By Will Martin
Another season of MLS soccer will kick off on March 8 at 7:30pm with FC Dallas and the Montreal Impact here in Frisco, Texas.
There will be a new coach patrolling the sidelines with Oscar Pareja. The team is also training out in Dubai within the confines of Abu Dhabi.
Plans to play the host team didn’t exactly pan out as planned. However an intra-squad scrimmage was to be played inside the 50,000 seat arena called Zayed Sports City Stadium.
In a battle between the Red and the Blue team it was the blue team winning by a 3-2 count.
Blas Perez got the action going for the Red when he connected on a penalty kick. Peter Luccin answered back a short while later when his kick caught the net to knot things up at 1-1.
Danny Garcia would give a solid feed to Cobi Span to give the Blue team a 2-1 lead. As the scrimmage entered the latter part of the game we are told the scrimmage would be tied at 2 when Kellyn Acosta nailed an incredible goal from the 25-30 yard range to tie things up one more time at 2-2.
Right before the end of regulation Danny Garcia would volley a cross to Ryan Hollingshead, an FC Dallas newbie who would nail the game winner for a 3-2 victory for the Blue team.
Three more friendlies have been with team BK Hacken from Sweden.
It was also reported that for one night, March 1 the MLS and NASL will meet up for a friendly in San Antonio when FC Dallas plays the San Antonio Scorpions at Toyota Field. It will be a 7pm kickoff for this friendly with a charitable bent.
“We are very excited to travel to San Antonio to play the Scorpions,” said FC Dallas President Dan Hunt. “They are a fine organization and San Antonio is a very good soccer market. We look forward to competing against them for the deeproot Funds Cup at Toyota Field. It will be a great test for our players as we prepare for our home opener.”
Two divisioned sides will battle for the deeproot Funds Cup. Proceeds will benefit Soccer for a Cause and Morgan’s Wonderland, a 25-acre theme park in San Antonio designed with special-needs individuals of all ages in mind.
“We are very proud to be associated with the San Antonio Scorpions and Soccer for a Cause,” added Robert Mueller, Vice President of deeproot Funds. “We see the passion for soccer in this community and can think of no better avenue to introduce our product to this community than by aligning with the Scorpions and helping to bring what we hope will be the first of many MLS games to Toyota Field.”
As we get nearer to March 8 and the start of the FC Dallas season, we will provide a preview to the season and wonder aloud if 2014 will be the year the team makes a playoff return. You’re allowed to dream big right before the start of spring. It’s a long way to December after all.