FC Dallas v Sounders (Match Preview)

Sounders FC v FC Dallas

May 16 Kick off 5.30

Referee: Terry Vaughn. Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry; Jeff Muschik

Prost Amerika Viewing Party – Azzurri 223 N 36th St Fremont

Our First Real Rival?

Many memories will be returning of a day in September 2007 when big time FC Dallas visited Qwest Field in the U.S. Open Cup. In that bygone era, Sounders were of course a USL team and ought to have been outgunned by their illustrious MLS opponents. A five-figure crowd streamed into the stadium for what turned out to be one of the most memorable nights in recent memory for Sounders fans. Sounders held Dallas, fielding Brazilian World Cup Winner Denilson, to a 0-0 tie after 90 minutes.

Controversy ensued in a madcap extra time period, and even some very experienced football watchers saw things done that night they had never seen before. For many that were there that night, FC Dallas are Sounders FC’s only real rivals and the team with whom we carry over unfinished business. You can read a full match report of the game here, published in English this week for the first time, as part of your homework.

Seattle Sounders 1 : 2 FC Dallas (aet)

FC Dallas History 101

FC Dallas began life as the Dallas Burn in June 1995 and played its first game on April 14, 1996, defeating the San Jose Clash in front of 27,779 fans at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Owned by the Hunt Sports Group, FC Dallas are the third most successful team in MLS history and the winner of the 1997 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Between 1996 and 2006, the team compiled a regular season record of 148-150-40 and qualified for the postseason on nine occasions, including each of the last two seasons. In 2006, the Hoops (fans and media have come to nickname the team the “Hoops”) recorded the highest point total in franchise history, going 16-12-4 for 52 points and earning the top seed in the Western Conference Playoffs for the first time ever.

Dallas FC Stars and Did You Notice our Linesman’s Called Kermit?

Kenny Cooper has scored four of Dallas’s seven goals this MLS season. A native of Dallas, his last club was Manchester United in England where he played occasionally in the reserves before being loaned out to Oldham, where he scored three goals in five starts in 2005/6. The next season he arrived in Dallas, and has started 79 games for them since, scoring an amazing 37 goals. At 6′3″, he represents an aerial threat that Sounders had not faced the equivalent of until Alan Gordon’s LA visited last week. Gordon scored the first header Sounders have conceded.

Colombian David Ferreira came to Dallas from Atletico Paranaense in Brazil. He has played every minute of every game so far and has scored once. At 5″5′, differentiating him from Cooper should be fairly simple.

Another imposing figure will almost be Dutchman Dave van den Bergh. Dave is also 6′3″ and has started all eight games for Dallas, but hasn’t scored from his berth on the left of the midfield. Dave was acquired from the New York Red Bulls in January in exchange for Dominic Oduro. Previously, he played for Kansas City and Dutch Eredivisie club FC Utrecht. Utrecht had one of the most successful spells in their history, qualifying for five consecutive UEFA Cups. He has also played twice for the Netherlands.

Ginger-haired midfielder Dax McCarty will be known to those who saw the U.S. Open Cup game. He was a member U.S. Men’s Olympic Team that participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and appeared in the team’s final match versus Nigeria.

Defender Drew Moor is only 25 but has played 110 games in MLS. Last season, he played more minutes (2430) than anyone for Dallas except Kenny Cooper, with whom he was a teammate on Solar Soccer Club in Dallas. He has already represented the USA at full international level.

21-year-old Blake Wagner has started all eight games in defence for Dallas. Blake has had ten shots in his career, none of them on target.

Right back Marcelo Saragosa has been an ever present at right back in the last four games after missing part of preseason and the first four games of the regular season with a knee injury. His father was a Colonel in the Brazilian Army and later practiced dentistry. He will wear number 5.

Dallas Form

FC Dallas lost for the third consecutive match, falling 1-0 to the Houston Dynamo in the Texas derby at Robertson Stadium. Dallas have four points from eight matches, sitting at the foot of both the Western Conference and MLS overall tables. Their only victory was a 3-2 win at home to Toronto on April 19. They last beat an American side on September 28, 2008 when they beat DC United 3-0.

Sounders Form

Sounders drew 1-1 at home to Los Angeles Galaxy last week with Alan Gordon equalising from a header just three minutes after Sebastien Le Toux’s first ever MLS goal. Most of the talk however centered around the refereeing, which emasculated much serious discussion about the performance as column inches were wasted. Fredy Montero was missing but will be back this week. James Riley, who saw red last week, will be suspended.

Injury News

FC DALLAS –
OUT: GK Dario Sala (L knee); QUESTIONABLE: MF Pablo Ricchetti (R ankle) …

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC –
OUT: FW Jarrod Smith (L hamstring strain);
QUESTIONABLE: MF Peter Vagenas (knee surgery);
PROBABLE: FW Roger Levesque (L hamstring strain); MF Sanna Nyassi (L hip flexor strain); DF Tyrone Marshall (R calf strain); DF Nathan Sturgis (L hamstring strain)

Prost Amerika will bring you its match review immediately after the game but encourages you to join us at our Official Viewing Party at Azzurri soccer bar in Fremont.

Stadium Facts

The ridiculously named Pizza Hut Park is the first large-scale soccer facility of its type in the United States. It opened on August 6, 2005. Pizza Hut Park is approximately 30 miles north of downtown Dallas.

The combination of a world-class stadium and a sports park make Pizza Hut Park one of the best and most unique soccer facilities in the world. Included in the facility is the 21,193 seat state-of-the-art pro soccer stadium, along with 17 championship quality soccer fields located just north of the stadium. The 117-acre master development will be used over 300 days a year, hosting Major League Soccer matches, U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Team soccer matches, major concerts, international soccer matches and high school football.

Dallas – The Fans

FC Dallas has supporters clubs called the Inferno, Los Toros, La Raza and Guardia Roja.

See details of their clubs on this page.

For another match preview, visit the excellent Sounder at Heart website.