MIAMI, Florida – When the Draw for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup took place last month, all of the players from the qualified teams for Round One eagerly anticipated as to where their team would be placed in the bracket.

Specifically, much of the attention was focused on which Round One winner would advance to face Inter Miami in the Round of 16. The 2023 Leagues Cup champions are of course led by 2022 FIFA World Cup champion and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.

In the end, the two teams who will fight for the right to play Messi and Inter Miami are Nashville SC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Moca FC of the Dominican Republic.

For Moca FW Gustavo Ascona, himself an Argentine, defeating Nashville and playing against Messi would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Playing against Messi would be my life’s dream, like for any Argentine. I went home for vacation at the holidays and everyone in my hometown was talking about me playing against Messi. It’s crazy, and it would be a dream. You really can’t describe it any other way,” said Ascona in an interview with Concacaf.com.

“We have to keep our feet on the ground, work hard in the first game, get the biggest advantage possible that we can get here at home and later we’ll see what happens,” added Ascona.

Ascona is quick to mention that Round One opponents Nashville will be a very difficult foe and that Moca will have to play their very best football in order to eliminate the 2023 Leagues Cup runners-up.

Yet, Ascona also points to last season’s Round of 16 victory for Haitian club Violette against MLS side Austin FC as proof that teams from the Caribbean can get the job done.

“We know that it is a really difficult opponent. We know what kind of league they play in, but we have confidence in ourselves. We know what we can give, and sometimes football brings surprises. Just look at what Violette did last season. Why can’t we repeat that?” said Ascona.

The 36-year-old attacker was superb for Moca in the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup in scoring four goals from 15 shots over the course of eight games. Only a last-second equalizer in the semifinal against Robinhood of Suriname prevented Moca from reaching the Final, but Ascona and company were still able to secure a coveted spot in the Champions Cup by defeating Jamaican club Harbour View in the Third-Place Match.

“It was really hard, because we had other objectives and we had the game in Suriname in which they scored in the last minute and we lost in penalties. That was a tough blow. But we regrouped to try to get that last spot, we set out to make it ours and we got it, so it was satisfying.

“It was hard and tough to keep a positive mindset because we had come off of losing another final in the domestic league here. It was really tough in Jamaica. It was a positive to get a win there and then manage the game here, but they fought until the very end,” said Ascona.

Reaching the Champions Cup was also a historical moment for the club, as it marked the first ever Champions Cup qualification for Moca, who joined the likes of Cibao FC and Atletico Pantoja as Dominican clubs who have qualified for Champions Cup in recent years.

“The truth is that when one arrives to a team, you always think about making history, in leaving something. This is my third year with Moca and thankfully things are going well for me. Now we’ll just see if we can keep progressing in this stage that we are in and play against some of the other big clubs in the tournament,” said Ascona.

As one of the three teams from the Caribbean Cup to qualify for the 2024 Champions Cup, Moca FC are the lone club from the Dominican Republic among the 27 participants. It is a job that Ascona and Moca do not take lightly.

“It’s really wonderful to have that responsibility of being the only Dominican team in this tournament. I think every fan of Dominican football is going to be following that game, so we are going to have the support of a lot of people,” concluded Ascona.