they they won t sell me. Only let me go on a loan and then I had other but that was also through a process that last two months we get to the end of the summer market and I have no team I have to find a solution finally Munich 1860 let me do that let me and my options back there were Leganes, Elche, Who was the third one? There was a third team in second division in Spain. I don’t remember. I could remember, but I would need time. I talked to the Leganes coach, Asir Garitano, I talked to the Elche sport director, and then to the coach, Ruben Baraja, sport director Ramon Planas, then he moved to Barcelona, whatever. I decide to go to Elche. We have a decent season in second division. We don’t promote, we don’t get relegated. Leganes wins the second division, goes to first division. No problem. With all this, we already have two years. I go back to Germany, I have my last year of contract, and then it’s easier to find a solution.

Jimmy Maas [00:11:58] That’s that’s a profit taking you

Ilie Sanchez [00:11:59] Correct. So I break my contract. I’m free agent to sign anywhere. I also have some issues on my knee. The one I got injured in Barcelona when I was younger. So I decide not to take any opportunity in that market, recover well for three months and wait for the winter market in Europe, which is December, January, or the big market in MLS and other leagues that start in February. And then is when I don’t rush it, I recover my knee, I try to think about what my What should the next step look like? And I only focus and think on being the best opportunity on the field, on the sports side. Don’t think about contract, money, years, nothing. I just want. Got to be on the field. On the field, lead by a coach that knows what’s doing, and supported by a GM and club organization behind. And that’s what I found in Kansas City with Peter Vermis, Kerri Zabagnin, and obviously the ownership group. One thing I want to link to this story and why my first decision was not right timing, but also who did become the coach for the first team in Barcelona. The year I decide to leave, the year after. Do you remember 2014, 2015? Tell me. Luis Enrique. Of course he did. That was my next guess. Luis Enrique, that doesn’t mean anything. Maybe I’m in the second team and I never get the call to play a cup game for the first team or to train with them in a regular basis. But my relationship with him, player coach was fantastic. Yeah. Was tough and it’s also something that I could regret off because of how things evolve in Barcelona.

Juan Garcia [00:14:31] You know, there’s no way of knowing that that was going to happen one way or another, really.

Ilie Sanchez [00:14:37] If you wait, Luis Enrique is named coach at the end of May, because then in July they have to start pre-season. And if it’s not Luis Enriques, it’s someone else. But I didn’t even wait, and I had one more year of contract. I paid to leave Barcelona. A year early. Yes. Germany paid, Munich 1860. But I had the clause, small clause, that I could live paying a small amount. That’s another mistake. You never leave Barcelona. Barcelona kicks you out. The longer you are there, the better your career for sure is. No matter if you’re starter, if you are in the bench, but if you were part of the first team or Barcelona, but at some point it’s going to be first team because in the second team you cannot stay forever, the better you career will be.

Jimmy Maas [00:15:30] That’s exactly what Tyrion resets.

Ilie Sanchez [00:15:34] Okay. No. Okay. And I was told that as well by one of the trainers in the second team, now you made it to the second time. You don’t leave the club. The club kicks you out and I left. So that’s why my decision was wrong. Obviously with time, we can always say, okay, it was wrong because then your next step was not as good as you expected, but not because of that. It was because it was rushed or the timing. Was early compared to what it should have been.

Jimmy Maas [00:16:09] But it puts you on the timeline that will eventually make you an Austin FC legend. But that’s, no. Can you imagine? Can you? Can you image?

Juan Garcia [00:16:21] We’ll be back with more from Ilias Sanchez after this break.

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Jimmy Maas [00:16:52] Vamos Verde is produced at KUT and KUTX Studios, part of KUT Public Media, home of Austin’s NPR station and the Austin Music Experience. We are a non-profit media organization. If you feel like this is something worth supporting, set an amount that’s right for you and make a donation at supportthispodcast.org. You did make a choice that I don’t know how many people were making at the time. You decided to go to Kansas City. Um, why, why MLS, why America, why Peter Vermes?

Ilie Sanchez  Why, why all of these things? That’s the real question.

Jimmy Maas Why sporting Kansas City? Did you YouTube Kansas City or anything before?

Ilie Sanchez [00:17:38] I don’t remember, but I don´t think so, because again, my only focus was game model of that team. What can I bring to make that team better? How can I be useful for that game model for that team?

Jimmy Maas [00:17:58] And since he’s like the only coach that wears a suit, you were like, this seems familiar to me. I’m gonna fly over to Kansas City.

Ilie Sanchez [00:18:05] Actually, my first conversation was with Kerry, the assistant coach for Peter, now the head coach of the team. And then because that conversation went well, Peter took charge of the situation. But it was because of them. I have no other answer and it was because of what they explained me that they wanted to do with their team. I got engaged with that and also because I asked them what do you think about me as a player and what they told me made sense to what I think of me as a player or what I thought of me. As a player.

Juan Garcia [00:18:49] Back then they didn’t like gas you up too much, but they didn’t say we could do it without you

Ilie Sanchez [00:18:53] It was like, you can do these things. And I was thinking, okay, yes, I can. These things will help my team do these other things. Follow these principles. Then what else do I need for me to be able to perform? Nothing else. Take care of my body. Have a good… Plan or, or, uh, habits, no, to, to follow. And that’s all. Anytime you’re doing well.

Jimmy Maas [00:19:27] With Kansas City, fair to say. Um, as, uh,

Ilie Sanchez [00:19:34] As someone fair to say in terms of, uh, performance, but also results. Yeah. Open cap first year, five seasons there. We won the West twice. The other time that we didn’t win, we lost it in the last game of the season. And overall we were a recognizable team and you’re getting individual attention here. Collectively, I think we were good as a team. I had a really good team every year in Kansas City. But I was playing a lot.

Jimmy Maas [00:20:12] Is there a moment when you’re alone somewhere, maybe in your car or somewhere where you just brag a little bit about yourself?

Ilie Sanchez [00:20:19] No, because I don’t believe that that was true. If I truly believe that I do something better than someone else, I will tell you. But I was lucky that I stayed healthy and that I had the confidence from the coach and my teammates to play every single weekend. That’s when you get the attention, but it’s individual because you are out there, but not because of what you’re doing. What I was doing, someone else could have done it the same way if the game model, the training sessions are clear.

Jimmy Maas [00:20:57] Did the same thoughts into your mind when you were, did that guidance sort of ring true the second time around when you, not the second, but when you decided to leave Sporting KC, did that same thought process go with your next step where you were before you went to LA? Do you want the real story? Of course I do. The truth.

Ilie Sanchez [00:21:18] Or my truth, because there are different perspectives, obviously, in any story. I’ve never explained this before and I didn’t know this podcast was about me and my career. It was supposed to be like this, it’s always like this.

Jimmy Maas [00:21:38] It’s this is your life almost which is an ancient TV show that.

Ilie Sanchez [00:21:41] I just thought it was on way before I was talking about my nutritional plans.

Jimmy Maas [00:21:45] That is how we kicked it off, yes.

Ilie Sanchez [00:21:46] It off. Yes, you just not just shifted to this.

Jimmy Maas [00:21:50] Wait till we get to your family.

Ilie Sanchez [00:21:53] Okay, true story, or my true story. My fifth season in Kansas City. We have everything to win MLS Cup in front of us. Of the five seasons, three of them, I had every single playoff game at home, finally included, never won it. But one of these three seasons, it’s my last season in cancer city, 2021. We mess it up against Salt Lake in the last minute at home. 1-2. Bobby Wood, my former teammate in Munich 1860, scored that second goal for Salt Lake. Bobby Wood, a player that when I arrive in Munich 1860, I think that with the right training, right guidance, he can be sold at the end of the season for 30 millions. He ended that season in the second team. Pushed to the side by coaches and management. The reasons, I have my opinion. Bad context. Bad context, yeah. And but uh, tack. They tack him. That’s another issue in professional soccer. They give you tax coaches, media fans that are all or that could be different based on your context. Kansas City, Bobby Wood scores, we got knocked out of the playoffs. An option for the following season.

That’s end of November. When you are in the playoffs, as soon as you get knocked out, if it’s after November 30th, the teams have to announce what options they keep, what options the let go. That’s on, I think it was 28, November 28th, whatever. I go home. Disappointed, frustrated, upset. And I have a meeting with my mom and my brother that usually come to visit around October, November for playoff time. My brother comes and work from home in a European time. So he wakes up at 2 a.m. To start working and around. 12 noon 1 a.m. 1 p.m and then hang out with me until he goes to bed early so happy and grateful that he can do that for me so we can see each other once a year. Sat down and we talk about the option. And my mom asked me, what are you gonna do if sporting gets the option? I knew that there were teams that I didn’t know that they were interested because… That’s not legal but I knew that I could have options if sporting would decide to not get my option. And I say, mom, I love this team. I believe on this team, this season, this playoffs ended really bad for us. But I believe that if we do the same throughout the season and we change things in playoffs, we can get it next season. I want to stay with the option. The option is signed the contract, the salary, everything. And she What’s your opinion? And they both say that I should not stay. I had a meeting the following day with Peter and Brian Bliss, which was the GM at that time, at 8 a.m., the first one in the morning. And I go into the meeting to listen to what they have to say. And they told me that they were not going to pick the option, that we could make Work a new contract, longer maybe, but adjusting my salary. And that that was their idea back in August, September. At that time, I didn’t wanna talk about a new contract, especially because I had an option. And that at that point, they were not even sure about how that new contract longer, but with less, or adjusting the salary would look like. And I say, no problem. Thank you very much for everything. Uh, you’ve done for me these five years, everything you’ve teached me and the things that we experienced together. And we shake hands and, and, and I left a couple days after I was flying to Los Angeles to tour the galaxy facility. I tour the stadium, the training ground that is not the team you went to play. That was beginning of December.

Juan Garcia [00:27:41] This is December 2021, correct?

Ilie Sanchez [00:27:42] Yes so it was my decision to leave Kansas City somehow yes because we couldn’t make work a new contract i thought that having played every single game good performances finishing on top having finals at home not getting it in the playoffs anything can happen in one game Not even one game, in 20 minutes of one game. It’s understandable. We couldn’t make it work. They didn’t wanna pick the option. I was a free agent. And at that time, any team can sign me, even Sporting Kansas City. But the teams that came to offer me new contracts were better, significantly better than what Sporting Kansans City could do at that. I started with Galaxy, I ended with LAFC.

Jimmy Maas [00:28:42] Obviously when you sign, you realize that you’re, you’re joining a team that has a lot of resources, a lot more star players.

Ilie Sanchez [00:28:53] Continue, continue, continue.

Jimmy Maas [00:28:54] Did you see the possibility of what eventually came to pass?

Ilie Sanchez [00:29:00] AFC came from 2021 not even making playoffs. They didn’t know if Carlos was gonna stay. Their biggest start. They had to rebuild the team. They didn’t have a coach. I don’t sign with LAFC until they have a couch. They were talking about different names. Right. You weren’t making that mistake again. No, no, no. Talk to John. Talk to will GM and assistant GM at that time. Talk to other GMs, other coaches. But I was like, who is gonna be the coach? Until I don’t know that name and I have a conversation with them, I cannot decide anything about LAFC. But I’m telling you now.

Jimmy Maas [00:29:50] [You] Can’t just say Carlos Vela and that’s enough.

Ilie Sanchez [00:29:52] Not for me. Not anymore. Well, Carlos Vela… Carlos Vela, for me, is like the biggest player I’ve played with in my career, but I didn’t know if he was gonna stay and if he were gonna stay motivated. So it’s a big difference.

John, in my first meeting, Zoom meeting, I was doing it from Florida because I was finishing my V license for coaching. One week in Orlando with Orlando City SC Academy to do the practical part of the course of the license. And in one afternoon I was talking to John [Thorrington] and Will in a Zoom. I cannot decide for LAFC if we don’t have a coach, but I’m going to wait. No matter what the other offers are, if LAFC’s offer is still there, similar to the others, with the coach, I will sign for LAFC. That was in my first meeting and I stick to my word. But it was risky because the other offer can disappear. Sure. Can go to other players, other directions. And there’s no guarantee that one sticks around either. And no guarantee the coach that John [Thorrington] decide and will decide to sign is gonna like me as a player. Or it’s gonna build a team that I believe that I can play for and do well. So I waited, they named Steve Cirundolo as a head coach. I had the conversation with him. And after that, I signed for LAFC. Throughout the process, there are so many funny stories, private stories with the Galaxy, with LAFC, with other teams. That you now share with us on camera. With MLS, because remember that’s December. Everyone is on holidays. MLS, MLSPA, everyone that plays a part on our contracts obviously want to be with their families, with their kids. And you are the annoying player that cannot decide between teams, knocking, calling, and asking for changes, for better conditions, for, you know, like attention that they cannot bring to you. But that I had. Really good people working for MLSPA, working for MLS, help me getting it done.

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Juan Garcia [00:33:12] Welcome back to Vamos Verde, we’re talking to Austin FC’s newest captain, midfielder Ille Sanchez. I’m curious, in this sort of period, how close did you come to actually signing with Galaxy? Like percentage, 95, 98, like how close was it? And was there just like a feeling that you’re Just like wait and see what LA FC does.

Ilie Sanchez [00:33:39] I mean, that’s the key question here, after everything I explained so far. And it’s the question because it leads to all these private stories and things that are difficult to share. I’m going to explain how it works and then you can understand why I was so close or I wasn’t so close to other teams. But when you negotiate with a team in MLS… Anything you talk to them about has to be approved by the league. Any team can promise you or can agree with you to a 10 million contract. If MLS don’t approve that 10 million contracts, you won’t sign that contract. Even if the GM of that team promise you and agree with to those 10 million. That’s so tricky, because GMs then get you excited about conditions. They tell you that you’re gonna make $10 million. That wasn’t my case, but. Or that you have these bonuses. $15 million.

Speaker 7 [00:34:54] In 50 years. Yes. Well, that would be a nice contract.

Ilie Sanchez [00:34:59] But no, it’s not the case, because we cannot last 50 years in this profession. Even if you take care of your body to the…

Jimmy Maas [00:35:07] I don’t know, the regiment you described earlier kind of sounds like you’re…

Ilie Sanchez [00:35:11] You’re on the way there side of health, but. They negotiate with you, knowing that they have the shield of MLS and they can add bonuses, they can not conditions into those contracts, that they know that they are very difficult that MLS approve that you go through those. LAFC didn’t have a coach for a month. So all that month, for me, was negotiation, conversations, and trying to figure it out what I was going to do with my career. Talking to the Galaxy and to your specific point, we get to a point where we have an agreement in the conditions of a contract. I have not said that I’m gonna sign or go play for them. I talked to the GM, I talked Greg Vanney. I toured the facility, but I’m also talking to other teams. It’s my responsibility. Their GM was very smart.

What’s the next step when you agree with a team on some conditions, on a contract? You have to send those conditions to the league and they approve, they don’t approve. If they approve they write down the contract officially. If they don’t approve they come back with a counter offer usually because they want you still in the league. They just don’t want you in the league with that price. For you to be able to send the league. Your agreement with a GM. Have the answer of them. If it’s a right contract or they have to adjust it, the player has to sign a form. Like a pre-agreement kind of thing.

Now I know it’s pre-agreement. When I was told what was that, it’s form that allows you to ask the league if those conditions could be approved if you decide to sign for them. I signed that form, we send it to the league. I received a contract back with the Galaxy logo. Different conditions to what I agreed with the GM. Not very different, but some of them were different. And some of then were not there. I go back to the leak and I say I don’t like this contract, this is not what we agreed on and I have everything in my emails. There is no way back, you have to sign this contract or you have no team. When I signed the form and we sent that to the league and the league comes back with a contract, it takes about three, four days. I don’t remember exactly the timing, but three, four days because that’s end of the December. And in the league, there is no people working. So they take their time and the lawyers have to review all the conditions. In those three days is when LAFC names a coach. I talked to the coach, I talked John [Thorrington] again, to Will. And I say I wanna sign for you. They go to the league, and the league say, no. He already committed to this contract. And then is when we have to start the process again, working with lawyers, MLSPA [players association] , MLS, John [Thorrington], Will [Kuntz]. Figured out what we can do. I don’t know if it’s true, I was told I was the first player that gets to change a contract once it’s sent back from the league. I know after me, there has been other cases. But at that time, maybe to make me feel bad, I was sold that.

Juan Garcia [00:39:46] We don’t normally do this.

Ilie Sanchez [00:39:49] And luckily I was able to figure it out and sign for the team that I really wanted to play for. Making less money. Not much, 10%, five, 10% less. But I stick to my word to them and I was able to play for the team that I wanted to play. Why LAFC and not other teams? First of all, their squad, if I compare to the other teams that wanted to sign me or that wanted me to join them, it was stronger. Even if they didn’t make the play of the year before. To me, comparing goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, forwards, forwarders, LAFC had the better squad. Second reason, fan base. I would play against LAFC with Kansas City. We were winning at their place, at the Bank of California. 3-0 in the first half. We come out in the second half, they were cheating and pushing the team even more. We scored the fourth more, more, and more. They scored one, we finished for one, we won the game, and then I could see their fans having the connection with the players and demanding more. And I wanted to experience that as my own fan base, as a local. And the opposite, I would lose or be losing in that stadium and they would cheer and cheer and cheered and that’s something that as a player I wanted to experience. Kansas City had also an incredible crowd but that was not an option for me anymore. So of the options I had, LAFC was the one that their fans motivated me the most to go play for.

Jimmy Maas [00:41:57] Did the Austin fanbase factor in your decision to come here?

Ilie Sanchez [00:42:04] Definitely. It is a different feeling, though. Here, you feel unconditional support. I haven’t felt as an opponent, or now, as a player, still, or yet, that they feel part of the final result of the game. And I think I said it before, after games, or after one game, we need, we want, I want, but we need Anyone here doesn’t want to feel that they’re wrong because they need, as well, we need as a players, as a coaches, to feel, that the supporters, the fans, everyone at the stadium feels part of the result.

If we win, they won that game because they cheered better than any other games. If we lose, they lost as well. As a fan. Why? Not because they didn’t cheer well, because they didn’t demand in the right way what they want to see, what result they want get at the end of the 90 minutes. And that’s not an excuse. The straight impact, the bigger impact on the result is We need the fans to feel part of their result. The 12th man, if you will. Sometimes, yes. No, if I will, and it’s a reality. I don’t know. I cannot tell you how am I going to feel that as a player. That they are part, or they feel part, of their results.

Jimmy Maas [00:44:03] Have you been on Twitter?

Ilie Sanchez  No.

Juan Garcia  That explains it. No. I think there’s some feelings being expressed. Not that we would recommend going on. No, I would not. Anytime soon, but.

Ilie Sanchez [00:44:11] As a player, anything that I get from social media can only be negative. If I get praise, it’s negative. If I criticize, it is negative, because it’s not real. Social media is not real.” Where do I get that at the stadium? Is the only way that I can feel that the fans are part of the outcome of the game.

Jimmy Maas [00:44:38] Um, you are a fascinating person. I feel like we could do like a six-part– we could just do a whole season podcast…

Juan Garcia  Do you wanna just like replace me?

Ilie Sanchez  I don’t know.

Juan Garcia  I feel you’d host better than I can.

Ilie Sanchez  Impossible.

Jimmy Maas You’re about to take a very important role in the next step with the superlatives—

Speaker 8 [00:44:56] You gonna get out

Jimmy Maas [00:44:56] Basically– no, no. I would sit here the rest of the afternoon and you have to eat. So.

Juan Garcia [00:45:02] Yes, we don’t want to keep you from lunch unless you want to take us with you, but all right Uh, you are the skipper the captain, right? So you should know your team pretty much arguably better than anybody outside of maybe Nico So I’d like to know from your perspective on the team. Who is the most athletic out of all of you athletes? Physically

Ilie Sanchez [00:45:27] first of all.

Juan Garcia [00:45:28] Is there another kind of athletic?

Ilie Sanchez [00:45:31] Regarding the captain, you know what I’ve had to hear and handle after the win in Colorado…that we won because I wasn’t the captain— Which I agree with that, not with that but that we want because Brad was the captain, so— Wearing the armband means nothing.

Speaker 8 [00:46:02] On some level, it does though.

Ilie Sanchez [00:46:05] Should mean. It obviously means because it comes with feeling proud of having been chose but Brad is a real captain. And I’m gonna stop here because he’s the most recent one, but there are other players that can wear the ambient. The important is what you do, no matter if you wear it or not. The most athletic player within the team. Not physically for soccer.

Juan Garcia [00:46:57] Could be a gymnast. Decathlon. Yes. Run marathons.

Ilie Sanchez [00:47:04] I mean, Buka, Riley, CJ. That would be my top three. Okay, love it.

Juan Garcia Is this the first time we’ve gotten Buka? I wanna say it is.

Ilie Sanchez Does it count your attitude?

Jimmy Maas [00:47:21] I don’t know. Do you answer that?

Juan Garcia You’re the athlete, therefore I’m not the expert.

Ilie Sanchez [00:47:22] You’re saying the prime, right? Yes. If we don’t take into consideration the motivation. Puka, sometimes you have to pull from him. But when you click, when he clicks, you cannot stop him.

Juan Garcia [00:47:37] Not fair. Alright, who’s the best dressed? Who’s got the best style?

Ilie Sanchez [00:47:47] Ffff, the level is pretty low here.

Jimmy Maas Oh damn.

Ilie Sanchez [00:47:55] The level is pretty low

Juan Garcia [00:47:57] Um, I like Brandon Bathgath. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I see it in the locker room. He has his own style.

Ilie Sanchez [00:48:06] Change. He can come from more like modern than switch to cowboy, right? With the boots.

Juan Garcia [00:48:22] He’s been rocking those boots lately a lot.

Ilie Sanchez [00:48:24] And you know what the style comes with your body type and he’s a superman you know like

Juan Garcia [00:48:30] Yeah

Ilie Sanchez [00:48:32] We call it in Spain la percha, no?

Juan Garcia [00:48:34] The Hanger.

Ilie Sanchez [00:48:35] The hangar.

Juan Garcia [00:48:35] Yes, so

Ilie Sanchez [00:48:35] So if you have the hangar, you’re fine, no matter what you…

Juan Garcia [00:48:40] What’d you wear? It’s one of those, like, he would, could roll out of bed looking good.

Ilie Sanchez [00:48:45] So then, Brandon.

Juan Garcia [00:48:46] All right, who’s got the best hair? And yes, you can pick yourself.

Speaker 8 [00:48:50] No.

Juan Garcia [00:48:54] Okay, love it.

Speaker 7 [00:48:55] Who’s got the best smile on the team? The best smile…

Ilie Sanchez [00:49:06] Taking this seriously, eh? Or not. No, no, I mean, I wanna give you the honest answer. Best smile, I love when Pepe and Owen smile. Since young is fresh, it’s like, they should be always smiling.

Juan Garcia [00:49:26] I’m curious if maybe they might play into the next answer. Nico as well. Duber-Sarski. Yes. He’s always smiling. I have noticed that, the kid. Unless when he’s in pain. Fair enough. It’s kind of hard to smile when you’re in pain

Jimmy Maas [00:49:40] They’re all the young kids, like they don’t have anything to get upset about, they haven’t had football.

Ilie Sanchez [00:49:48] So they can smile.

Juan Garcia [00:49:50] Um, of your teammates, who amongst the crew has the best bromance? Connection, yeah.

Ilie Sanchez [00:49:59] Or romance.

Juan Garcia [00:50:00] No, no, no. Bromance.

Ilie Sanchez [00:50:02] Oh, bromance. Bromance. Yes, bromence.

Ilie Sanchez [00:50:10] There are a few bromances in the team, within the team. Umm… Neek kondhi evam. Pepe, Z, Owen, CJ, Riley, Brad, Brendan, John. Also, backgrounds are similar, right? I would say these three groups is the ones I see more often together.

Juan Garcia [00:50:45] Some some names that we’ve

Ilie Sanchez [00:50:45] You’ve definitely heard before. Eswati has a bromance with it himself. Love it. He enjoys his time alone. Amazing. I love it.

Ilie Sanchez [00:50:57] I love it. That’s so so funny and and pleasure to to see.

Juan Garcia [00:51:02] An example to follow.

Ilie Sanchez [00:51:03] Yeah, he comes here at 7 a.m., he does his routine and leaves and maybe he did not speak with anyone but he did his job, we saw him there committed, working hard and that’s it.

Juan Garcia [00:51:20] You show the love differently, probably coming from Ukraine, coming from Spain, right? Like I’m from Colombia, so hard on my sleeve all the time. All right, so you’ve been taking this very seriously and I really appreciate that. This next one is anything but. No, we need the most honest answer.

Jimmy Maas [00:51:40] Who, among your teammates, do you hate the most? See? He just thought of it. He just though of it

Juan Garcia [00:51:51] There’s definitely an answer. He’s just debating on whether he wants to share it.

Ilie Sanchez [00:51:58] When, because it’s not always the same teammate, but when we think about yourself on the field, when we make decision, our decision making. Thinking about what I can get or how good I can look instead of what the team needs, then I will not like that teammate for a second. And then that switch to someone else. When they do it.

Jimmy Maas [00:52:31] There’s a counter, someone has accumulated the most seconds. And that per-

Ilie Sanchez [00:52:39] person is. And then this Saturday, I don’t want the event anymore again. No, no, no. No, I hate Diego.

Ilie Sanchez [00:52:53] Because he’s constantly on top of us. He’s constantly looking for anything to give us. Give me another word for.

Jimmy Maas [00:53:07] Yeah, well, you could say he gives you sh–.

Ilie Sanchez [00:53:09] Hit me.

Jimmy Maas [00:53:11] He, he offers he offers… helpful tips to you.

Ilie Sanchez [00:53:18] for us to make better decisions on and off the field. Which are annoying, but definitely one other player that deserves to wear an ambient for everything he does for the group. He’s a true leader on the field with the ball.

Jimmy Maas [00:53:39] Field with everything he does. Yeah I see him addressing the ref with an armband or without frequently.

Ilie Sanchez [00:53:44] Addressing the ref, addressing the opponents, addressing, we need that. I told them, and I understand that sometimes it doesn’t look good. Sometimes we get fined for. Sometimes we away from the focus on the play, on the game, but. Would play Austin FC, we would always get in a fight. Sometimes was against Diego, sometimes was against other players.

Juan Garcia [00:54:16] I’m sure highlight also had some influence in

Ilie Sanchez [00:54:18] Ovi, Pepe, Vito, Brendan, Zvati, John, Ring, but the ones at the stage this season. We cannot lose that. We cannot step away from that balance, but. As an opponent breaks you down. Maybe not the first time, but the second time or the third, or maybe not against Diego, but if then Vito comes in against me, I’m 2v1 here. And if a teammate does not comes in, then someone else will come in and it’s a 3v1. So these things throughout 90 plus minutes and throughout 34 games will count.

Juan Garcia [00:55:08] I wear you down.

Ilie Sanchez [00:55:10] Teams and opponents down.

Jimmy Maas [00:55:15] Well, it has been a pleasure. We could talk here for hours. In fact, we’ll just go sit in your car. Clear my schedule. We’ll just have lunch. I appreciated that you.

Ilie Sanchez [00:55:23] You guys waited the whole month of May for me to be here.

Jimmy Maas [00:55:29] We’ve been waiting that long. You’re right. We did wait the entire month

Ilie Sanchez [00:55:34] Many trainings and sessions and trips and games. Bigger things to worry about. But I think we found a good time for us to get together. And hopefully next time we have more things to talk about, about Austin FC.

Jimmy Maas [00:55:53] Austin is home for a little bit.

Ilie Sanchez [00:55:54] It is now. Yeah, my mom is here living here now It is home for us. What does she think so far? She loves it. Surprisingly, she loves it because we hate the heat. We are called cooler.

Jimmy Maas [00:56:14] Weather people, hence your affinity for Kansas City.

Ilie Sanchez [00:56:20] Kansas City, the summit is short.

Jimmy Maas [00:56:22] But it’s also very cool.

Ilie Sanchez [00:56:24] It is snowing every day in winter. But we are not there in winter, we are in Barcelona.

Jimmy Maas [00:56:31] Sounds nice.

Ilie Sanchez [00:56:33] Which I invite everyone to go visit at some point.

Juan Garcia [00:56:37] Definitely on the bucket list.

Ilie Sanchez [00:56:39] Thank you.

Jimmy Maas [00:56:40] I appreciate it. You and I won. We have been invited. Maybe we get plus ones out of this, but we have been.

Juan Garcia [00:56:50] Which is great because I’ve always wanted to take my wife to Europe, have her see Spain. I’ve actually never been myself, and hotels can be really expensive. That’s right. And I bet his pad probably is pretty sweet. It’s probably sweeter than mine. Way, way. You would know. You pay my salary. There were also some pretty tough words for his teammates.

Jimmy Maas [00:57:09] Yeah, yeah, it’s this is what you want to hear from a captain, right? You want to hear responsibility and push for more effort, even though we also heard that the captaincy means nothing.

Juan Garcia [00:57:22] Captaincy means nothing, but the teammates got to do better, according to the captain. Yeah, yeah. You need those kicks in the rear in order to get going.

Jimmy Maas [00:57:30] Uh, big thanks to Ilea Sanchez for sitting down with us for a record length for Vamos Verdes. This, we’re midway through season two. We easily eclipse probably the length of five other interviews combined. Um, also want to thank the folks over at the team. Cameron Kubik, Ryan Madden, Gwen Hernandez, Jacob Stedler, Alex Daly Hill, Roberto Colon, Ainsley Beers, and am I adding someone to the team? Are you? I’m not sure. I think so. Yeah, I did an and for no reason. Let’s also thank the folks here at KUT and KUTX studios who put out this fine podcast, Elizabeth McQueen and Tanu Thomas.

Juan Garcia [00:58:09] The music you’re hearing was composed, produced, recorded, masterfully loved, massaged into beautiful art by my best friend, Geron Marshall.

Jimmy Maas [00:58:21] And of course, we cannot do this without you. This is a production of KUT and KUTX Studios, part of the KUT Public Media Group. We are a nonprofit media house that includes Austin’s NPR station and your home for the Austin Music Experience KUTx. So if this is something you support, head over to supportthispodcast.org and select a donation amount that works for you. We can’t do it without you, thank you.

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This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.