Blog

After Saturday's draw in Vancouver, FC Dallas slid to the second spot in the MLSsoccer.com Power Rankings saying "On the face of it, a 2-2 draw on the road is a pretty good result. But it came at the price of two starters going off injured, a third going off under the influence of the red mist and a two-goal lead coughed up in the interim. Hey, at least they got the point." 

FCD also dropped to the #2 slot in the Soccer by Ives rankings, also noting that FCD struggled a bit when George John and Andrew Jacobson had to come out of the lineup. Dallas retained the top spot in the Soccer America power rankings staying above Los Angeles while the Sporting News rankings dropped FC Dallas to number two.  

An FC Dallas team made up of mostly Under-15 Pre Academy players is currently in Poland touring the country while playing games against Polish sides. For more information on the trip, click here.

Thank you to FCD U15 assistant coach Jesse Suarez for the updates!

Click here for a gallery of pictures from the games against MKS Blekitni Wronki.

Day 1: 

Thursday April 25th

We left Dallas at 4:00PM and arrived at 7:00AM in Frankfurt, Germany. We had a layover for a few hours and then took a short flight to Munich, Germany then to Poznan, Poland. At the airport in Poznan, we were greeted by Derek Karasinski's friends and family who took us to the Olympic Hotel which was about one hour away. We had a short training session with the direction of  Francisco Molina working on functional defense, Raul Herrera working with the keepers and Jesse Suarez work on shooting drills with the midfielders and forwards. 

Day 2:

Friday April 26th

The players had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then had a stretching session for 25 minutes to get ready for their first game.  We played a club called MKS Blekitni Wronki in the facilities which they own at a town ten minutes away called Popowo. 

First game of the day: 

FC Dallas - 3 vs. MKS Blekitni Wronki 97 - 0

In the fifth minute, Erick Davies (our right fullback) ran down the right side of the field, made a diagonal pass across the goal and Alex Lim (our left fullback) shot from outside the 18 yard line placing the ball in the upper left corner. The second goal came in the 38th minute when Jason Saco-Vertiz dribbled pass the midfield and played the ball to Weston Mckennie who made a one time  pass to Richard Tapia. Tapia then made a diagonal run in front of the defense and found himself one against one with the keeper and sliped the ball down the left side of the keeper for a beautiful goal. In the second half in the 42nd minute, Bernie ZuaZua applied high pressure on the left fullback and won the ball from him, then bent a shot around the keeper for the goal.

Goals 
5' - Alex Lim (Eric Davies) 
38' - Richard Tapia (Jason Saco-Vertiz) 
42' - Bernie ZuaZua 

FCD XI: Matthew Karasinski, Eric Davies (Joel Avilez 41), Phillip Ponder, Pablo Ocampo, Alex Lim, Irvin Dominguez, Alejandro Martinez (Duncan James 53),  Richard Tapia (Daniel 41), Jason Saco-Vertiz, Bernie ZuaZua (Teague Loughmen 53) 

Second game of the day: FC Dallas - 2 MKS Blekitni Wronki 96- 0

In the 20th minute, a cross from Martin Salas was dropped by the keeper in front of the goal and Brent Mandelkorn finished it into the net. In the 60th minute, Jeff Withers dribbled past two defenders then made a diagonal pass to Christan Ramirez who beat two  players and then shot the ball pass the keeper, hitting the upper bar and scoring.

20'- Brent Mandelkorn 
60'- Christian Ramirez (Jeff Withers) 

FCD XI: Charlie Furrer, Kody Korleski ( Eric Davies 60), Ryan Jakszta, Antonio Trespalacios (Joel Avilez 70), Clay Ritterhaus, Brent Mandelkorn, Reese Schattle, Martin Salas, Sergio Lara (Sebastian Gordillo 53), Christian Ramirez, Livano Salas (Jeff Withers 53) 

This weekend, FC Dallas players will be out in the community at Get Kidz Fit Fest 2013 and Dia Del Nino. 

You can catch Ugo Ihemelu, Victor Ulloa, Stephen Keel and Jonathan Top out at the sixth annual Get Kidz Fit Fest 2013 on Saturday afternoon from 12-4PM at Dallas Market Hall. Kids can experience an abundant variety of physical activities and interactive games, meet sports coaches and VIPs and dance to the high-energy performances at the Main Stage party. Admission and parking are free. 

Victor Ulloa will be out at the Latino Cultural Center Sunday from 12-4PM as the LCC is celebrating its third annual Día del Niño (Day of the Child). The daylong celebration will feature over a dozen activities focused on theater, dance and visual arts for the entire family. Activities will be held throughout the LCC, allowing families to drop-in on arts and crafts workshops, view theater performances, or listen to a storyteller in one of the galleries.

It truly is a full team effort for FC Dallas right now in their six-game unbeaten streak and two players have been named to MLSsoccer.com's Team of the Week. With a three-game home defensive scoreless streak going, George John earned a nod to the TOTW while team captain David Ferreira also earned TOTW honors. In addition, Schellas Hyndman, who set a franchise record on Saturday, found himself as coach of the week. Read below to see Nicholas Rosano's comments on each of the three honorees. 

DF: George John (FC Dallas) – While Dallas dominated the Whitecaps in their 2-0 home winover the weekend, they still needed that bit of defensive stability to keep things tight on their own end, and John did just that while even helping to set up Dallas' opener.

MF: David Ferreira (FC Dallas) – At his irrepressible best in Dallas' win over Vancouver. You won't see his name on the scoresheet, but Ferreira pulled all the strings in midfield, made a number of key passes and was effective in his passing in Vancouver's half of the field.

Coach: Schellas Hyndman (FC Dallas) – The transition to 4-2-3-1 has well and truly worked for Hyndman's team, and the weekend's 2-0 win over Vancouver was perhaps its best iteration so far. FCD nearly ran Vancouver off the field, and Hyndman deserves a good deal of credit for getting his team humming.