Loons’ Anthony Markanich is making his twin brother ‘jealous’

Minnesota United vs. Austin FC

When: 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Allianz Field
Stream: Apple TV
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Weather: 60 degrees, sunny, 12 mph south wind

Form: MNUFC (6-3-2, 20 points) ended a two-game winless lull with a 3-2 win at Columbus last Saturday. After a seven-match skid without a victory, Austin (3-4-4, 13 points) has won two straight by identical 2-0 score lines over Houston and St. Louis in the last two weeks.

Fact: The Loons trailed the Crew 2-0 on the road after 56 minutes but staked the club’s first multi-goal comeback since joining MLS in 2017.

Recent matchup: Minnesota also came back to draw Austin 2-2 in the season opener on Feb. 22. The teams traded set-piece goals from Brandon Hines-Ike and Morris Duggan in the first half and crosses-to-back-post finishes in the second stanza. Kelvin Yeboah’s header in the 90th minute tied it up.

Check-in: Former Loons striker Christian Ramirez had a goal and assist in the victory over St. Louis last weekend. Now on his sixth MLS team, “Superman” has four goal contributions in 459 minutes played in 2026.

Storyline: Loons left wingback Anthony Markanich scored his third goal of the season last week, adding to the nine he tallied in MLS last season. Meanwhile, his twin brother Nick Markanich joined Houston Dynamo from Castellon in La Liga 2 in Spain and has yet to score in MLS.

Anthony said he doesn’t like to talk about himself. “I’d rather have other people talk about me,” he said. But Ant will bring up his goals to his sibling.

“We always talk,” Anthony told reporters this week. “He says he gets jealous because I’m scoring and he’s not. He’ll get there.”

Nick scored 28 goals for Charleston in the USL Championship in 2024 before a move abroad. He has played only 38 minutes for Dynamo this season.

Absences: Bongi Hlongwane (personal issue), Peter Stroud (quad), Carlos Harvey (lower body) and Julian Gressel (toe) are out.

View: James Rodriguez’ short stint in Minnesota has been perpetually peculiar. In my 10 years covering the club, only Emanuel Reynoso has had more drama.

While Reynoso was getting in trouble, being insubordinate and dealing with suspensions, Rodriguez has been entirely more benign. But both are enigmas.

The latest with Rodriguez is how he is expected to leave the team next week to join the Colombian national team for its training camp for the FIFA World Cup. His exit comes despite MNUFC having two more games before the entire MLS breaks for the World Cup.

The 34-year-old superstar is coming off a procedure that sidelined him for the Crew game, but coach Cameron Knowles said he trained fully on Saturday and is available for selection.

Yet, given all the twists and turns since he joined MNUFC in February, it would not be surprising if he didn’t play again for the Loons. Little can be ruled out at this point.

Update: While James is set to leave the Loons early, Michael Boxall (New Zealand) is expected to remain with the club until after their final match — May 23 vs. Salt Lake. Then he will join his national team for a camp in Miami. Harvey (Panama) is also expected to partake in the World Cup.

Scouting report: When it comes to set pieces, Knowles called Austin “probably one of the best in the league at this moment.” Of Verde’s 16 goals this season, eight have come on set plays.

Stats: Austin has a minus-3 goal differential but the second-worst expected-goals difference in the league at minus-11.7, meaning they are outperforming the analytic. Minnesota has a minus-2 goal differential, with a 0.5 xG difference.

Prediction: Austin has dug itself out of its long slump, but they are one of only two MLS sides still winless on the road. Minnesota keeps them 0-fer with a 2-1 victory.