By Will Martin
Indeed it would be perfectly understandable if FC Dallas were to successfully fly under the worldwide scope of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and all of its groups. After a month of May that was truly one to forget and one of the darker periods in FCD’s history for one month of play the calendar switched to June and thankfully in the space of ten days Oscar Pareja’s team was able to attain four points in two games. It should have been six but at this time of the season you take what you can get.
Providence Park and Portland Timbers fans had very little to cheer about when FC Dallas went into the break with a 2-0 lead courtesy of goals by Fabian Castillo who was able to chest a shot into enemy net after a crisp chip shot by Blas Perez in the 27th minute. FC Dallas struck again in the 39th minute when Tesho Akindele would fire a pass from the right side to Fabian Castillo before Blas Perez would serve a Margarita pour of the top shelf variety and a 2-0 lead.
The second half was one where the Timbers would erupt for 19 shots on goal attempts. In the 88th minute their pursuits would bear fruit when Moises Hernandez was shown a red card for challenging Danny O’Rourke and Will Johnson connected on a penalty kick.
FC Dallas was mere moments away from collecting three points before defender Pa Modou Kah hit a goal for the home team with FC Dallas down two players to finish with a 2-2 draw and one point for their efforts.
Two red cards and a seemly road victory took away from the effort that was not seen in May according to Coach Oscar Pareja.
“We are disappointed,” said Pareja “We had the three points and coming out with a point now doesn’t make us happy.”
Andrew Jacobson went one step further.
“I thought we deserved the three points,” said Jocobson. “We did what we wanted to do, implemented what we set out to do and we got one point instead of three.”
With three games played in ten days Adam Moffat tried to add a positive spin.
“For us to be disappointed to take a draw here is a positive sign for us,” midfielder Moffat said.
“We have to praise the players,” Coach Pareja decreed. “They gave it all today. They had great opportunities going forward. [I know] a lot of people enjoyed our team’s play tonight.”
Back on June 7 an eight game skid game to a decisive end against Oscar Pareja’s old team in dramatic fashion. After falling behind early in the match at Toyota Stadium a corner kick by Jair Benitez in the 33rd minute and a rebound goal by Zach Loyd gave Team Red For 90 a 2-1 lead at the break after Deshorn Brown got the scoring started early for Colorado in the 25th minute with a chip shot that got past Raul Fernandez.
Jose Mari made it a 2-all affair in the 52nd minute when he also connected on a corner kick. Ten minutes later Fabian Castillo would blast a shot past goalie Irwin after dribbling into the box for a 3-2 score that held up. There was significance in the score as Castillo tucked the ball into his shirt, mimicking a pregnant woman.
“I dedicated it to my wife because she’s pregnant,” said Castillo. “So it was for her and my baby that is coming.”
“I know there’s a lot of responsibility with being a father,” said Castillo, “but this is my work and it’s another type of responsibility but I’m taking it and enjoying it.”
“It was pretty spectacular seeing him do what he does, gliding and dancing through people,” said Zach Loyd. “But to put that finishing touch on it was great to see and a huge confidence builder for him going into Portland.”
June 28 the season resumes for FC Dallas in Columbus with the Crew before a July 4 home game with the Philadelphia Union.
FC Dallas with the four accrued points this month have improved to 6-7-4 and 22 points in the West. Good for fourth place, ten points behind the red hot Sounders.
Happy World Cup watching. Soccer will be hot and heavy from now until July 13th with the World Cup finals.
Upcoming Schedule
6/28 @Columbus Crew 7:00 p.m.
