PANAMA CITY - FC Dallas brought a commanding 4-0 lead with them to Panama ahead of Leg Two in their CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal against Arabe Unido - but it’s the furthest thing from mind.
“We’re not relaxing. We’re not taking it for granted. We’re not thinking that it’s over,” head coach Oscar Pareja said after the team’s training session at Estadio Rommel Fernández Tuesday evening. “We’re going to take it the [same] way we've done before. Every game we’re trying to win it and try to get the best out of it.”
No team in CCL Quarterfinal history has ever overcome a deficit of more than two goals after the first leg, but playing on the road in Panama, anything can happen - and Dallas doesn’t want to find themselves on the wrong side of history.
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves. The first leg at home we had a great result, but there are two legs for a reason and there have been some pretty big comebacks before,” defender Walker Zimmerman added. “For us [as a defensive unit], it’s about concentration and making sure that we work on the defensive side of the ball and keep their opportunities limited.”
Dallas limited the Arabe Unido attack to just one shot last Thursday, but had the benefit of playing their first competitive match of 2017 in familiar territory. After a 12-hour travel day to the southern tip of Central America on Monday, they'll look to close it out in a similar fashion on the road.
“No excuses. For us, it’s important to understand that we are well-prepared,” Pareja said. “We have such great professionals in the squad and we put all those obstacles aside.”
“We’re ready. We’ve been chomping at the bit now for a few weeks to get back into action,” Zimmerman said. “The season is just getting started and we’re excited to hopefully make that two wins.”
Leg Two between FC Dallas and Arabe Unido is set to kick off at 7 p.m. CT on Wednesday and can be seen live on the CONCACAF Facebook page, Facebook.com/CONCACAFcom.