June 30 - FCD 0, Houston 0

Check out http://www.fcdallas.net/ for highlights, boxscore and game summary...here's a few notes, followed by Steve's post-game comments.

• FCD registered its third shutout of the season – and all three have come over the past four games. This was the first shutout at home. At the same time, today was the sixth time the team has been shutout this year, and the third time it has been shutout at home.
• There were 41 fouls called in the game: 26 against Dallas and 15 against Houston. The 26 fouls were the most called against Dallas this season; this was the fifth game this year in which FCD has been whistled for at least 20 fouls.
• The backline of Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson, Alex Yi, and Chris Gbandi had started 11 of the teams 15 games – until today, when only Goodson played....Gbandi served a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulations; Moor was away with the U.S. National Team at the Copa America tournament; and Alex Yi was out with an injured left hamstring.
• Aaron Pitchkolan started at center back today, the first time he’s played an MLS game in that position. For Bobby Rhine, this was his third start of the year, and first since April 29.
• Defender Adrian Serioux was on the 18-man day of game roster for the first time since joining FCD. He had knee surgery in February and has not been available until today...rookie defender Andrew Daniels also made his first appearance on the 18-man roster.
• Today’s game started a stretch of playing six games over the next 15 days. Dallas will host Chivas USA on Wednesday, July 4 (5:30 pm), travel to Monterrey, Mexico to play Tigres UANL on Sat., July 7, come back to Texas to host the Atlanta Silverbacks in the 3rd Round of the U.S. Open Cup on Mon, July 9; play the second-leg against Tigres at PHP on Wed, July 11; and then travel to play D.C. United on Sat. July 14.

June 29 - Drew's Venezuela Blog - Part II

Friday, June 29 - Drew checks in from Venezuela, recapping the last couple of days, including yesterday game against Argentina (which Argentina won 4-1). Drew was available as a sub, and though he didn't get in the game, he shares his experience...

"Training the day before the game was not too unlike training with FCD the day before a game. After a short warm up with the ball, we immediately broke into 2 teams of 11 and worked on our shape both defensively and offensively. We also threw in some set piece situations as well. Most of the guys had a pretty good idea at that point who was starting, and all players are available for the games (so everyone dresses and can play). Since I wasn't starting I was obviously happy that I was still available.

The team dinner, like all meals here, was on the penthouse level here at our hotel. The food has been very good so far, to be honest; a good variety of meat, chicken, fajitas, fruits, vegetables, juices, and pizza one night (which I was pretty happy about...) Sometimes you travel to other countries and the food leaves something to be desired....however, it's been first rate here.

The day of the game was so loooong. We didn't kick off until 8:50 pm local time. We had 3 meals before the game (similar to when FCD is away).

The guys were pretty relaxed for most of the day...watched movies, surfed the net, took a walk. We're really not supposed to leave the hotel on our own so the days are mostly spent passing the time doing those activities. We had a short meeting right after our pregame meal to go over last minute reviews and we were off to the stadium at 7:00.

Security was (as always so far) extremely tight - motorcycles, hummer cops, and helicopters clearing traffic for us. The Colombia/Paraguay game was before ours, so by the time we got to the 45,000 seat stadium it was jam packed. We got to watch a little bit of that game from outside of our locker room area and could tell it was gonna be a sweet atmosphere.

We also didn't have any warmup time on the field, so it was all done in this small turf room underneath the stadium. I think I truly recognized the magnitude when I looked over and saw Lionel Messi, Gabriel Heinze, Juan Veron, and Riquelme walking next to our starting 11 for the anthems....it was an amazing sight - the fans were absolutely deafening (couldn't even hear the fireworks goin off over our heads....) Really wish I coulda played in that match....

The boys performed very well in the first half...stayed organized defensively, kept the ball well at times, and EJ took advantage of one of their few mistakes. Obviously at halftime we felt very much in the game and that a result was within reach. Coach Bradley was very positive at halftime. The quote that stood out to me went something like this, "this is the game to empty your tanks, we have subs that we can bring on, do not try to conserve energy on ANY play......empty your tanks."

Obviously the game ended quite disappointingly for us. After we battled so well for the first 60 minutes of the match, Argentina showed what they can do. Our guys were a bit gassed and lost some of the organization from the first half. Coach continued to urge them on from the side... Argentina were just the better team for the last half hour.

I was a little disappointed at the end of the game as only a few jerseys were exchanged and most of the Argentinian players were mobbed by the media, keeping us from getting too close. However, I did notice how professional those guys were with answering all the media questions and signing autographs, not 30 secs after the final whistle.....very impressive.

It was a pretty quiet locker room after the game, fatigue and disappointment about the result kept most guys pretty calm. Coach Bradley gave a good short speech on his thoughts of the game later that night at our post game dinner. The main thing from that speech that stood out to me, "in the first half they (Argentina) seemed to be a bit lost/fatigued, and that was created by us...however, we didn't take advantage of that ourselves and they were eventually able to come back at us..." (this is not word for word, but the point stuck in my head).

The players who did not start had a fairly intense training session this morning and then we all had most of the day off (minus meals and a team meeting after dinner...probably a video session later). We will be at this hotel in Maracaibo til Sunday, when we head to the next venue.

I want to send a message to the guys......take care of business tomorrow, we owe those guys...(and I miss y'all).

I also want to send a message to the fans...thanks for the support! If I'm given an opportunity, I will work to represent FCD well. I feel so blessed to be here right now and will do my best to perform well. Y'all are the best."

EDITORIAL NOTE: We feel like we know our players pretty well...but we were still impressed that a pro player, playing at a premier international competition with his national team, in another country, would take the time to write to fans of his club team (after training, the day after a game)...we were looking to see if we could find Robinho's blog to the Real Madrid fans, or Messi's to the Barcelona supporters...and though they are both also playing at the highest level like Drew, we're not sure if they are at the same time still as connected to their fans like MLS players are. Thanks Drew and Good Luck!

June 29 - Out of the nets

Today was the final training session before FCD goes up against their neighbors from the south, with the Houston Dynamo paying a visit to Pizza Hut Park on Sat. June 30 (5 pm).

As is common on the days before a game, the end of the practice session was a small-sided game - with each team trying to score on two mini goals, as well as defend two mini goals. Though it's still part of the practice, it's usually a fun end to the session - and that is most noticed by the presence of the keepers playing on the field.

We've seen Dario hit some pretty wicked free kicks after practice (our opinion), when he's shooting on Carlos or anyone else that gets in the net...which led to also wonder if Dario would ever be an available option for free kicks in a real game? We know he's scored goals in his career before, as a keeper...

BTW - it reached near 90 degrees today, and the three keepers on the field are easy to spot, as all three continue to wear their long sleeve tops and pants...on the flip side, Adrian, who as you know is just coming back from his knee surgery, doesn't wear anything on his knee...he had a wrap earlier this week, but tells us he wants to strengthen the leg up naturally, and the wrap was more of a reminder of his injury.

June 28 - Still Rainin

It really has been incredible the amount of rain that's come down this summer already (to us at least) ...

In between rain storms this morning, the team had another full session...Adrian did take part again. On Tuesday, we had moved him from OUT to Doubtful on the injury list turned in the League...After today's practice, Steve said that he Questionable (you ask, what's the difference?...really not much, other than a slightly better percentage chance that he could play). Alex sat out, though he did work on the side with the trainers.

After yesterday's scrimmage a few of the guys had to go to the Mexican Consulate to apply for visas in order to be able to play in the first leg of the Rio Grande Plate against Tigres at Estadio Universitario in Monterrey, Mexico on July 7. Marcelo, Ricardinho, Fish, Juan, and Dom all had to apply for the visa (green card holders / U.S. citizens don't need to apply)...we heard back today and there appears to be some problem with Marcelo's information, which we're hoping can be taken care of on Friday. So now you know who the coaching staff has in mind to potentially travel to Mexico next weekend.

Another note, if you heard the FSN-SW broadcast the other day, you may have caught that the Hislops finally had their baby last weekend - Luka, the Hislops first son after four daughters, was born on Saturday, June 23. Both boy and mom are doing great.

June 27 - Drew Checks in From Venezuela

We've gotten on a roll the past couple days here at the blog...with the U-17 team going to All-Star, the Nickelback concert announcement, Open Cup info, today's scrimmage, and the Kenny update...well, here's another.

As most know, Drew Moor is not with the team this week...that's because he received his first call-up to the U.S. Men's National Team and is in Venezuela competing in the Copa America. We wanted to give him a couple of days away from us before we caught up, and we did last night. We sent him a couple questions so he could give us a picture of his trip so far, and knowing that he's busy preparing, we didn't want to ask him to spend too much time on the computer answering our questions. Even so, he did...here's his first entry:

"I hope everyone is doing well, and tell the guys I said hello.

On Sunday evening, myself, Herculez (Gomez) and (Kyle) Beckerman flew to Chicago (first class by the way) and then shared a ride to the team hotel, which was the James Hotel in downtown Chicago. One of the first things the team administrator told us when we arrived was that the Gold Cup squad was free (I took it as a celebration night, since we had just won the Gold Cup final).

We were pretty much free for the evening....I met coach Bradley and some of the other coaches/trainers/staff members. I also had dinner with my sister that night, who lives in the city. We didn't really have a meeting til the next morning during breakfast, which informed us about the days events; which were, training in the a.m. and then off to Maracaibo on a chartered flight.

I received my U.S. soccer gear when we arrived in Venezuela later that day....it kinda hurts though, I think it's because its hardcore Nike, and all I have and wear is adidas (nice plug, Drew:)

Since its a pretty young squad as a whole, nobody has really ID'ed anyone as a rookie, and the guys are all great. I'm rooming with Justin Mapp.

The security here is MADNESS!! 8 motorcycles, 4 huge cop cars (with guys hanging out the windows with AK's all around our bus). We are staying at the hotel where the Embassy members stay and there are men around every corner with big machine guns. The first thing I saw when I opened my door this morning was an AK. I dont know if it makes me feel safer or less safe, to be honest.

The first impression I got when I arrived was, "man that is lot of guys with a lot of big guns...." But the country itself seems to be very pretty. We are staying just downtown and on a lake/bay/port (according to the US Soccer Summer Blog, it's Maracaibo Lake).

Training has been pretty short, but intense. Its very hot here during the day and the first game is on Thursday (against Argentina), so it's a quick turnaround, obviously. But the quality of the training is very high and there's plenty of good talent here. Coach is showing us some video of Argentina and going over some of our shape/gameplan.

Obviously we're expecting a very good Argentina side, but we are preparing very well for them through video and work in training. Coach seems to be very positive and optimistic, and is not acting as though beating them would be an absolute shock. At the same time, we understand the effort and performance we would need to give to earn a result."

We told Drew we'd check in with him again on Thursday...keep checking back to follow his experience (and we're going to be getting in touch with Dax and Wally soon too, who are both with the U.S. U-20 team that begins the FIFA U-20 World Cup this upcoming Saturday in Canada).

June 27 - Kenny and his Cast

Kenny stopped by today to do some upper body workouts and some exercises with his left leg...One theory we've heard says that if you continue strenghthening your opposite leg when one leg is immobablized, that once you're ready to go with the other leg, some of the conditioning transfers over...we're not sure if Kenny knows this, or if we're even correct in understanding the theory - and we didn't get a chance to check with our doctors or trainers either if there's any truth to our blog findings...regardless, Kenny is a fitness machine...he's always looking to work out, stay in shape, eat healthy, etc - so we're really not surprised to see him working out with one leg...

Since we had our camera out for the scrimmage, we stopped him for a sec to let us get a glimpse of his cast. We've probably all seen someone's cast with a collection of 'signatures'...as we looked at these photos of his cast, we wondered if he would call those 'autographs' since many of from his teammates, or if they are still just 'signatures' to him? Note: the one with the heart is from his girlfriend, not a teammate; and he told us he'd let us take a closer photo of what the guys wrote once the cast comes off.

The white circular piece sticking out from the center is a bone stimulator. It has an opening which allows an ultrasound type machine to send electric stimulants to the bone, in theory helping the healing process.

Ironically, we were there when our equipment manager Marcus, with a cast on his broken left arm, stopped by to talk to Kenny.

June 27 - Morning Scrimmage UPDATED w/ VIDEO

Sandy Gbandi beats four defenders and tucks the final goal past the DFW keeper in the 90th minute.
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After all the rain we saw throughout the day on Tuesday, we came in this morning not sure if the scheduled scrimmage versus the local PDL team DFW Tornados would still take place. Our grounds crew man Miles told us that the training field received 10 inches of rain...but walking out there, no one could tell, as the field was completely drained and pretty much dry.

The home side won the scrimmage 6-0, with goals coming from Dom, Andrew Daniels, Ricardinho, Wags, Abe, and Sandy Gbandi. Just about all the guys had a chance to play some minutes, including both the first team and the reserves (expect for Adrian and Alex). They'll be back for a second practice session this afternoon at 4:30.

We do have four of the goals on video - so check back later to get a look.

UPDATED AT 7 PM CT: While we were cutting the fantastically edited YouTube clip, we realized we had Ricardinho on our side for a good portion of the video...you'll see he plays the close side (left) in the first half, and stays there in the second half (playing on the right)...we'll have to ask the coaches if this what they wanted, or if it was that Ricardinho noticed the camera...

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Here's a couple of the kids that we see at practice often - Travis and Mason (in grey) and their friends getting Andrew Daniels' autograph after today's scrimmage.

June 26 - FC Dallas vs. Atlanta in Open Cup 3rd Round

UPDATED JUNE 27, 12 pm CT: THE DATE IS CONFIRMED FOR JULY 9, AT 7:30 PM CT. FC DALLAS SEASON TICKET HOLDER SHOULD USE BONUS GAME 'D'.

Originally posted on June 26: We found out tonight that FC Dallas will play host to the Atlanta Silverbacks (USL D1) in the 3rd Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The game will most likely be played on July 9 - and definitely at Pizza Hut Park. And, yes, we do have a game on July 7 in Monterrey against Tigres, and then face them again at home on July 11 also. In fact, we'll have six games in a 15 day stretch beginning with the Houston game on June 30.

The reason we say most likely is because though the date was verbally agreed to between FCD, Atlanta, Charlotte (which lost to Atlanta), and U.S. Soccer, we hadn't received the confirmation email as of this posting. So we'll confirm everything on Tuesday (hopefully).

Atlanta defeated the Charlotte Eagles 1-0 tonight at the RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup to advance to the 3rd Round, and face FCD. Click here to read the recap from the Silverback's website (and click through the site to get more info on our 3rd round opponent). Geographical pairings and host proposals received from each club determined third round Open Cup match-ups, as they will through the quarterfinals of the tournament.

PLUG: Though not the official U.S. Soccer site, we recommend checking out www.usopencup.com to get a complete and easy to find history of the tournament, complete with the recent scores, past results and lineups, much more.

Dallas has faced Atlanta once before in the Open Cup, almost five years from the date they'll meet again- on July 17, 2002 in the 3rd Round of the Tourney, with Dallas winning 2-1 in overtime. Let us and other fans know what you remember from that game... Here's the box score :

July 17, 2002 - U.S. Open Cup 3rd Round
Atlanta Silverbacks (A-League) 1, Dallas Burn 2 (aet)
DeKalb Memorial Stadium, Clarkson, GA

Scoring:
ATL - Iotov 18'
DAL - Martinez 82
DAL - Martinez 102'

DALLAS BURN - Matt Jordan, Ryan Suarez, Tenywa Bonseu, Steve Morrow (Carl Bussey 77'), Jorge Rodriguez (Percy Olivares 72'), Joselito Vaca, Chad Deering, Ronnie O'Brien, Antonio Martinez, Eddie Johnson (Bobby Rhine 55'), Ronald Cerritos (Jason Kreis 55')

ATLANTA SILVERBACKS - Bryheem Hancock, James Wall, Alan Woods, Jason Annicchero, Gilbert Jean-Baptiste, Nate Hetherington (Jordy Broder 64'), Brian Piesner, Carlos Parra (Ryan Leib 82'), Judah Cooks, Velko Iotov (Byron Mitchell 64'), John Barry Nusum

Misconduct Summary:
ATL - Annicchero (Yellow) 37’
DAL - Deering (Yellow) 45’
ATL – Parra (Yellow) 81’
ATL - Wall (Yellow) 82’
ATL – Wall (2nd Yellow) 84’
ATL - Cooks (Yellow) 85’
DAL - Martinez (Yellow) 87
DAL - Rhine (Yellow) 90

MORE ON THE U.S. OPEN CUP

June 26 - Nickelback coming to PHP

More news on the off day...we announced another concert earlier today - Nickelback, Daughtry, and Puddle of Mudd are coming to Pizza Hut Park on August 19.

FC Dallas season ticket holders will have a presale opportunity to purchase tickets on Friday, June 29 from 10 am to 10 pm (for password info, contact your ticket rep or call 888.FCD.GOAL). Tickets for the general public go on sale on Saturday, June 30 at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 972.647.5700 or 214.373.8000. Tickets for the concert are $53.50, $43.50 plus applicable service charges.

Over the years, Nickelback's music has appealed to listeners of pop, hard rock, alternative and metal. The current album, “All the Right Reasons” is the fifth released by the Canadian-band and the most popular, having sold over 5 million copies in the United States alone. The CD has had seven songs become hit singles, which combined to sell over 4.5 million downloads. Among the popular songs are: Photograph, Far Away, Savin' Me, If Everyone Cared, and Rockstar. Click here to hear and see the videos.

It's our fifth scheduled concert of the year...here's a recap:
April 15 - EDGEFEST 16, featuring: The Killers, My Chemical Romance, A.F.I., Muse, Blue October, Jet, Papa Roach, Bowling for Soup, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Kaiser Chiefs, Sparta, Saosin, Bullet for My Valentine, Say Anything, Placebo, Finger 11, The Vanished, Sparta, Miser, and Ataris. (Attendance: 28,242)
April 28 – Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band (26,883)
June 16 – Kenny Chesney with Sugarland and Taylor Swift (26,342)
July 4 – post game-concert: Clay Aiken and Symphony following FC Dallas vs. Chivas USA.

June 26 - FCD U-17s Going to All-Star Game

With the first team getting the day off today, we wanted to bring you what some may consider 'breaking news'...it's not really, though we haven't seen anything out there about this.

The FC Dallas U-17 team is heading to Colorado in July to play in a tournament against other MLS U-17 teams during All-Star week. We don't yet know if there will be an official 'name' to the tourney...even so, our young guys are excited to be matched up against the youth sides of other pro teams - especially since other MLS coaches and MLS All-Stars will be there.

We've already had a chance to see a couple other MLS youth side this year...after our game versus Colorado last Saturday, the Rapids U-17s played Rush' U-17 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park...and, this past April, our U-19s beat the NYRB U-19s in the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup 2-0.

Anyway, all the FC Dallas Youth teams are now having open practices, so any kid that wants to train with one of our team can do so (check age group below for times and locations). Then on July 1, the tryout begins.

Open Practice Schedule:
97 Boys & Girls (U11)
96 Boys & Girls (U12)
95 Boys & Girls (U13)
94 Boys & Girls (U14)
93 Boys & Girls (U15)
92 Boys & Girls (U16)
91 Boys & Girls (U17)
90 Boys & Girls (U19)

Pizza Hut Park is the primary practice facility for FC Dallas Youth with 16 full size fields that are maintained throughout he year. Satellite practice facilities also include Greenhill School, Cabell Elementary, Rowlett Community Park, Keller/Southlake area & Corsair Park Grand Prairie. Make sure to check the links above / below to find out where the practice or open practices will be each day.

2007-2008 FC Dallas Youth Tryout Information - July 1st
FCDY BOYS OPEN TRYOUTS - GREENHILL SCHOOL
FCDY GIRLS OPEN TRYOUTS - FIVE STAR
FCDY SOUTH DIVISION - CORSAIR PARK
FCDY WEST (92 Boys) - HUFFAKER FIELD
FCDY WEST (93 & 97 BOYS) BEAR CREEK PARK
FCDY EAST DIVISION - WINTERS PARK

June 25 - La Estampida Express

The guys that played on Saturday had a light workout this morning. However, those that didn't play went through a more intensive session, which included, for the first time this year - Adrian Serioux. Adrian had a wrap on his knee, but appeared to get through the session without a hiccup. We'll see how the coaches want to proceed...also, Alex stayed in today to get treatment on his left hamstring, which was bothering him over the weekend...also, Kenny stopped by today, walking in on his crutches and with a cast on his lower right leg...he seems to be in good spirits, but then again, he always seems to be the happy guys around...(BTW - he also stopped by last week to wish the guys luck before they left for Colorado, but we didn't see him, which is why we're 'reporting' today's visit).

Pablo and Juan will be heading out to an appearance this afternoon, which gives us an opportunity to show fans the bus that is available to ride to FC Dallas games from the Carnival Food Stores - La Estampida Express. Some fans have seen this bus around, as it's already made a couple trips to PHP...and, it also took a busload of fans to Houston earlier this month for the FCD v Dynamo game.

At today's appearance, people will have a chance meet Juan and Pablo and win FC Dallas game packages that will include tickets and a free private bus ride to the Saturday, June 30th FC Dallas game vs. the Houston Dynamo. We'll also have he inflatables and other fun activities out there. Stop by if you have a chance and meet the guys - away from the stadium.

5-7 pm CT

Carnival Food Store
3434 West Illinois Ave.
Dallas, TX 75211

June 23 - FCD 1, Colorado 0

First, we'd like to say a big thanks to the fans that came out to Colorado for the game...it's not the first time this year we've seen a good turnout on the road, and the guys really appreciate the effort and support (apologies, the camera did not make the trip this time, but for those that didn't see the game, the group was vocal and colorful and represented FCD fans very well)...we also heard great things about the crowd back at the Londoner.

With no video, we'll go right to the notes (remember, recap, highlights, boxscore can be found at www.fcdallas.net).

• The win was the 8th of the year, bringing FCD’s record at the halfway mark of the regular season to 8-6-1, 25 points. Dallas remains in first place in the Western Conference, six points ahead of Houston which plays on Sunday versus Kansas City.
• This was the 5th road win of the season for FCD, bringing their road record to 5-4-1. The five road wins surpasses the total road wins of 2006, when the team finished 4-9-3 as visitors.
• This was also the team’s second shutout of the year, both coming on 1-0 road wins.
• FC Dallas has not lost to Colorado in regular season play since Sept. 4, 2004. Since that game, FCD is 7-0-3 versus the Rapids.
• Dallas is now 8-1-1 when scoring the first goal of the game, and 5-1-1 when doing so on the road.
• FCD is now 6-2-1 versus teams in the Western Conference.
• Dallas is also 6-2-0 with midfielder Pablo Ricchetti in the starting lineup, compared to 2-4-1 without. Ricchetti returned to the lineup today after missing the last game for accumulating five yellow cards.
• Defender Clarence Goodson picked up his fourth yellow card of the season. If he gets another one in any of the next three games he plays in, he’ll be suspended for one game.
• Defender Chris Gbandi received his fifth yellow card of the season, meaning he will be suspended for FC Dallas’ next game on Saturday, June 30 versus Houston.
• Defender Drew Moor, who started and played all 90 minutes for the 15th consecutive game, will join the U.S. National Team on Sunday ahead of the Copa America tournament which begins next week in Venezuela. He will also not be available for next week’s game.
• Captain Carlos Ruiz made his first start since May 20, after missing games while with the Guatemala National Team.
• The game was played at the Rapids’ new stadium, Dick’s Sporting Good Park. This was the 26th different stadium that Dallas has played a regular season game in during the 12 seasons – going 12-11-3 in the first game at each new venue.
• Game time temperature was listed as 90 degrees (EDITORIAL - it didn't feel as hot, especially in the shade).
• FCD returns home next weekend, facing the Houston Dynamo at Pizza Hut Park on Sat, June 30 (5 pm CT, live on Fox Soccer Channel).

Steve Morrow on the game: “I’m very pleased. I thought it was a good road performance from the team. We had a game plan going into the game of what we wanted to do; for everyone to get behind the ball defensively, be compact, and possess the ball well when we had it. And I thought we did that very well throughout the game; defended when we had to. I thought their best chances, especially in the second half came on set plays. In the general run of play I don’t think they looked like they were going to score any goals, so a lot of credit to our boys defensively. It’s only our second clean sheet but I think that was deserved tonight and over the 90 minutes I thought we deserved to win the game.”

June 23 - Drew Heading to Venezuela

We told you yesterday that we were waiting for the confirmation call...as you know by now, Drew made the final U.S. Roster for the prestigious Copa America tournament...it's Drew first-ever call up to the full men's national team...we'll give you some more on this shortly, but here's a little more on how it came down...

JUNE 22 - 11:15 a.m. - Coming off the adidas practice field at PHP on Friday morning, he still hadn't heard the official news. He went in to the locker room and quickly checked his messages, but there was nothing from U.S. soccer.

We had received a note from U.S. soccer stating that they would release the roster at 3 pm CT, since they were still trying to contact all the players. We were given the list, which included Drew - but we weren't sure if we were the ones that were supposed to tell him. After all, it's his first call-up, so we didn't even know how the news should be broken to him - it just seemed like he should hear it first from the national team.

One thing we're not sure the national team had in mind, is that FC Dallas, along with other MLS teams, were set to fly out on Friday afternoon for the weekend road games. Which meant, that if the players were selected, they would have to be prepared to leave from the 'away' city to join the U.S. team following the games. The reason we bring this up is because Drew didn't know if he had to bring a full suitcase with more clothes, etc - or if he should just bring his regular two-day small bag that he normally takes on road trips.

So, we had to tell Drew that we had seen the roster, and that he was on it, and that US Soccer was trying to contact all the players at this time. Still, we're about 30 minutes from leaving the stadium, and since he hadn't heard from them, we started to kind of worry if something had changed...Even so, Drew packed heavier, and then, right before we boarded the bus at PHP on the way to the airport, he received the call.

As we were approaching the airport, Steve walked to the middle of the bus and got the attention of all the players. Then he informed them that Drew had been selected to the team...the guys gave him a nice applause and the congratulations began (and of course, some started 'ranking' - see 'On the Road with Gbandi'). Drew will travel to Chicago on Sunday, and they U.S. team will depart for Venezuela on Monday morning.
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Some more on Moor (clever hu?...we agree)...

• Drew is the only FCD player to start and play every minute of all 14 games so far this season. He scored his second-career goal on June 9 in a 3-1 win over the LA Galaxy at Pizza Hut Park.
• He's one of four FCD players currently on a U.S. National Team roster, and becomes the tenth different FCD player to receive a call-up to a national team in 2007. Earlier this week, second-year midfielder Dax McCarty and rookie midfielder/defender Anthony Wallace joined the U.S. U-20 team that will participate in the 2007 FIFA Youth World Cup starting next week in Canada; and, rookie forward Abdusalam Ibrahim recently completed a three-game tour with the U.S. U-17 team in South Korea and is awaiting the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in August.
• The other FCD players to receive national team call-ups this year are: Kenny Cooper (U.S. National Team), Adrian Serioux (Canada), Blake Wagner (U.S. U-20), Chris Gbandi (Liberia), Dominic Oduro (Ghana U-23), and Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala).
• Drew's last national team game was on Dec. 12 2003, when he was part of the U.S. U-20 team that lost to Argentina 2-1 (overtime) in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Youth Championships in the United Arab Emirates. Also on the starting XI for the U.S. team that night were Ricardo Clark, Justin Mapp, and Eddie Johnson – who are all on this Copa America roster.
• Following the loss to Argentina, Moor flew from Abu Dhabi to Dubai to Frankfurt to New York and finally to Columbus, Ohio, arriving a few hours before kickoff and playing in the NCAA College Cup, helping Indiana University win its sixth national title with a 2-1 victory over St. Johns.

June 22 - Waiting for the Call

We've kept this one kind of quiet because we didn't want to jinx anything...but, with the U.S. National Team now advancing to the Gold Cup final on Sunday, June 24 against Mexico...and, with FCD leaving for Colorado on Friday afternoon, we figured we may as well let it out (and besides, we've seen some other names out there that were also revealed)...

Drew Moor and FC Dallas are anxiously waiting for the U.S. National Team to announce which players will make the final roster for the Copa America tournament, which begins next week. See, Drew was on the preliminary roster...

U.S. Soccer informed all players that were on the first list that they needed to get the required vaccinations that would allow them to enter Venezuela in the event they made the final roster. U.S. Soccer is planning on announcing the team on Friday afternoon. Keep your eye out for it in case it's revealed before we get a chance to get to the blog (since we may be in the air at the time)...if he's selected, he'd likely join the team on Monday...the U.S. plays Argentina (which by the way, seems to be bringing all the big guns) in the first game on Thursday, June 28.

June 21 - "On the Road with Chris Gbandi"

The latest FCD TV features has been posted - "On the Road with Chris Gbandi."

As we mentioned when we started this platform a few months ago, we wanted to give fans a better idea of who the players are, as well as some behind the scenes access and input that fans don't typically get. So for this edition of FCD TV, we follow defender Chris Gbandi on the road trip to Toronto, and back.

Back in April when Chris made his first trip of the season, we told you how the bus trip to the airport was non-stop laughs...we think you'll see what we mean in this clip. The guy will 'rank' on anyone, and then is a good sport to be on the end of jokes as well.

Give yourself some time, since the clip runs about 15 minutes in length...then, give us your thoughts...we'll bring Part II next week.

June 20 - Practice Continues

Not much to report from practice today...the players we mentioned yesterday were here today, as was this young area player to the right.

Standing on the sidelines, we could see the redheaded player show above training, so we quickly went to get the camera since we didn't want to miss him this time...See, we've seen Chris do this before; earlier this year, he had a slight mohawk and and last year he did something similar - and in both cases, we didn't have our camera with us...

By the way, keep an eye out on the FCD website for the next edition of FCD TV, which we're hoping to complete later this week and possibly make a regular new segment. Last weekend, we followed Chris on the road, from the time the bus left Pizza Hut Park for the airport, to the team's arrival in Toronto, checking in, breakfast, relaxing as he waited to leave for the airport, the pre-game warmups, post-game reaction and media interviews, and then getting back to Dallas...if it comes out the way we envision it, it should give a fun (and funny) insight on Chris and the travels of one of our players...we'll see how it comes out first and then get your feedback to see if we'd like to do this again...

June 19 - New Players?

The team arrived back at Pizza Hut Park on Sunday around 11:50 pm, and they were given Monday off. While there was no activity on the fields, the wheels were in motion getting a few players in town for a look starting with today's 10 am training. Most notably was the arrival of Ricardo Alves Pereira - who FCD fans have more commonly heard called, Ricardinho.

Ricardinho, the Atletico Paranaense forward the team has been in talks with, touched down at DFW on Monday morning after taking the overnight flight from Curitiba, Brazil. He met with Steve and Hitch here at the office, and then went grocery shopping before going to the apartment. BTW, he was once again wearing an Ohio State cap...if you recall, he wore a white Buckeye hat during the clinic on April 1...this time, he had the black "O" hat on...Also in town is Colombian/American forward Pablo Cuevas who arrived from California. He's a 19-year old who previously played with Juan at Santa Fe in Colombia. Finally, the third player arriving today is 20-year old English defender Tom Ingram, who just finished playing at Notts County in England. All three will join today's practice....another person joining the team today is Nestor Merlo, a youth goalkeeper coach who is around to help out Shaka...Merlo played professionally with Boca Juniors, Estudiantes and Quilmes in Argentina...some may remember him from last year, when at 46 he played for Dallas Roma in the Open Cup loss to the LA Galaxy after that magical run...

UPDATE: we just took a quick stroll out to the training field...while the guys are just beginning to warm up, we wanted to inform you that for the first time since February, Adrian Serioux is out there wearing his cleats...he's already involved in the juggling game with Dario, Fish, Ray, etc (trainers tell us he's ok to do this for now, and that he'll not 'participate' in the practice, but rather do more extensive running today)...

For those new to the juggling game, here's a quick reminder: the players form a circle, and one will call out what each player has to say before 'juggling' the ball to the person next to him. For instance, say a "European country" or "female tennis players"...the player gets a ball in the air, must juggle and pass to his neighbor, saying whatever the theme is...if he fails to say something, or repeats a phrase, or just messes up the pass, the rest of the guys get to playfully reprimand him - whether its a flick to the ear, a slap behind the knee, or a playful slap to the head...it's all in fun...even so, we're actually interested in seeing what happens if Adrian messes up...

June 17 - FCD 0, Toronto FC 4

It hurt just to type that score in the title...we'll take this one on the chin, as the saying goes...we're at the airport waiting for our flight back to DFW following the 4-0 loss to Toronto. Fish is on a direct flight back, the rest of the group is connecting in Chicago.

Before we move on, for those that don't know, Carlos played the full 90 minutes for Guatemala on Saturday in Foxborough, losing 3-0 to Canada in the CONCACAF Quarterfinals. We watched the game at the airport, but since our flight was leaving just as his was ending, we didn't touch base until the evening. We got him his flight info around 11 pm. He flew this morning from Boston to Toronto, taking a 7:55 am flight which had him land at 10 am. After going through customs, he caught a taxi to the team hotel, arriving around 11 am...then, he joined the guys on the bus at 11:30 on the way to the stadium.

So, it's not the best way back after a loss, but once it was decided that we'd be returning after the game instead of on Monday, there weren't enough seats on the direct flight to get the entire team back. We're thinking many people don't know some of the travel obstacles that MLS teams face, and we know we're not alone in facing at least some of these (or at least we think we're not). That's what this blog allows us to do, give fans a little more access to how the team goes about...it's not the most ideal way, but like we said, we'll move on and continue looking for ways to improve, on the field and off. Oh, and by the way, we're delayed here in Toronto...

Back to the game - same drill as before. Game recap, boxscore, highlights are on http://www.fcdallas.net/. We don't have good internet here so no YouTube post game video. Here are some notes:

• FCD played its third game of the week today and second road game in three days. The loss brings the team’s overall record to 7-6-1 (22 points). FCD remains five points ahead of second-place Chivas USA in the Western Conference.
• This was the fourth time this season that Dallas played three games in an eight day stretch, the most of any team.
• The meeting was the first between FCD and new-expansion side Toronto FC. Prior to today, FCD had faced 14 other teams in MLS history, compiling a 9-5-0 record in the first meeting against those teams. Team captain Carlos Ruiz, who played 90 minutes on Saturday for his native Guatemala in a 3-0 loss to Canada in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals, joined his FC Dallas teammates this morning as the team boarded the bus to the stadium. Ruiz flew from Boston to Toronto on a 7:55 am flight, touching down at 10 am ET.
• BMO Field was the 25th different stadium in which Dallas has played a regular season game. The loss evened the team’s record in the first game at a new stadium to 11-11-3.
• The backline of Gbandi, Goodson, Yi, and Moor started their 10th game together.
• Pablo Ricchetti did not play today as he was serving a one-game suspension for picking up five yellow cards on the year.
• Chris Gbandi wore the captain’s armband for the sixth time this year. He also picked up his fourth yellow card of the season. Should he get a yellow card in any of the next three games in which he appears, he will be suspended for one game.
• FCD has been shutout in five of its six losses this season.
• The team is now 1-4-1 in day games, compared to 6-2-0 in evening games…Also, the team is 1-4-0 on games televised nationally on Telefutura, compared to 3-1-0 when on ESPN2.
• Following the game, Dax McCarty and Anthony Wallace left to join the U.S. U-20 national team ahead of the 2007 FIFA Youth World Cup, which ends on July 22.
• Game time temperature was listed as 78 degrees (EDITORIAL – it felt much hotter on the turf at field level for the 1 pm ET kickoff).
• FCD continues its road trip next week with a visit to the Colorado Rapids new stadium, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, on Sat. June 23.
• BMO Field set a new attendance record of 20,156 today.

Steve Morrow on the game: “I thought we started much the better team for the first 20-25 minutes. I thought we were dominating the game pushing forward, and we looked the more dangerous team – created a few opportunities and we didn’t take them. I think we have to do a much better job when we’re dominating the game, making the most of our opportunities. We didn’t do that and we got punished for it. They had two efforts on goal in the first half. Things that we should be dealing better with, we spoke about it before the game, dealing with crosses and dealing with Dichio as well. We didn’t do it and we got punished for it. Then, the second half, I just didn’t think we had the legs or the energy to push the game like we needed to.”

On if the team was tired:
“Obviously Carlos played 90 minutes yesterday. We played in Salt Lake a few days ago as well, so I’m trying to get as many fresh legs on the field as we possibly could. It was one of those days. We don’t like to make excuses, but I will defend my players today, because we’ve had two tough games in a space of three days – on the road in Salt Lake on turf, and a short time back in Dallas, and then having to come up here and play on turf as well on a hot afternoon. We’ll move on from it and just forget about it.”

June 17 - Did you know

A quick couple hits...Adrian did not come on the trip...we'll see about next week when we head to Colorado, though he is still not ready to play...rookie Andrew Daniels is on this trip (his first), since Pablo Ricchetti is not (suspended for yellow card accumulations)...

Here's one example that reminded us that this is a different trip compared to other MLS visits...Did You Know, that prior to the season, we had to request a TRV-visa for the players that didn't have the 'easy' documents to enter and 'work' in Canada - Dominic (Ghana), Marcelo (Brazil), Juan (Colombia), Carlos (Guatemala) and Roberto (Ecuador)...

Guys like Pablo and Dario (both Argentina) would have also needed to get visas if they traveled on their Argentine passports...however, if Pablo traveled he would have come in with his Italian passport, and Dario, like Ramon (Honduras) and Shaka (Trinidad / UK and also not here), don't need a visa since they are U.S. Residents...though Shaka, at the time, was anticipated that he would travel with his UK passport, as Steve did (Norther Ireland - and UK passports are ok here for this purpose)...

June 17 - Checking in from Canada

Well, we had the intentions of checking in with you earlier...thing is, we've spent a decent amount of time traveling since we posted the Birdman video...before we get to Canada, we'll give you an idea of what the past 48 hours have been like.

June 14

9:28 pm MT - Dom hits the game-winner versus RSL

10:15 pm MT - we leave Rice-Eccles Stadium for the team hotel, have dinner, get to bed (well, some of us were putting up videos)

June 15

7:15 am MT - everyone's on the bus, heading to the Salt Lake Airport

7:40 am MT - as we check in, we find out the flight to DFW is delayed an hour...we were scheduled to leave at 8:50, it's now looking more like 10 a.m.

11 am MT - we're on the plane, and the pilot informs us there is fluid leaking from the left engine...hummm...he says for the time being, we'll remain on the plane (no power, and it's got pretty warm inside).

11:40 am MT - they fix the problem...we're about to leave Salt Lake

3 pm CT - we arrive at DFW...get our bags, board the bus, we're on our way to Pizza Hut Park

4 pm CT - the Reserves get in a full training, the starters get a workout in for their recovery session.

5:15 pm CT - many of the guys are on their way home..

June 16

9 am CT - the guys are in for a morning training session

11 am CT - lunch is served in the lounge

11:30 CT - Kenny Chesney, who is playing at Pizza Hut Park this evening, comes in to use the FCD workout room...the halls are packed with the pre-show set up...there's about 9,000 seats on the stadium field...and, well, it's pretty busy and there's all kinds of activity as the crews continue to setup for the show...we also had a 5K run here this morning...

11:45 am CT - the bus leaves the stadium on its way back to DFW for the 1:55 pm flight

12:40 pm CT - arrive at DFW, check in....of course, the flight is delayed - this time about an hour

1:00 pm CT - we use a laptop to watch the Guatemala versus Canada second half...Fish's side is eliminated (hummm...)...then we flip on the U.S. Open - for Dario; thing is, fellow-Argentine Angel Cabrera is in the lead at the time...Dario claims to know Angel, as they are both from Cordoba...of course, some guys have fun with the 'claim', but Dario is pretty convincing...it's like he's watching a soccer game, cheering every drive, putt, etc...

3:10 pm CT - we're on the plane, on our way to Toronto...but...now we're waiting for another 'first officer'...apparently he's on his way, so we're leaving as soon as he arrives...

3:35 pm - the 'first officer' must have arrived cause they tell us to turn all electronics off...A few minutes pass by and Dario and Marcelo think they're getting away with finishing their PSP football game, but they're caught...the other passengers laugh as Dario and Marcelo admit their 'sneakiness'....Marcelo reminds us later to let everyone know that he beat Dario (as did Pablo, and Fish...we're thinking Dario has a different view of the scores)

7:15 pm ET - we land in Toronto...it's a maze to get to customs, we feel like we've walked a mile before we see the first stop...everyone goes through smoothly...we get our bags (they're all here, we think)...we go to another security control...then another, and finally we're all outside...

8 pm ET - we're on the bus on our way to BMO Field (Toronto's stadium) for a quick walk through...

8:20 pm ET - arrive at BMO...pretty nice set-up...the surface is (in our opinion), way better than Rice-Eccles...the guys get out the balls and play their standard warm-up games...keep-away and the juggling game

8:45 pm ET - we arrive at the Renaissance Hotel, which is part of the Rogers Center (formerly the SkyDome)...no game here tonight, but there's a camp out of some sort on the field...we find out most of the guys have their rooms facing the city, and some (us), are facing the inside of the stadium...its incredible, the windows are floor to ceiling, and less than two feet in front there are seats, albeit in the nose bleed sections...they do warn hotel guests not to throw anything from the window, though we've not seen any sign asking to keep the curtains closed at any point....The Blue Jays play a home game here on Sunday at 1, but we'll already be out by then...by the way, the lights are on inside the dome over night...

9:10 pm ET - the players head out to eat, as does the staff...the staff goes to Wayne Gretsky's, a nice sports bar / restaurant a couple blocks away...we walk in and there's a large table available, and we look up, and the NY v KC game is just wrapping up...NY's gets the late PK to even up the score...we knew the place had the DirectKick package, which was the reason we chose it...

10:30 pm ET - we flip on the Colorado vs Chivas game (coach's need to watch Colorado, as we head there next week)...

11:20 pm ET - it's been a tiring few days, the staff calls is a night (we're tivoing the game, so the coaches will have it upon arriving back in Dallas.

The pregame meal on Sunday is a breakfast at 9:30 am....we'll head to the stadium at 11:20 for the 1 pm ET kickoff (keep in mind the game starts at noon back in Dallas, and The Londoner in Addison will have it on)...

We're keeping our fingers crossed for the return back...see, the game here is sold out, and they tell us the traffic following the game is heavy...we're heading straight to the airport for a 6 pm flight - which takes us to Chicago first, and, after an hour and a half layover, to DFW...if all goes smooth, we arrive back in Texas around 10:30 pm CT...

June 15 - The Birdman on Tape

Here's what should be a fun clip for FCD fans...a short YouTube video clip (2:30 min) of the team following the RSL game...it's a glimpse of the guys following the last-minute win...first, they dance to the 'clean sheet'...then, pay attention to Dom, who at first doesn't care about the yellow card..and then he does...

June 14 - FCD 1, RSL 0

Dominic 'the Birdman' Oduro did it this time...that is, he became the third FCD player over the last two seasons to score in stoppage-time, against RSL, and at Rice-Eccles Stadium - to take points away from the home team...As it happened last July (Abe), and earlier this year (Fish), Dom found net in the 93rd minute to give FCD the 1-0 win...the team finally ended the 'streak' - which was 19 straight games since registering the last shutout...

As always, check www.fcdallas.net for the recap, highlights, box scores, etc....below are some notes, followed by a short (2:40 min) post-game interview with Steve...

• The win was the FCD’s second straight, seventh on the season, fourth on the road, and first by shutout. FCD is now 7-5-1 (22 points) on the season, increasing its Western Conference lead over idle Houston to six points.
• The seven wins are most in MLS at this point in the season; and the 22 points are also most in MLS, two points above New York, though the Red Bulls have played two less games than Dallas.
• The shutout was the team’s first shutout in 19 regular season games, ending the longest such streak in team history. Prior to tonight, the last time FCD shutout an opponent was a 1-0 win over Houston on Sept. 2, 2006 at Pizza Hut Park.
• The win brings FCD’s record to 4-3-1 on the road this year. The four road wins equals the total road wins of 2006, when the team finished 4-9-3 as visitors.
• FCD is now 8-2-0 lifetime versus RSL and won the 2007 season series (2-0-1) between the two for the third straight season.
• Dominic Oduro’s 93rd minute goal was his third career goal, second goal of the season, and first career game-winning goal. Oduro’s first goal of the season also came in stoppage-time; scoring in the 93rd minute of the 3-1 win over Colorado on April 22 at Pizza Hut Park.
• Oduro also received the first caution of his career, which is now 28 games in. His yellow card today was for taking his jersey off in celebrating the game-winner.
• In the seven games won so far this season, FCD has received a game-winning goal from six different players – the most in MLS.
• FCD has had nine different players score at least one goal, and six different players score at least two. The six multi-goal scorers on one team are tops in the league.
• FCD is now 7-1-1 when scoring first.
• Pablo Ricchetti picked up his fifth yellow card of the season tonight, meaning he’ll be suspended for the team’s next game on Sunday, June 17 at Toronto FC.
• Tonight was the third time over the past two seasons in which FCD scored in stoppage time at Rice-Eccels to take points away from RSL. On July 22, 2006, Abe Thompson’s 91st minute strike gave FCD the 1-0 win…in the 2007 season opener on April 7, Carlos Ruiz scored in the 94th minute to tie the game at 2-2. And, though not in stoppage-time, Chris Gbandi scored the game-winner in the 82nd minute to give FCD the 2-1 win over RSL at Pizza Hut Park on May 20, 2007.
• In 2006, the team’s seventh win came on June 11, a 2-1 victory over Chivas USA.

Checking in From Utah

We arrived on time on Wednesday, checking in to the Radisson here in Salt Lake City at 4 pm MT. The hotel is right next door to the Energy Solutions Arena (former Delta Center) and, down the street is the Gateway Center - a nice, two-level walking promenade filled with shops and a restaurants that appears to have been built for the Winter Olympics.

As is customary, the guys are on their own to eat dinner...a few staff members head out to try to catch the Honduras vs Cuba game - which we had no luck finding. A quick check on the internet reveals that SL doesn't get Telefutura on DirecTV...however, we do find out what channel Univision is (402), and we head to SkyBox Sports Bar and Grill at the Gateway to watch the first half of the Mexico vs. Panama game. A few of the players were texting us trying to find where to watch the games also, and some joined the coaches at the restaurant. After catching the halftime highlights of the Honduras game (they won 5-0), we head back to catch the second half of the Mexico game back at the hotel lobby bar before calling it a night.

The sun was out early this morning (or early for some of us), and the scenery is great for those that like nature as its displayed here. Looking out the window south and west of hotel, the mountains seem to be on top of us, and its incredible to see the snow caps throughout the mountain range, all while its 90 degrees here at street level.

While concentrating on tonight's game, the coaches (and Hitch back in Dallas), have also been busy on the phones this morning with our friends in Brazil:)

The boys went on their stretch / walk this morning, and had a light team snack at noon. We'll see them again at 3:30 for the pre-game meal.

While we're here on the blog - a few weeks ago, we threw out there to come up with an nickname for Pablo, based on the photo we posted...

The USA Today talked with Juan this week, calling him a Bulldozer, thanks to blog Du Nord once calling Juan, "Freddie Mercury reincarnated as a bulldozer."...thoughts on this name for Juan?

June 13 - Heading to Salt Lake

We're on our way to Salt Lake City, leaving DFW in a few minutes so hopefully we can finish this update (flight's at 1:40 pm and we're pushing 1:30 right now)...we'll see what we can type out before the final call to turn things off..

Team finally trained on the adidas field this morning, first time in over a week while it went through it's regular maintenance work. It still looks and feels awesome.

It was a short practice as we had to leave the stadium by 11:45...the guys ate in the lounge (chicken, pasta, vegetable - though mom wasn't looking so there were a lot of these left over, and cookies for a snack)...as as you see some guys spent some time online before boarding the bus...its standard for the guys to travel in their blue shorts and blue FC Dallas polos...the coaching and team staff often wear the red polos for the trips.

Couple notes: Clarence returned to training today, after sitting out the week with a left quad injury...he's on the trip, as is Ramon, who's had a slight groin problem bothering him...Anthony Wallace is back on the traveling roster...Shaka is not...his wife is expecting their fifth child at any time now - the couple have four young daughters, and they're expecting their first son this time...Ray Burse is on this trip and will likely be on the trip to Toronto...one other person not traveling - for the first time since joining the team in 2006, is Kenny...kind of odd not having him around (Kenny, we even brought extra magazines on this trip)...another regular not traveling is Marcus, (equipment manager for those new to the blog) who has a broken left arm - sustained in the staff game last week...Daniel took his spot for this trip...and finally, Marco is not traveling either (we'll leave this one alone, but the regulars on this blog know why)...Roberto flew in from Argentina last night, arriving at the Pizza Hut Park complex this morning - with his left knee pretty swollen...he'll have an MRI on Thursday....the team will return to Dallas on Friday around noon and have a light recovery session...they'll train on Saturday morning before leaving for Toronto around 1:30 pm....Adrian will be coming with the team to Toronto - though he's still not ready to play, the coaches want to bring him along since it's his hometown and to start getting him more integrated with the team...

so, nothing new to us - we've been sitting on the plane for a good bit before we hear they are doing some maintenance work...as we finish the line, they tell us we're ready to move...we'll try to check back in from Utah if anything new comes up...remember to go to the Londoner in Addison on Thursday for the official viewing party.

June 9 - FCD 3, LA Galaxy 1

Now that we've given the bad news, let's go for some positives...as always, the full recap of the game plus comments, highlights, and the box score can be found on www.fcdallas.net. Following the notes, Steve talks about the game, the players, etc in a five minute post-game media session.

• With the win, Dallas increases its lead in the Western Conference to four points ahead of Colorado, which was idle this weekend. FCD stands at 6-5-1, 19 points.
• Dallas has now won both games against LA this year, with only one regular season meeting between the two remaining (at LA on Sept. 23). With the win, FCD is assured of winning the season series with LA for the first time since 2000, when Dallas defeated LA twice, tied 1, and lost….tonight’s win was Dallas’ six straight at home versus LA....The teams will meet again on July 31 at Pizza Hut Park, in the third game of the SuperLiga Tournament.
• FCD is now 6-1-1 when scoring the first goal of the game.
• Abe Thompson has registered two goals and three assists in his five starts this year.
• Thompson’s penalty kick was the third taken and made by FC Dallas this season (Ruiz – 4/12 at LA; Cooper 5/17 at CHI). It was also the first-ever regular season penalty kick by an FC Dallas player at Pizza Hut Park.
• Drew Moor’s goal was his first of the year, and second of his career.
• Moor became the ninth different FCD player to score a goal this year, tying Kansas City and New York which also have had goals from nine different players.
• Dax McCarty registered his fourth assist of the season, placing him in third place on the League’s assist standings.
• Marcelo Saragosa made his first start since April 12 at LA, when he sustained a sprained right MCL.
• Juan Toja was substituted in the 87th minute, ending a streak of having played the full 90 in ten consecutive games. Moor remains the only player to have played every minute of every game this season.
• Ramon Nunez, who had played in all 11 games going into tonight, was available but did not play. He had suffered a groin pull on Thursday’s practice and was listed as questionable for tonight.
• Assistant coach Marco Ferruzzi was shown a red card on the bench after his reaction to the foul on Cooper.
• Team captain Carlos Ruiz missed today’s game while with the Guatemala National Team participating in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Ruiz’s side defeated El Salvador this afternoon 1-0. Ruiz called following the game to get an update on Kenny (we can't really print what he said to us about the situation).
• Chris Gbandi wore the captain’s armband for the fourth time this year.
• Game time temperature was 87 degrees.

June 9 - Bad News for Kenny

Before we get to the game update, we unfortunately have some bad news on an otherwise positive night. Kenny Cooper broke his right tibia (basically his shin bone) in that challenge by the Galaxy's Tyrone Marshall in the 89th minute of the game tonight. Kenny had an x-ray after the game next door at the Baylor Center, which revealed the fracture.

Kenny had appeared in 29 consecutive games dating back to last season, which was the current longest such streak on the team. After hearing the news, Steve Morrow and the coaching staff gathered the team in the locker room, politely asking the few remaining media to end interviews. After Steve broke the news, the entire team went together to see Kenny, offering their words of encouragement.

Kenny is expected to be out for around eight weeks.

June 6 - Mina out Indefinitely

Not the news we wanted to put out, but it appears Roberto Mina will be out for a indefinitely, though quite possibly, for the rest of the year.

You may remember he almost completely tore his left MCL in the final preseason game...and then later, found out he had also damaged his meniscus in the same knee.

Two different MRI's reviewed both by team doctors and non-affiliated local medical personnel, as well as the radiologist, revealed that a scope to clean out the meniscus was necessary, and he was scheduled to have the surgery on May 10.

Roberto decided to have his surgery in Argentina, bringing the MRI's to the doctor that had previously performed a similar surgery on his other knee. On May 23, Roberto and FC Dallas were informed, upon conducting the scope, that his ACL was also torn and had also been operated.

Mina's is expected back in Dallas next week where he will be re-examined.

We'll have an official release out later today on the site...

The International Guys

Here's a couple of links with info on a few of the international players on the team....

Chris Gbandi started for the Liberia National team in a 2-1 loss to Cameroon in an African Nations Cup Qualifier on Sunday.

Prior to the game, according to the Liberia Federation site, team head coach Frank Jericho Nagbe had received death threats, which caused him to temporarily leave the squad.

From another story, "There was huge tension on Thursday evening when senior National team coach Frank Jericho Nagbe abandoned the team's camp on grounds that he and his family were not saved as angry mob attempted invading his West Point residence if he coach Jericho insisted that the senior players in Markor, Kelvin, Crayton and Prrince Daye were not included on the team for Sunday's match."

The coach is apparently staying on.

Chris is expected back in Dallas on Wednesday so we'll look to get his thoughts on the experience.
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Many may not know the situation with the Trinidad and Tobago National Team, and current FCD goalkeeper (and now also acting keeper coach) Shaka Hislop has not really talked much on the subject. But an article in today's LA Daily News brings out a few of the 'problems' the TnT players are facing with the Federation.

From the article - "We put a tiny island state into the headlines for all the right reasons," said Hislop, who hasn't allowed himself to watch replays of last summer. "It's very much a fairy tale"....

"That fairy tale, however, hasn't had such a happy ending. For much of the past year, those players have been locked in a dispute with the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation over millions in World Cup revenues they say have been denied them. Frustrated by FIFA's unwillingness to hear them out, 16 players have threatened to sue."
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Carlos Ruiz and his Guatemala teammates arrived in Los Angeles on Monday to continue preparing for the CONCACAF Gold Cup game against the United States on Thursday. Here's a bit for all the Ruiz fans out there - he missed the flight to Los Angeles.

Now, before you start reading too much into it or the rumor mill starts churning again, here's the story. The Guatemala team flew to Houston, and then was to fly to Los Angeles. The flight was late arriving into Houston, and Fish, along with José Contreras, Hernán Sandoval, Carlos Figueroa, Mario Rodríguez and Marvin Ávila had to catch the next flight to LA. The full team was in town by 4:30 and trained for a couple hours.

Landon also offers his thoughts on Ruiz on the Guatemala newspaper Prensa Libre. (TRANSLATED) "We all know how dangerous Carlos Ruiz is, who had some great moments in this stadium. But we hope he doesn't play good against us. Guatemala is the strongest rival in the group."
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Anthony Wallace played 90 minutes and provided the assist on a free kick for the first U.S. goal in the U.S. U-20 4-1 win over Canada last Sunday....the teams will face each other again on Wed. June 6 as both teams continue preparing the FIFA U-20 World Cup later this month.

June 5 - Staff Game

Late in the day on Monday afternoon - as the first team went through their recovery session throughout the complex, and the reserves went through a more intense practice on the adidas field - the front office staff was given the afternoon off in order to participate in the "FC Dallas / Pizza Hut Super Clasico" Staff Soccer Tournament.

A draft was held last Wednesday, pitting around 100 stadium and team employees in different pots. Four captains were selected, who each took turns picking their players until the entire staff was placed on one of the four teams.

Our HR department was clear in explaining to everyone that the purpose of the day was to have fun - and to apply a "balance and philosophy of 'work hard / play hard"....but, gathering a bunch of soccer players / wanna be players / has beens / and never weres - most of us expected that 'fun' would turn competitive...which it did at times.

At 3 pm, the Red Team faced the Blue Team on Field 6, while the Silver Team met the White Team met on Field 4...or at least that's what was supposed to happen.

But just as the games were about to start, the skies turned black and the rain started coming down. The Silver / White game started on time, with the staff enjoying the rain...however, the captain of the Red Team disappeared, hiding under cover...after 20 minutes, the Red and Blue team decided to start without the captain, keeping an even score until late in the game.

Our staff here at the blog was placed on the Red Team - and we won't be shy in saying that we covered every position on the field. Even so, it wasn't meant to be and our team lost...not once, but all three games. At one point, with the chance to even the score in game two, one member of our team missed a penalty kick - and it wasn't one of those close ones in which the keeper guessed correctly...we hate to admit it, since it was pretty embarrassing, that the ball slowly trickled wide of the left post, giving both teams a good laugh. Fortunately, it happened seconds before the first team jogged past the field - therefore none of the players saw the 'miss'.

And, luckily for us (the Red Team, of course), the FCD TV cameras had just been put away 'because of the rain' - much to the disappointment of the other staffers.

The Blue and Silver teams met undefeated in the final game of the day - and since each had two wins, they had automatically advance to the finals, which will be played on the stadium field next Monday. The wins did not come without their share of controversy, as members of the Blue and White team complained that the White team used some ringers / non-staffers.

For as young of a staff as it appears we have, there were some slow moving people this morning...

For those expecting a bit on the team, they were off today...they'll be back for 10 am training in each of the next three days...

June 4 - FCD TV - The Boiler Room

UPDATED: We figured out the problem with the link and the latest FCD TV is now working.

The other day, we told you how some of the players came upstairs to help out the sales crew in renewing season ticket accounts. Our FCD TV camera crew came out from hiding, and capture the guys at work in "Boiler Room" - starring Bobby Rhine, Arturo Alvarez, David Wagenfuhr, Abe Thompson, Ramon Nunez, Clarence Goodson, Drew Moor, and Kenny Cooper.

For those that don't know the reference, Boiler Room is a movie starring Giovanni Ribisi and Vin Diesel as stockbrokers - apparently a hit movie among sales reps in all industries.

If the link above does not open up the video, click here to go to the FCD Audio / Video Page, and click on FCD TV - May 30.

June 3 - FCD 1, Houston 2

Tough loss today in Houston...thanks to all of the Dallas fans that made the trip...nice tailgate, and the group looked and sounded great from the field...we'll try to get at least a short YouTube clip posted here when we get back...they announced game time temp as 91 degress, but walking around it felt much hotter...we here at the blog are not making excuses for the team, just pointing out to those that weren't here how hot it was (or felt to us).

Remember to go to www.fcdallas.net for the game recap, boxscore, and highlights...below are a few additional quick hits...Yes, the team is busing back to Frisco tonight - the guys are glad we didn't have to bus to the airport, check in, wait for a flight, take a flight, wait for bags at DFW, and then bus to the stadium...we should be back around 11 pm.

• The team's record is now 5-5-1, 16 points. Despite the loss, FCD remains in first place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Colorado.
• The loss was also the first when FCD scored the first goal of the game, bringing the record when scoring first to 5-1-1. It was also the first time FCD lost when winning at the half this season. FCD’s road record this year is 3-3-1.
• In the second season playing Houston, the Dynamo now have won all four meetings between the teams when playing as locals, including three wins in 2006. The teams meet again on June 30 at Pizza Hut Park – where last year FCD won once and tied once versus Houston. The winner of the regular season series between the two Texas teams will win “El Capitan”, the 19th century mountain howitzer cannon.
• Abe Thompson scored his first goal of the season today.
• After starting the season with three home and three road games, Dallas is in the middle of playing 7 of 9 games on the road. So far, FCD is 3-2-0 during this stretch, which included four road games.
• Team captain Carlos Ruiz missed today’s game while with the Guatemala National Team in preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
• Chris Gbandi, who wore the captain’s armband in the games Ruiz has missed this season, also missed the game while away with the Liberia National Team for an African Nations Cup Qualifier against Cameroon, starting at left back in Liberia’s 2-1 loss in Monrovia, Liberia this evening.
• Pablo Ricchetti wore the captain’s arm-band today for the first time in his FCD career, in his fifth game with the team. He also received his fourth yellow card of the season. If he gets another one in any of the next three game in which he appears, he’ll be suspended for one game.
• Left back David Wagenfuhr made his first appearance since being sidelined on April 15 with a concussion.
• Defender Clarence Goodson sustained a strained left hamstring in the 29th minute and was replaced by Bobby Rhine in the 31st minute. Rhine moved into the right back spot, and Drew Moor moved into Goodson’s center back position. Prior to today, Goodson had played the full 90 in the past seven games, and in 9 of the 10 games of the season.
• Juan Toja has played the full 90 in the last 10 games, while Drew Moor has played the full game in each of the team’s 11 games this season.
• FC Dallas was whistled for 22 fouls today, surpassing the previous season high of 21 (2-1 win at KC on May 12).
• Game time temperature for the 4 pm start was listed as 91 degrees.
• Dario Sala wore a red keeper jersey, first time we've seen him wearing that one...also, the game was played with a silver adidas ball. When Houston won the 2006 MLS Cup, they also won the right to use that Championship game ball for all their 2007 home games.

June 2 - Busing to Houston

Traveling to Houston…we’ll see how this works, giving a time lapse blog of the day, beginning with training this morning – until we arrive in Houston (and we’re not sure how much more after that).

10 – players arrive for training…of course some are here earlier since everyone wants to dominate the ping-pong table.

10:30 – training begins, actually, the warm-ups begin…

A lot of strategy in place – guys rotating positions, different formations, all kinds of fun stuff we’re sure both FCD fans and the Houston team would like to know about…but unfortunately, our blog writers missed the entire practice. Some fans were also there watching, so we’re thinking they may have some more info.

12:15 – the bus arrives as the guys come off the training field. Marcus and Daniel balance gathering today’s gear, with filling the bus with the premade equipment bags…Josh adds his equipment, and load a couple cases of water and Gatorade in the bus.

12:30 – lunch is ready in the Lounge in the home locker room – breaded chicken, white noodles, alfredo sauce, pasta with red sauce, garlic bread, a vegetable plate – and where we started, the cookie plate. Big chocolate chip, sugar, and raisin cookies. ..plenty of water and Gatorade around, as there normally is in the locker room.

12:50 – some guys start boarding the bus, signing T-shirts and soccer balls for the kids that were waiting at the bus…there is always a tournament or league play going on at the stadium, and today, a few kids got the chance to send off the team.

1:10 – we receive a call upstairs that the bus is leaving before the expected 1:30 time…we have to hurry up.

1:25 pm - all 18 players plus Steve, Oscar, Josh, Marcus, Bobby, and Hitch had boarded...and today, Hitch's son William and Steve's son Jonathan are also coming with us. The road trip is expected to take around 4 and a half hours.

1:35 – Bobby puts the movie - Codename: The Cleaner - with Cedric the Entertainer - into the bus' DVD player, which is shown on the six monitors throughout the bus...However, as we look around the bus, it doesn't appear that anyone is watching it.

1:40 – Half the guys are already asleep. Others are on their way – listening to their IPod’s.

1:50 - Dario and Pablo are talking smack to each other as they continue playing one of the Madden football game on their PSP’s…Drew and Bobby Rhine have their his own DVD players – we haven’t gone back there to see what he watching. Dominic comes up and borrows a movie from Marcus.

2:00 pm – Kenny is searching for some reading materials, a magazine is his preference. (all these road trips mean’s many players have read or flipped through quite a few mags, so it’s not easy searching around the team for something you haven’t yet seen.)

2:10 – Hitch puts his papers away – he’s been flipping through stuff since we left. He uses one of the earpices of his laptop, and William gets the other one.

2:25 – Pablo beats Dario…it seems Dario doesn’t know that you can call time outs…Pablo, when asked what they are playing, says “I’m playing, Dario is just clicking the buttons”…if only Fish was here – the verbal debates between Fish and Dario as to who wins on the PSP game of the trip have been known to be quite entertaining – at least for those that understand Spanish. The others laugh anyway.

2:40 – Steve is trying to find a DVD player that will play the game he has – for some reason, it’s not working on his laptop…the DVD is passes around a few times….it works on Josh’s DVD, which is then passed up front to Steve. Oscar is watching a different game on his personal player....humm...are they watching potentially new players or watching old games???

2:50 – the movie that no one watched ends…Dario shouts out to put on the ‘soccer movie’…One of the guys brought “The History of Soccer” DVD Collection…Dario sees the one with Maradona on the cover – and of course chooses that one, back of course by Pablo…

2:55 – the DVD goes in, more players wake up…the menu shows English or Spanish – Pablo quickly notices the movie is waiting for someone to select the language of choice, and yells out ‘Spanish’…however, since some of the other guys are now awake, English wins out.

3:10 – Marcelo is still sleeping…he was actually asleep before the bus even left…if this were high school, or college, we’re thinking someone would be messing with him by now…we’ll see.

3:20 – the movie is more documentary than highlights – so Dario and Pablo are back to the PSP…the 15 minute break was as long as we’ve seen them take in the past three trips….Kenny, Shaka, and Abe are now asleep – some for the second time.

3:35 - Maradona highlights come on...Dario and Pablo have no problem commenting out loud with pride as they see the highlights they've seen a bunch of times...at this point, Alex and Pitch are also watching - at least the two we can see from where we are...

3:45 - Documentary ends...Drew's takes the opportunity to pick a movie...he comes up and puts in "Epic Movie"....More guys seem to be into this one...we see Kenny and Dax now watching as well.

3:55 - Oscar comes back and asks some of the guys if they want to stop for a snack or to stretch...the early comments seem to be yes - mixed in with the laughter as more guys are watching this movie...

4:00 - Marcelo is awake...nice nap. The movie is getting funnier, or there are more guys watching...

4:25 - Bus stops at a service station, about five minutes north of the Sam Houston statue on I-45...everyone but Marcelo and Dom get out...as most service stations, this place is stocked with nothing but healthy snacks...at least this writer took advantage of an ice cream cone (had to try to eat it without the guys noticing, you know, so they're not jealous...)

4:40 - everyone back on the bus and we're moving again...not everyone is settled yet when we hear from the back of the bus to start the movie back up...louder...we still can't hear it...

5:05 - it has started to rain...some guys are back asleep...Bobby H and Marcus concentrate on their own respective movies...we've heard our first 'how much longer', though couldn't make out who said it..

5:20 - well, we thought there may be some more to tell from the bus trip, but aside from the laughs and watching the movie, there hasn't been much...maybe because Fish and Chris aren't on...Dario is now playing on his own, according to Pablo it's cause he's had enough losing for a day...

5:30 - Speaking of Chris, it appears he may be starting against Samuel Eto and Cameroon on Sunday...we also learn of some of the issues that the Liberia National Team is undergoing - particularly that the head coach has apparently received threats and had temporarily left the team.

5:40 - we're pretty much in Houston...this time it's an easy identification - Dario with the question - How much longer.

5:50 - we pull off the highway - through downtown...

5:55 - we arrive at the Hyatt Regency here on Louisiana Street...still raining...Kenny takes a bag and collects any lose trash - we're taking this same bus tomorrow, both to the game and back to Dallas - so we want to make sure it's not a mess (at least as of yet)....

We say that Colorado lost to Toronto, and there's a few games on TV tonight that people will keep their eyes on...MLS games plus the U.S. Team....and, the Lebron James show.