FRISCO - When Victor Ulloa woke up on Sunday, he wasn’t sure if he’d even play in that evening’s Western Conference Semifinal playoff game against Seattle Sounders FC. By the day’s end, the midfielder had completed perhaps his most impressive performance in an FC Dallas jersey.
“I took a knock on Wednesday and was feeling really sore. I didn’t even really train [Saturday] for almost the whole thing and after training I told Oscar I was feeling sore,” Ulloa said after Sunday’s game. “We were doubtful about today, I was at least, but he just said to wait and give it time to heal. We treated it well and it took a lot for me to play 90 minutes but I’m glad that I did.”
The knock Ulloa is talking about is a contusion suffered in Wednesday’s playoff win over Vancouver. For just the third time this season, Ulloa did not complete a game he started, coming off after 76 minutes in that match, and nearly coming off at halftime.
Incredibly, despite not practicing during the days leading up to Sunday’s match, Ulloa was ever-present against a star-studded Sounders team, leading all players in passes completed with 67 and finishing all 90 minutes of play.
“[Saturday] I had some doubts in my head, I didn’t know if I was going to be ready but talking to Oscar helped a lot,” said Ulloa. “I had a good night’s sleep, came here and got treatment, did a little activation before the game and it felt good so I was ready to go.”
Playing your best when you’re not 100% physically is just another lesson learned in Ulloa’s breakout season and a lesson Pareja hopes to impart to his young team.
“This group is learning that in this game it is very unusual to play without pain,” Pareja said after the match. “Today I had four players who came to the field with some sort of pain that they were dragging from the last game. The youngsters need to understand that at the professional level you normally play with pain. Victor today was close to not being part of this game and he got through it and played one of his best games and showed himself that the pro level is different.”
Having played two professional seasons in Central America, Ulloa’s Homegrown teammate and best friend Moises Hernandez also played 90 minutes in Sunday’s draw against Seattle and is no stranger to playing with knocks.
“This is what the playoffs are about,” Hernandez said about playing hurt. “There’s players that are hurt, but this is playoffs and players have to step up regardless of whether they’re hurt or not and forget about those little things. We’re not happy that we didn’t get the win, but we feel good. We’re confident and feel like we can get the win in Seattle.”
They certainly won’t mind having an entire week to mend those bumps and bruises before going to battle at CenturyLink Field on Monday night.
“These are the playoffs. We love pressure, so what better way to go into Seattle’s house, number one seed in the playoffs and to beat them in their house,” said Ulloa. “We’re going to watch video, rest this weekend and go in with everything.”
