Blog
FC Dallas forward Blas Perez and defender George John were ranked among the Castrol Index Weekly Top 20 performers for Week 8 in Major League Soccer following the team's 2-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Perez checked in at number four in this week's Castrol Index after scoring his third goal of the season in Week 8 and registering four shots on goal vs. Whitecaps FC. Super Raton's goal came in the 50th minute of the match after he got a head to Kenny Cooper's deflected shot and redirected the ball past goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
John landed at number 11 in this week's Index. The big center back played the full 90 minutes against Vancouver and was occupying defender Brad Rusin on FCD's corner kick attempt in the 29th minute, during which Rusin scored an own goal following David Ferreira's service. John also made a goal-line clearance in the 41st minute to help maintain the clean sheet.
Castrol Index Week 8 Top 20 Performers
| Rank | Player | Position | Team | Minutes | Opponent | Points |
| 1 | Thierry Henry | Forward | New York Red Bulls | 90 | New England Revolution | 2,056 |
| 2 | Jack McInerney | Forward | Philadelphia Union | 76 | D.C. United | 1,583 |
| 3 | Jimmy Nielsen | Goalkeeper | Sporting Kansas City | 90 | New York Red Bulls | 1,521 |
| 4 | Blas Pérez | Forward | FC Dallas | 89 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1,451 |
| 5 | Nick Rimando | Goalkeeper | Real Salt Lake | 90 | Chivas USA | 1,381 |
| 6 | Michael Gspurning | Goalkeeper | Seattle Sounders FC | 90 | Colorado Rapids | 1,351 |
| 7 | Dan Kennedy | Goalkeeper | Chivas USA | 90 | Real Salt Lake | 1,329 |
| 8 | Andy Gruenebaum | Goalkeeper | Columbus Crew | 90 | Chicago Fire | 1,319 |
| 9 | Donovan Ricketts | Goalkeeper | Portland Timbers | 90 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1,293 |
| 10 | Marcelo Sarvas | Midfielder | LA Galaxy | 90 | Sporting Kansas City | 1,258 |
| 11 | George John | Defender | FC Dallas | 90 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1,183 |
| 12 | Patrick Nyarko | Midfielder | Chicago Fire | 86 | Columbus Crew | 1,147 |
| 13 | Gonzalo Segares | Defender | Chicago Fire | 90 | Columbus Crew | 1,142 |
| 14 | Jeff Larentowicz | Midfielder | Chicago Fire | 90 | Columbus Crew | 1,134 |
| 15 | Javier Morales | Midfielder | Real Salt Lake | 90 | Chivas USA | 1,114 |
| 16 | Jonny Steele | Midfielder | New York Red Bulls | 90 | New England Revolution | 1,094 |
| 17 | Lionard Pajoy | Forward | D.C. United | 90 | Philadelphia Union | 1,091 |
| 18 | Aurélien Collin | Defender | Sporting Kansas City | 90 | New York Red Bulls | 1,063 |
| 19 | Austin Berry | Defender | Chicago Fire | 90 | Columbus Crew | 1,059 |
| 20 | Justin Braun | Forward | Toronto FC | 90 | Houston Dynamo | 1,010 |
You can see the full Castrol Index report from Week 8 here.
Full match highlights from FC Dallas' 2-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
SAVE: Blas Perez tests Joe Cannon early.
GOAL: David Ferreira's corner kick goes in off Brad Rusin's back.
GOAL-LINE CLEARANCE: George John hustles back to clear Matt Watson's shot off the line.
GOAL: Perez beats Cannon with a header off Kenny Cooper's deflected shot.
Congratulations to goalkeeper Raul Fernandez who was voted MLSsoccer.com Latino de la Jornada for week 7. Raul won the weekly voting with a whopping 94% of the vote beating out Camilo, Jamison Olave and Olmes Garcia. Fernandez is the first FCD player to win the award this season.
On Thursday, Dan Hunt sat down for his weekly Facebook chat discussing a number of topics in the FC Dallas world including EPL on NBC, the upcoming summer transfer window and FCD license plates.
Click here to read the full chat transcript.
FC Dallas hosts Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the first game of a home and home series this Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. presented by Albertsons Market, but FC Dallas Stadium is not the only place the club will have a presence this weekend.
If you’re in Carrollton Friday evening, the FC Dallas Tour will be at the Copa ESPN tournament at the McInnish Soccer Complex from 6-9 p.m. You can kick on the inflatable goal or spin the prize wheel and win great prizes including koozies, FCD stickers, pencils, CiCi’s coupons and more!
Also Friday evening, the FC Dallas Girls and staff will be at pub partner Brick House Tap + Tavern during Happy Hour from 5-7 p.m. promoting next Saturday’s Party at the Pubs watch party presented by Budweiser. The FC Dallas Girls will pose for photos, interact with fans and sign people up to win tickets to Saturday’s game vs. Vancouver. Ticket winners will be selected every 15 minutes, so be sure to arrive early for Happy Hour and your chance to win.
Saturday, the FCD Tour will set up shop at the UT Southwestern "Carnaval de Salud” from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with the prize wheel and inflatable goal entertaining fans of all ages.
Lastly, before you arrive at FC Dallas Stadium for Lamar’s Tailgate (6 p.m.) and the club’s eighth game of the 2013 MLS season (7:30 p.m. on TXA 21), walk down Main Street to the Frisco StrEATS event featuring food trucks, live music and the historic buildings of Frisco. The FC Dallas Girls and Tex Hooper highlight the FC Dallas set up, and if you stop by our tent, you’ll have the opportunity to win four (4) tickets to Saturday’s home game AND a team-signed scarf!
We're looking forward to another exciting match on Saturday against Vancouver Whitecaps FC and it's going to be a special evening as we promote the FC Dallas Foundation’s Gear Up collection night presented by Albertsons Market.
Prior to entering the stadium, there will be large donation boxes at each gate where fans can drop off new or used soccer balls, shin guards, and cleats. These items are distributed to children locally and all over the world, so they can have the equipment to play the game!
Everyone that donates will received a 10% off coupon to the FC Dallas Team Store, so remember to Gear Up this weekend before the game!
George John and Raul Fernandez have earned another accolade for their solid performances on Saturday night against the Galaxy, being named to the top 20 of the Castrol Index for week seven. With his big PK save, Fernandez comes in at second in the league while a game-winning goal and overall solid defensive play has George John in at 10th.
Congrats to both! To view the full Castrol Index, click here.
Castrol Index Week 7 Top 20 Performers
| Rank | Player | Position | Team | Minutes | Opponent | Points |
| 1 | Bobby Shuttleworth | Goalkeeper | New England Revolution | 90 | Seattle Sounders FC | 1,544 |
| 2 | Raúl Fernández | Goalkeeper | FC Dallas | 90 | LA Galaxy | 1,522 |
| 3 | Donovan Ricketts | Goalkeeper | Portland Timbers | 90 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1,448 |
| 4 | Jack McInerney | Forward | Philadelphia Union | 90 | Toronto FC | 1,342 |
| 5 | Luis Robles | Goalkeeper | New York Red Bulls | 90 | D.C. United | 1,285 |
| 6 | Nick Rimando | Goalkeeper | Real Salt Lake | 90 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1,197 |
| 7 | Conor Casey | Forward | Philadelphia Union | 90 | Toronto FC | 1,165 |
| 8 | Carlo Cudicini | Goalkeeper | LA Galaxy | 90 | FC Dallas | 1,153 |
| 9 | Dan Kennedy | Goalkeeper | Chivas USA | 90 | Colorado Rapids | 1,142 |
| 10 | George John | Defender | FC Dallas | 90 | LA Galaxy | 1,082 |
| 11 | Camilo Sanvezzo | Forward | Vancouver Whitecaps | 88 | Real Salt Lake | 1,082 |
| 12 | Jámison Olave | Defender | New York Red Bulls | 90 | D.C. United | 1,074 |
| 13 | Joe Bendik | Goalkeeper | Toronto FC | 90 | Philadelphia Union | 1,041 |
| 14 | Brad Davis | Midfielder | Houston Dynamo | 90 | Chicago Fire | 1,022 |
| 15 | Djimi Traoré | Defender | Seattle Sounders FC | 90 | New England Revolution | 921 |
| 16 | Clint Irwin | Goalkeeper | Colorado Rapids | 90 | Chivas USA | 916 |
| 17 | Will Bruin | Forward | Houston Dynamo | 75 | Chicago Fire | 895 |
| 18 | Lamar Neagle | Midfielder | Seattle Sounders FC | 90 | New England Revolution | 890 |
| 19 | Víctor Bernárdez | Defender | San Jose Earthquakes | 90 | Portland Timbers | 856 |
| 20 | Federico Higuaín | Forward | Columbus Crew | 90 | Montreal Impact | 851 |
George John may have scored the game-winning goal against the LA Galaxy, but center back partner Matt Hedges' defensive performance Saturday earned him Team of the Week honors for Week 7. Hedges had a game-high nine clearances and posted a succesful pass rate of 94% (identical to John's), completing 30 of 32 passes. Hedges was also named one of MLSsoccer.com's top three Men of the Match in the post-game recap.
DF: Matt Hedges (FC Dallas) – George John may have gotten the goal and the glory in FCD’s 1-0 win over the Galaxy, but Hedges was the best defender on the field, making plenty of timely interventions to keep LA off the board.
See the full Team of the Week here.
Sitting on top of MLS by three points after Saturday's big win over the two-time defending champion LA Galaxy, the weekly MLS Power Rankings make for some nice reading no matter which site you check out. In pretty much all the power rankings out there, FC Dallas is in either first or second place and we've rounded them up to get a good look at what people around the league think of first-place FCD.
The MLSsoccer.com power rankings have FCD in second place behind Kansas City, jumping all the way up from seventh. Jeff Carlisle's ESPN Power Rankings have FC Dallas in the top spot, up from last week's second place position. Avi Creditor over at SI.com has FC Dallas in first while Soccer By Ives also has Schellas Hyndman's men in the top spot.
Rounding out our look around the power rankings world, Steve Davis of ProSoccerTalk has FC Dallas in first place and Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com has FCD in first as well.
When you save a PK from Landon Donovan, you make some headlines and Raúl Fernández has been nominated for MLSsoccer.com's "Latino de la Jornada."
Head over and vote for Raúl as he faces off against Jamison Olave, Olmes Garcia & Camilo.
While his PK save curiously didn't show up in MLSsoccer.com's Save of the Week competition, his huge stop on Mike Magee in the 55th minute made the cut. Watch the video below, then head to MLSsoccer.com and give Raúl another vote!