Father’s Day is still three months away but FC Dallas fans are already getting tired of ties.
For the second straight week the Hoops had victory in their grasp only to watch a late equalizer spoiler the party.
The FC Dallas attack has looked amazing through two weeks but the defense has left its fans pining for the days of Clarence Goodson (okay, maybe not).
SBI Correspondent Casey Corcoran took in the action and provides his view on the team’s second tie and second blown lead ( (Feel free to provide your reaction to Casey’s piece in the comments section below):
Hoops deal with dropped points yet again
By Casey Corcoran
It is a normal thing these days for Dallas sports fans. In fact, one comes to expect it. One might say there is an aura surrounding the team. Usually it is an aura of invincibility. We Dallasites have oddly taken a different approach to auras. For one reason or another, we have donned the aura of lost possibilities. This aura should be copywrited.
No one has the market cornered on lost possibilities like two franchises based in the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex. One plays in the National Basketball Association, the other in Major League Soccer. I would write about both franchises, but my patience and sanity only take me so far, so let us focus on Football Club Dallas.
This past Sunday FC Dallas went down I-45 to play the Houston Dynamo. Playing in the greater Houston area has not been kind to FC Dallas, so unkind in fact that FCD had yet to earn even a point. So, adding that to the magnificent aura of lost possibilities FCD has and you have a bleak situation.
The game started like usual with some decent back and forth action. The two teams stuck to script perfectly, with Houston nabbing the first goal from a cross in to the box. The play was only a bit unusual for an FCD fan. The marking was horrible, but that did not ultimately lead to the goal. Oddly, two Houston players jumped for the ball directly next to each other, with Brian Ching unintentionally boxing out Dario Sala from reaching the ball. Franco Caraccio put his head on the ball for the goal. This is odd only because it was unlucky. Yes, they were unmarked, but circumstance seemed to contribute more than folly.
So there it is, 1-0 for the home team. This is where the game begins to get a bit loopy. A nice pass from Andre Rocha fourteen minutes later leads to a cheeky little lob from Kenny Cooper and the game is tied. I am suddenly intrigued. Ten minutes later, some wonder work from Arturo Alvarez and Juan Toja lead to another Kenny Cooper goal. This is where the different part comes in to play. This team is different.
The youth is there, the hustle is there, and now, there is even some attacking flair. The aura even looks different. It seems the same, but it is off just a tad. I know this from the resulting two goals. First, sloppier defense leads to another goal. A cross from the corner is put in the net off of Drew Moor. Granted, if it did not end up being put in by Moor, whoever Moor had marked probably would have scored. The next minute, Arturo Alvarez jailbreaks through the Houston backline for his first goal of the season.
So, the next 30 or so minutes are spent with Houston attacking the Dallas goal. Two times FCD can seal the deal on breaks and fail. But even then, that feeling of “we got this” came over me. I just thought that, even with FCD wasting chances, Houston would not come through. Well, déjà vu. Geoff Cameron picks up a meandering ball and scorches it in to the back of the net in the 91st minute. I should have known. It was the same story… only different.
Thanks for the comments guys. Futbol Club ehh, thanks for the correction, I had no idea.
btw the first goal was a total crap ref job where ching made contact with sala way before the ball came into the area pushing him out of position and resulting in the goal, and the fact are any league thats refs arent total schmucks and knew how to call a game woulda disallowed the goal. but no, this is MLS where every1 thinks that if we let them play tough and hard then it will attract stupid NFL fans who are attracted to constant contact.
[b]Futbol Club Dallas[/b]
Nice piece – the part of the team that is ‘the same’ seems to be the injuries. And injuries make me nervous. I see a lot of beautiful things almost clicking on the field and can’t wait to see the team gel over the next few weeks.
It was great to see the positive linking going on with Cooper, Toja, and Alvarez. The team seems to be playing more as a team than they did in the pre-season.
Oh, by the way, it is Futbol Club Dallas – not Football – look it up in the MLS/FCD archives.
This was a good entry. I only wish that same aura surrounded Cowboys fans. I still hear “the better team lost” almost daily. It gets a little old, given that they lost.
This was quality though…and Kenny Cooper is the balls. I gave him a ridiculously hard time during the hurricane opener last year in Jersey. But when I’m not being a RBNY fan I love what Cooper brings to the table.
Well I hate the ties epecially with the Hoops leading and then it being tied. However I do have to agree with Steve give the Defence a little time to gel and continue the offense and we could have a great season.
Im so happy to see kenny cooper back. I went to the Derby game in Houston last year, and Dallas just looked impotent on the offensive front.
After taking a couple a couple of days to settle down, I’ve come away from the first two games much more optimistic. The defense went through significant overhaul (Davino captaining a 3 man back line as opposed to Moor and Goodson kinda leading a 4-man line) during the offseason, and some adjustment time will be necessary. I’m very excited about the team play in the attack, though I’d love to see the Hunts’ ante up for a real DP-level forward during the next transfer window. If that happens, the defense begins to gel, and 1 or 2 of the youngsters start to step up, this could be an impressive team.