August 30 - Denilson Receives his visa

We hoped it would be quick, but weren't sure if it could happen this soon...Denilson has received his work visa from the U.S. Government and is expected to make his Major League Soccer debut on Saturday, Sept. 1 when FC Dallas hosts D.C. United at Pizza Hut Park (7:30 pm CT). FC Dallas expects to finalize all other roster adjustments within the next 24 hours in order to officially add Denilson to the roster prior to Saturday’s game.

For those new to this signing, Denilson is the fifth international star signed by an MLS team this year under the new Designated Player rule, joining England’s David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Colombia’s Juan Pablo Angel (NY Red Bulls), Mexico’s Cuatechmoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), and the United States’ Claudio Reyna (NY Red Bulls).

This is the second and final meeting between FCD and D.C. this season. On July 14 at RFK, the teams played to a wild 3-3 tie, in which FCD came back to earn the draw after being down by three goals early in the second half. The three goal deficit was the largest margin the team has overcome to earn a point in its 12 year history....if you don't have tickets to the game, call the front office on Friday - 888.FCD.GOAL (888.323.4625).

August 28 - FCD TV: "Fish's House"

A few weeks back we brought you into "Wally's Abode" - that being the apartment of 18-year old rookie midfielder Anthony Wallace. This edition of FCD TV brings you into the dwellings of veteran forward Carlos Ruiz - to "Fish's House." Enjoy!

NOTE: Click here for a higher-resolution version....also, we're getting caught up on making all the FCD TV episode available as podcasts...starting today, fans can see the past five shows as podcasts: click here for more info.

August 27 - Denilson Juggling in FCD Uniform

Today was a busy day for Denilson...a workout in the morning in the heat, quickly followed by the press conference...a lunch with ownership and management...and then a photo session with his new FC Dallas uniform on the Pizza Hut Park stadium field...he seemed to have fun - listen to the camera clicks early on, and watching him move the ball around with every click of the camera...Enjoy!

Morrow - "The Denilson deal..."

From left to right: Clark Hunt, Michael Hitchcock, Denilson, Steve Morrow, and Dan Hunt
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Denilson deal … straight from the horse’s mouth!

After almost 2 months of talks (a lotta talks!) we were finally able to complete a deal to bring Brazilian World Cup star Denilson to FC Dallas.

Since the start of the season, I have been asked the ‘DP question’ countless times. My reply (at the risk of sounding boring/repetitive!) was always the same: “It has to be the right deal for F C Dallas.” At this moment in time, I believe this IS the right deal for our organization.

There are many, many things to consider before pulling the trigger on a deal of this magnititude - I won’t bore you with the whole synopsis - there are three simple areas to consider:

* Is it the right player for our team
* Salary cap/roster changes etc
* The contract, finances, business value.

On the first point, I guess (like any new player) only time will tell. From the start, I have stated we need talented players with the right character/attitude. After having gone to great lengths to get to know the player, I can assure you he has the correct attitude to go with his exceptional ability. Positionally, he gives us great strength in depth in an attacking midfield position (replacing Nunez) and also as a forward, complimenting the great attacking talent that we already have.

The second point (salary cap, etc) took a little longer to work out… we were able to free up most of what we needed with the trade of Ramon Nunez and Shaka Hislop’s settlement. Freeing up the senior international spot has been a little more troublesome!...

I’ve had many sleepless nights figuring that one out!

What I will tell you is that the most important consideration for me, Hitch, and my coaches all through this process, is adding quality to the team - without taking too much away that we have worked so hard to build since the start of the year - not only in terms of the quality of the roster, but also the great spirit and team unity we have built off the field and in the locker room.

Tough task, and I guess, well, everything will be revealed when it comes time to add Denilson to the roster (after he obtains his visa).

Finally on the third point – the contract had to be right. Denilson, in the end, came to terms with how we wanted to structure things – and for me it says a lot about his attitude. Out of all the options he had, coming to FCD always felt like “the right move” for him. Without revealing too much about his contract – suffice to say, it is not a long guaranteed contract like other DP’s in the league. Denilson was happy to be treated like everyone else on the team and prove himself year-to-year just like his teammates. I’m very happy with the contract – FCD has nothing to lose and a LOT to gain.

And, just so you know, although his mother tongue is Portuguese and his Spanish excellent, he's another pupil for my newly introduced Spanish/English ‘after training’ lessons – of which I will of course be attending!

Going into the most important time of the year, my hope is that Denilson will help give us the extra push in our goal of bringing success to FCD this year and beyond. This has the potential to be something great for us and Major League soccer …. Make him feel at home and give him that big Texan welcome y’all are known for.

Go Hoops.

Steve Morrow

Denilson Press Conference Video

Fan can click here to watch today's press conference...We apologize for the audio problems in advance...we know this will sound like something you've heard before, but really, everything was working fine until we had the local TV cameras plug in to our sound board...

August 27 - Denilson's Introduction

UPDATED (3:10 pm CT): we should have an archive of the press posted on the team site this afternoon...we also will try to bring you some photos of Denilson in uniform, as well as a short video we captured of him as the photo shoot was taking place on the stadium field...we told Denilson we were done with the photos, but he had a ball with him, so he just stayed out on the field juggling and kicking the ball around for a few minutes...come back here in a bit and check it out...
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A press conference is scheduled today (after practice) to officially present Denilson to Dallas. The press conference will be held in the Verizon Wireless Club at Pizza Hut Park and is scheduled to start at noon CT. Fans are invited to attend. The conference will also be streamed live on www.fcdallas.com.

August 23 - Denilson Joins FC Dallas

So the news started leaking out earlier today, and we've finalized all the paperwork we need to in order to confirm that FC Dallas has signed Brazilian attacking midfielder Denilson, that of the Brazilian 2002 World Cup winning-side. Click here for the official release.

We're looking to have an open training session for fans on Monday followed by a presentation of Denilson to the press...more details on this should be available on Friday.

Now, for the question everyone will want to know...until he receives his P-1 visa, we don't need to make a roster move.

August 23 - Going Golfing

Wednesday's training session was made up of poly metrics, exercises, and other drills...when we first walked out, we thought that maybe they were playing soccer golf, since they were spread all over the place...obviously, in listening to a few guys afterwards, the exercises were far from soccer golf...

Today they came in a bit earlier, and will finish earlier...the reason: today is the annual FC Dallas Foundation Golf Outing...a bunch of the guys will be partnered up with sponsors at Castle Hills Golf Course this afternoon for the 1 pm tee time.

Couple other notes: Carlos played the full 90 yesterday for Guatemala, which lost the friendly with Panama 2-1 in Panama City....Abdus Ibrahim came on at halftime for the U.S. U-17 World Cup team this morning - they lost their second straight WC game, this time 3-1 to Tunisia...Kenny departed early this morning for Miami, where he'll be shooting a commercial for Glidden Paints / Home Depot - part of the 'Show Your Colors" campaign. A Miami Dolphins player will also be there, as will car driver Tony Stewart, and, well, we're not sure who else at this time. We're glad Kenny was selected to represent MLS in this spot!...As for his feature on the David Beckham USA Show which was taped last week, we've been told they are planning on using it for the Sept. 7 show...The team will have the upcoming Saturday and Sunday off, coming back next Monday to prepare for the Sept 1 game vs. DC at PHP...the team will depart for Seattle, Washington on Sept. 2 (following the Reserve Game) ahead of the U.S. Open Cup Semifinal versus the Seattle Sounders on Sept. 4. The Semifinal will be web streamed on USLive.com and we're planning on having English and Spanish radio live from Seattle as well.

August 21 - More Roster Stuff

Looks like a lot of people really enjoyed last Friday's post about FCD roster updates...so here's an update (and more)...

Dominic has been moved from the Developmental Roster to the 18-man senior roster...taking the Birdman's place on the 10-man developmental side is 21-year old Colombian/American midfielder Sebastian Botero (we'll send out an official release on Wednesday)...

In another development, it looks like Shaka's back problems may keep him from playing again this year...stayed tuned...

Finally, we answer the blog-readers most asked question with regard to the makeup of the team / locker room: The turtle has left the team...the guys placed the turtle back out in the PHP pond, since they were unsure if it could survive on Gatorade and nutritional bars...

August 21 - Getting Healthy

The guys rested on Monday and were back out for training on Tuesday, albeit a light session. After Steve and Marco took a big group around for a jog followed by weights, some of the guys stayed around for a soccer tennis tourney...at the same time, a few of the injured players received their own attention, outdoors...below you'll see Adrian working on his hamstring with Josh and Oscar...Dario working on his knee...Juan, Roberto, and Kenny working on their 'bad' legs with Robbie...

Pizza Hut Park Stays Busy

Over 1000 kids and their parents attended the Lift Up America event on Aug 4, one of many activities held at Pizza Hut Park over the past few weeks
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With all the games FCD has played recently, we've kind of lost track in keeping fans up on all the other events we've hosted at Pizza Hut Park over the last month or so...

*The U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships were held here back in July...with some of the action shown nationally on Fox Soccer Channel this month.

*A new men's amateur soccer league debuted at PHP, playing on Sunday's afternoons and evenings and hosting an open bar with food in the Verizon Wireless Club following the games...

*Stephen Baldwin, who Dax and Bobby met at the WFAA studios back in May, was at the stadium recently in conjunction with the organization "The Breakthrough Ministry," to meet with us about hosting the "Assault Tour" at PHP...

*Hitch met with a board member from Manchester City (we'll ask him if he can share more on this in an upcoming blog)..

*We've hosted the Coors Light Adult Tournament, the Dr Pepper Youth Invitational, and will be one of four location's hosting one of the largest area tourney's - The Plano Labor Day Tournament.

*We hosted the Torneo Mexicana kids tourney, and presented Mexican-soccer icon Enrique Borja, who overseas the tourney, an FCD Jersey during the Crew game.

*The FC Dallas youth clinics and Schools of Excellence camps have been selling out regularly...all those kids get professional training with guest appearances by FCD's own Kenny Cooper and Dominic Oduro

*The Lake Highlands Girls Classic League started last weekend, and the boys league starts next week.

*For the soccer fans that read this far, here's an interesting one that did not develop...PHP was set to host the U.S. National Team for a week of training before they were to fly to Mexico City to face Mexico...as it is, the game was cancelled and the U.S. will now play Brazil on Sept. 9 in Chicago instead (so we're thinking they'll probably train there).

*On the community-front, we hosted over 1000 kids at the Lift Up America event in conjunction with the Rapids game on Aug 4.

*and of course, last Sunday we hosted the Daughtry, Puddle of Mudd and Nickelback concerts.

August 19 - FCD Reserves 2, Houston Reserves 2

Andrew Daniels headed in a corner and Abe Thompson scored a great goal from the left side only three minutes later to give FCD the 2-0 lead. But Chris Wondolowski and Corey Ashe each tallied for Houston, also three minutes apart, to even the score...The FCD Reserves are now 2-4-2 (8 pts) and await DC United on Sept. 2 at PHP...

FC Dallas Reserves: Boris Pardo, Blake Wagner, Alex Yi (Michael Nsien, 45’), Anthony Wallace, Andrew Daniels, Dave Wagenfuhr, Sebastian Botero (M. Muse, 82’), Chase Wileman, Scott Jones, Abe Thompson, Dominic Oduro (S. Gbandi, 69’).

Houston Dynamo Reserves: Jordan James, Mpho Moloi, Eric Ebert, Mike Chabala, Steve Wondolowski, Jake Sagare (Kenneth Hoerner, 45’), Nick Hatzke, John Michael Hayden, Corey Ashe, Chris Wondolowski, Erik Ustruck.Scoring Summary

DAL: Daniels (Jones) 53

DAL: Thompson (unassisted) 56

HOU: Wondolowski (unassisted) 70
HOU: Ashe (unassisted) 73

August 19 - FCD 0, Houston 1

Not much to say tonight...Houston wins the season series with a record of 2-0-1 this year...recap, highlights, box score on www.fcdallas.com... here's the notes we put out:

• FC Dallas now holds a record of 11-7-3, 36 points and moves one point behind Houston in the Western Conference, though having played one game less then the Dynamo.
• The loss ends the FCD’s six-game undefeated streak in MLS play.
• Despite the road loss, FCD is still one of only two MLS teams (New England) to have a positive road record, now at 5-5-2 this year.
• Tonight was the seventh time FCD has been shutout this year, and third loss by the score 1-0.
• Ray Burse suffered his first defeat in goal today, though still has as record of 3-1-1 in all competitions.
• FCD is now 0-5-0 versus the Dynamo when playing in Houston over the last two years (0-4-0 in League play and 0-1-0 in Open Cup). With a record of 2-0-1 versus FCD this season, Houston will retain “El Capitan”, the 19th century mountain howitzer cannon given to the team that wins the regular season series.
• The following Dallas players were unavailable for selection tonight: Dario Sala (left knee), Shaka Hislop (back), Kenny Cooper (right tibia), Roberto Mina (right knee), Michael Dello-Russo (R calf), Adrian Serioux (L hamstring), Juan Toja (R ankle), and Marcelo Saragosa (suspension).
• Carlos Ruiz will join his Guatemala National Team on Monday ahead of Wednesday’s friendly versus Panama in Panama City.
• FC Dallas will get a week rest before returning to MLS action on Sat. Sept. 1 vs. D.C. United at Pizza Hut Park (7:30 pm).
• Game time temperature was listed as 94 degrees.

Steve Morrow on the game: “I’m disappointed to lose one nil on a goal a couple minutes before halftime. Apart from a lot of long balls and set plays they threw at us in the first half, we coped with it pretty well and weren’t in too much trouble with anything else. At least we tried to play some soccer, get the ball down and knock it around. In the second half the quality just wasn’t there. We’ve come with a very depleted team today, a lot of bodies missing. So I think the boys gave their best effort, but the quality just wasn’t there today.”

Tickets in Demand

We just finished the first team meal. As expected, we had a bunch of ticket requests for tonight's game. The team gets 75 tickets when the full squad travels, but, since we're within driving distance to Dallas, we expected a few more requests...

Chris and Arturo, who are both expected to start tonight in their hometown, have the largest requests (Carlos is third)...in an effort to be as fair as possible, Oscar goes around and asks each player how many tix he needs...after getting the final count (including calls to the guys that are coming to eat in a little while), he then tells Artie and Chris how many are left for them to divide out evenly...

Bobby, who anticipated that more tix may be needed, had already secured an additional 40 tickets from Houston - but, that seems like it won't be enough...As the guys leave the meal to relax in their rooms, we already start hearing the bartering amongst each other...Chris managed to secure a few tickets from a few of the other players (he had this set up before Oscar started asking) - so his ticket needs are now smaller...not sure if Arturo thought the same, but it doesn't sound like it...

That's all fun, and we think we'll be able to get a few more tickets at the stadium. However, the coaches don't want the players to be thinking of this when they arrive at Robertson, so we're trying to get it all figured out quickly....

BTW - this is common to most teams...each tries to take care of each other as much as possible, though some games (and stadiums) make the additional requests more difficult...all teams also offer both home and visiting players a chance to purchase tickets for friends and family at discounted rates..

Here's the 18-man day of game roster: Ray, Boris, Clarence, Bobby, Wags, Arturo, Pitch, Ricardinho, Blake, Dax, Wally, Andrew, Carlos, Pablo, Abe, Dominic, Drew, C Gbandi...Sandy, Scott, Alex, are joined by guest Chase Wileman, Michael Nesien, Matt Wideman, Sebastian Botero, Marquis Muse for the Reserve Game...

Not available: Dello (R calf), Dario (R knee), Kenny (R tibia), Shaka (back), Adrian (L hamstring), Juan (R ankle), Roberto (R knee), and Marcelo (suspension).

Gbandi's Bed

Speaking of rooms, funny story (or at least a bunch of here thought it was funny)...Chris and Dom room together...on Saturday night, around 11:30 pm, we see the two of them walk out of their rooms carrying their bags...as they approach, Pablo jokes with them "what, did they forfeit?"...the two start laughing, and Chris explains what happened:

When they checked in to their rooms earlier in the day, they noticed a funny odor - but they quickly left to go eat, so didn't think much of it...at night, the odor was still lingering... Chris pulls the covers / sheets back, and notices a large 'wet' looking spot on his bed, at which time the odor seemed stronger...not wanting to touch it, he called housekeeping...one person comes up, touches the 'wet spot', and quickly becomes disgusted..."I gotta wash my hands", says the person...it appears someone had urinated on the bed, who knows when...after a bit of laughing, and we're sure of Chris and Dom accusing each other - the hotel apologizes and gives them a new room...the story slowly started 'leaking' out this morning at breakfast...

August 19 - Gameday in Houston

Following Saturday's morning practice, the team had some lunch at the stadium and then boarded the bus to Houston...27 players are on the trip, including Roberto Mina - no, he's not playing, but he's part of the team and wanted to feel closer by making a trip with the guys...the jokes on the bus, hanging out with the guys, passing the time - it's a big part of the team comraderie - and we're thinking Bob missed that by not being able to play this year...of course he's welcomed with open arms...

The first video up was a DVD collection of recent FCD TV episodes...we couldn't tell which they liked more, Wally's Abode, Arturo's Behind the Scenes, Bobby's 200, or one of the Chris Gbandi Road videos...

We got to the hotel here in downtown Houston around 6:15 pm, and the guys quickly dropped their stuff off and went searching for a good restaurant...a few of the coaches and staff found a place that was showing the NY v LA game, what a wild contest that was...

The 6 pm kickoff, combined with a Reserve Game immediately following, required today's meals and trips to the stadium to be adjusted...the coaches don't want the guys playing the second game to either eat too early, or sit around the stadium any longer than needed...so at breakfast, the coaching staff identified the 18 players dressing for the first game as well as those that would be playing in the reserve game...the first team guys will eat at 2:30, and the rest of the team at 4:30...the first team will leave at 4:20 for the stadium, and while the Reserves could stay here till halftime, they want to watch the first team, so they'll go to the stadium around 5:40...we'll be returning to PHP immediately following the reserve game.

Somewhat surprisingly, it's not as hot as we'd have imagined...a little overcast, but with the sun breaking through...of course, it is pretty humid out there, but we don't feel it yet in these nicely air-conditioned rooms...

August 17 - Roster Moves (UPDATED)

UPDATED - 5:15 CT - Wow...seems like a popular posting today...we weren't trying to mislead anyone with the idea of 'big' news...but, since we know that many die-hard FCD fans check this blog for any type of info, whether some consider it big or not, we wanted to give you a heads up. After all, die-hard like any news about the team. So here's the update...we have no 'official' update.

However, since this blog posting seems to have caused a bit of a stir, we'll give you at least what we were 'expecting' to take place, which didn't officially get done today...

FC Dallas has signed Colombian/American midfielder Sebastian Botero (his full name is Juan Sebastian Botero, but like a few other players, he is commonly known by his middle name, Sebastian)...Sebastian will be added to the 10-man Developmental Roster...(some quick background...he's born in Iowa, but moved to Colombia as a baby...joined the Independiente Medellin youth system at age 13, and made his pro, first team debut at age 17 in 2003...has played 46 first team games, with his last coming in June 2007).

But, here's what happened...in order to add him to the Dev. Roster, we had to move one of the current players...the team was set to move one of the guys to the 18-man Senior Roster (taking the space created by Ramon being traded), but the paperwork didn't get done in time to make the 5 pm ET cut off the League has...so now, we'll wait to 'officially' make the roster moves on Monday (we hope)...

Either way, those that are on here now know who the new FCD player is, and how he'll be added to the team...Sebastian will be coming with us to Houston, and be available to play in the Reserve Game on Sunday as a 'guest' player.

So, again, sorry for the delay and for those that were expecting other news...
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We're in the process of finalizing a couple roster moves today, which will affect the 10-man Developmental and the 18-man Senior Rosters...stay tuned...

August 17 - Fishing in Panama

FC Dallas captain Carlos Ruiz, who has scored five goals in his last seven FCD starts, will be joining his Guatemala National Team on Monday ahead of Wednesday's international friendly versus Panama in Panama City. He's represented Guatemala on 73 occassions, and scored 35 goals for his country. Good Luck Fish!

Thursday's Open Training

Tonight's training session was held inside the stadium, giving the guys a workout but not under the blazing sun and heat we've experienced lately...they went for a little over an hour, primarily doing offensive / defensive formation work...as you can see from the picture above, the lighting was, um, a little off...kidding...the bulk of the workout was conducted under natural light, and right towards the end - when the guys have their 10 minute cool downs - we turned a bank of lights on...thing is, the majority of the guys were still out taking shots and playing keep-away, a good 20 minutes after practice ended..

So, we see these four coming off the field, with the light on their right side and the long shadows to their left..we're trying to think of a movie this image reminds us of...Reservoir Dogs, Swingers?

As you can see to the right, some guys watched from the sidelines....Dello, Adrian and Roberto worked out on the side...Shaka and Juan never made it down to the field...Roberto and Kenny did some walking laps and light passing earlier...Dario worked out with Ray and Boris today, not the trainers...Alex and Pablo went the distance today in real competitive practice...for Alex, it was the first time in a while...the group will be back out on Friday at 10 am out on field # 7.

August 15 - Back to Training

Steve was out of town on personal business today, so Marco and Oscar ran the training session...it was the guys first day back since Saturday and Sunday (reserves), so the session was calmer than most Wednesdays...some guys ran, did short drills...others guys played mini, two-touch games...all of them sweat profusely - it had to be around 100 degrees again today...they'll take a break from the heat on Thursday and train at 7 pm.

Couple updates (kind of) - thanks to those that noticed our Tuesday 'cut and paste' injury report missed a player...Juan is out for Sunday with a right ankle sprain... Pablo took part in the light drills today, but we'll have to see how he comes out after the harder session on Thursday...Dario also worked out with the trainers out on the fields, but Boris has been kept for the week (instead of returning to KC), so we anticipate Ray to remain in goal (at least for now)...Alex also came back today, but worked out inside...to add to the list, Dello took a hit to his right calf on Sunday in the reserve game, which forced him to come out at halftime...he also remained hooked up to the machines inside today...Colombian / American midfielder Sebastian Botero, formerly of Medellin in Colombia, continued training with the team...another guest today was Ecuadorian midfielder Victor Alzamendi (sp?)...Carlos had a fun, sit down interview with Gol TV - Argentina, who was also in town to film the Dallas Cowboys' Martin Gramatica on Tuesday...the David Beckham Soccer USA TV show crew will be here on Thursday, getting some footage of FCD, Steve, and Kenny for a future episode.

August 15 - Ramon Traded to Chivas USA

Many of you that browsed the internet last night or today may have already read that this could be happening - Ramon Nunez was traded to Chivas USA today. FC Dallas will get Chivas USA's 3rd Round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft - however, if Ramon plays 15 regular season games in 2008 (whether with Chivas or another MLS team), then FCD will receive Chivas' natural 1st Round pick in the 09 Draft instead of the 3rd rounder. Also, should Ramon be sold or loaned outside of MLS prior to or during the 2008 season, the pick also becomes Chivas' #1 pick in 09.

"Behind the Scenes" - Arturo

Some people asked, and this time we were able to make it happen...the newest FCD TV present, "Behind the Scenes" with Arturo at Republica Deportiva. The high-res version should be posted on the team site later today, so in the meantime here's the YouTube version...enjoy!

August 14 - Couple Days Off

The guys had Monday and Tuesday off, and will gather again on Wednesday morning...with the adidas Field undergoing some regular maintenance work, the team will train on Field 7 on Wed, Friday, and Saturday...on Thursday, they are planning a 7 pm session inside the stadium...

UPDATED (4:30 pm) - here's what we turned in to MLS today (Pablo, Dario, Alex need to be looked at more on Wed with the rest of the team to see how they are coming along)
OUT – FW Roberto Mina (L knee), FW Kenny Cooper (R tibia), DF Adrian Serioux (L hamstring), GK Shaka Hislop (back); QUESTIONABLE – DF Alex Yi (L hamstring), GK Dario Sala (L knee)

August 12 - Republica Deportiva

August 12, 2007 - Miami, Florida for today's Republica Deportiva...here's a little background on the day ...

4:05 am - alarm goes off...five minutes later, hard hit to the snooze button...
4:45 am - at Arturo's apartment...
5:20 - arrive at DFW Airport...no bags checked in so we get a boarding pass and after a surprisingly busy security line, we hear "last call" for the Miami flight...
6:00 am - plane doors close, we're off
9:35 am ET - a little over 2.5 hours of flying (and sleeping), we land in Miami...a car service was at the airport waiting, holding up a sign reading "Alvarez"...
10:25 ET - we arrive at the Univision studio, since the show starts at 11 am here on the east coast...we were hoping to get to the hotel first, since, we'll, you can imagine what one looks like after playing 90 minutes one night and then sleeping on a plane...
10:30 - Arturo sees co-host Rosana Franco right away, who greets him and reminds him that they had discussed during the SuperLiga Bud gathering in Dallas that he'd soon be on the show...they both laugh at how quickly they made it happen, and they congratulate him as his invitation is largely due to his recent performance
10:35 - a producer shows Arturo the set, and then his dressing (donuts, pastries, coffee, water, couches, TV - but Arturo tries to make us here at the blog look bad by not touching one donut, instead opting for the fruit plate - come on Artie, it's you day off!)...time to clean up and look more awake...we have a surprise in store for Fernando and Rosana, so we tell the producers, who love it...here's the thing, Fernando has a collection of jerseys that athletes bring him...so Artie is planning on walking out with an FCD jersey, with his number showing in the front...thing is, it's for Rosana, which will be obvious as soon as they see how small it is...the producers don't want to tell either host, since they thinks its funny and want to see how Fernando handles it - that is, how he handles finding out that an athelete brought Rosana a jersey and not him...
10:55 - show starts in 5 minutes, we meet Fernando, who is his usual jovial self...he's the same person on camera as he is off it...Arturo continues getting ready...
11:30 - show's been on for a bit, Arties in the make up room (he's not too thrilled, but everyone here makes him feel comfortable, especially after seeing Fernando also get made up)...
11:55 - Felix Hernandez, the third co-host, meets Artie in the dressing room...the schtick is that Felix was in Cancun yesterday, so he'll walk in with Artie in the elevator and surprise Fernando and Rosana...
12:05 - we move over to the set...FCD TV cameras are hidden behind the studio camera, and photo camera (see below) also hides..
12:07 - Artie brings out the jersey...Fernando has a disappointed look, and the Republica staff holds from laughing at his expression...he see Rosana get the jersey and goes looking for the other FCD staffer, who Fernando thinks is up to it..while running (on camera) up the steps, he bangs his head on the boom camera, losing his earpiece...it was all in fun, and everyone got a laugh out of his reaction...
12:07-12:45 - they talk to Artie about his goal vs. Columbus (it's good luck to be scheduled on Republica, since most players somehow have great games - all but one keeper from Mexico who gave up six goals the day before he was scheduled to appear)..also talk SuperLiga, his preseason time in Mexico...a bunch of stuff...Artie does great!
12:50 - during commercial, Fernando shows us his Chelsea jersey, given to him with Fiore on the back...
12:55 - Arturo finally gives Fernando his gift - an FCD jersey with Fiore on the back, and a framed and autographed photo taken in Puerto Rico with Fernando, Carlos, Roberto, Arturo, Ramon, Dario, Oscar, Marcelo, and Juan...(it was the producers' idea to make Ferando wait till the end of the show)... 1:10 - the Republic staff invites Arturo to join them for lunch in the Univision cafeteria...more laughs...its seems like these guys are still on set, that's how natural they are...camera folks, producers, talent, spotters, everyone is at one table...they'll soon have to re-shoot the first hour of the program for the west coast...
2:30 - we leave the studio - after thanking everyone for their kindness and attention...they assure us they want more FCD players on set, and we're thinking Artie will tell them what a cool experience it was...
3:00 - Telefutura calls...they want Arturo to be on set tonight during the LA v NE game (it's called from the Miami studios)...we'll be there at halftime....
3:15 - we check into the hotel - Arturo is pretty tired, no beach or anything, he wants to sleep..
6:45 - car picks us up and takes us to the Telefutura studios.
7:15 - arrive at Telefutura, Arturo gets more makeup on...he hates the camera filming this
7:45 - Arturo joins TV talent Ivan on air during halftime of the LA v NE game, which is on Galavision, one of the three Univision stations...FCD plays Houston next week on Galavision, so Artie helps promote not only SuperLiga but also next Sunday's game
8:20 - Arturo finishes the 'in-game' broadcasts with co-announcers Diego and Jorge...he gets tripped up on a couple of questions, though we're thinking the fact that it was somewhere around 60 degrees in the studio may have contributed...
8:50 - dinner at El Rincon Argentino...a restaurant where the owner seems to be a bit of a celebrity, as he has photos around the place with him and famous athletes...
11:00 pm - back at the hotel
5:30 am - car comes to pick us up...
6:00 am - arrive at Miami International
7:30 am - we're on our way back to Dallas...
8:55 am CT - land at DFW
10:00 am - Arturo finally get's dropped off at his place...the trip is over - good exposure for Arturo and he was a great representative for FC Dallas...we'll see if we captured enough to bring this to you as an FCD TV episode...

August 11 - FCD 3, Columbus 2

Another thriller at Pizza Hut Park tonight, Clarence Goodson capping off a 3-2 come-from-behind win by heading in a Dax McCarty corner kick in injury time. Columbus scored first in the 6th, but Arturo tied in the 60th...the Crew went ahead on a PK in the 74, but Carlos headed in the equalizers in the 80th...then Clarence finished the game off, erupting the crowd at PHP. We'll be back in a bit with more...go ahead and share your thoughts on the game...www.fcdallas.com for the recap, boxscore, and more...click here for the highlights.

• With tonight’s win, FC Dallas now holds a record of 11-6-3 (36 points) and moves into first place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of Houston which lost 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids tonight. The 36 points are also most in MLS, three points ahead of New England which hosts LA on Sunday.
• FCD is now 6-2-1 at Pizza Hut Park this year.
• The team is undefeated over its last six regular season games, having won four and tied two...the win was the team’s first come-from-behind win of the year…
• Dallas is now 13-12-6 all-time versus Columbus, having outscored the Crew 44-42…even so, it was only the second victory over Columbus in the past ten meetings between the clubs.
• Arturo’s goal was his fifth over his last six starts (in all competitions)…Ruiz has scored five goals in his last seven starts (all competitions).
• Clarence’s goal was his first regular season goal since July 27, 2005, when he scored both goals in a 3-2 loss at New York. Goodson also scored the first goal on Tuesday in FCD’s 2-1 Open Cup Quarterfinal win over the Charleston Battery.
• Goodson is the only FCD player to start all 20 regular season games this year…he also becomes the 10th different FCD player to score a goal this year...finally, he is the 8th different player to score a game-winning goal this year.
• Dax McCarty registered his team-leading sixth assist of the year, finding Goodson on a corner kick. It was the team’s first goal off a corner kick in the regular season, though McCarty has also assisted on corner kick headers in SuperLiga (Abe Thompson vs. LA) and in the Open Cup (Goodson vs. Charleston).
• Ray Burse is undefeated in goal in four starts; tying his SuperLiga debut with Guadalajara (1-1), winning the Open Cup quarterfinal game over Charleston (2-1), and winning both MLS regular season games (1-0 over Colorado before tonight).
• Adrian Serioux was replaced by Aaron Pitchkolan in the 20th minute after sustaining a strained left hamstring…Pablo Ricchetti sustained a left Achilles injury and was replaced in 77th minute by Ricardinho, who made his MLS debut.
• Marcelo Saragosa received his first red card in an MLS game tonight and will miss the team’s next game at Houston on August 19.
• Juan Toja missed his first game of the season with a right sprained ankle. Dario Sala (left knee), Shaka Hislop (back), Alex Yi (left hamstring), Kenny Cooper (right tibia), Roberto Mina (right knee) also were out with injuries.
• Tonight’s game was the team’s sixth in the last 18 days; the team went 3-1-2 during the stretch, playing SuperLiga, Open Cup, and regular season games.
• Game time temperature tonight was listed as 96 degrees.

Steve Morrow on the game: “I thought it was a great game of soccer; very entertaining. Credit to my boys again, I’ve touched on it many times here before; they never know when they’re down. They never know when they’re beaten; they keep playing right until the end and we did that again tonight, even with ten men. I thought it was a great effort. We were a little bit tired in the first half and came out a little bit sleeping. I thought we deserved to be a goal down. It woke us up a little bit. We gave up a bad penalty as well which I was disappointed with. We were definitely gaining momentum in the game and Marcelo got a red card as well. Nothing but praise and credit for the boys; I thought it was a great comeback. To come back 3-2 with ten men is just a fantastic effort.”

August 10 - Arturo on Republica Deportiva

So here's the news we've been trying to confirm...Arturo Alvarez has been invited to be a guest on Univision's highly popular Sunday sports show, Republica Deportiva (Sports Republic). For those not familiar, it's the weekly Live sports show with the highest Hispanic audience in the United States, viewed in over one million households every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT. So make sure to check out the show on Sunday, August 12 from 10-12 CT...after talking to the show producer, and other local former staffers, we're confident that Artie will be the first Dallas player to be on the set...those that follow this blog know that our guys have had a couple of opportunities this year to meet the hosts of Republica...back in March, they met Fernando Fiore...and last month, a four of the guys met Rosana Franco and las Senadoras.

Ibee on U.S. U-17 World Cup Roster

We realized we hadn't mentioned on the blog that another FCD player has been selected for yet another U.S. National Team. U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team head coach John Hackworth last week named FCD rookie forward Abdusalam Ibrahim to the 21-player roster that will represent the United States at the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup from Aug. 18-Sept. 9 in South Korea.

Ibrahim, who was selected by FC Dallas with the first pick in the Second Round of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft (14th overall), has yet to appear in a game for FCD this season while remaining with U.S. Soccer's Under-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. He did come in to train with the team for 10 days back in May, before leaving for a camp in Korea with the U.S. team. The U.S. opens the WC against Tajikistan on August 20 (6 a.m. CT), then faces Tunisia on August 23 (3 a.m. CT) and concludes group play on August 26 against Belgium (2 a.m. CT). Click here for more on the U.S. WC Roster.

While he was here, Abdus told us that many friends and teammates call "Ibee", which is how he spells his given nickname (it's pronounced EE-BEE).

DID YOU KNOW: FC Dallas is the only Major League Soccer team to have players appear on four different levels of U.S. National teams in 2007. The seven FCD players to wear the U.S. National Team uniform this year are: Ibrahim, U.S. U-17s; Arturo Alvarez, U.S. U-23s; Dax McCarty, Anthony Wallace (FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada), and Blake Wagner, U.S. U-20s; and Drew Moor (2007 Copa America in Venezuela) and Kenny Cooper on the full U.S. Men's National Team.

Arturo on TV

Arturo was on the Kia Southwest Sports Talk earlier Wednesday...the show will be replayed at 11:30 pm on KFWD-52 (chan # 14 on Time Warner up here in Frisco)...

Artie was the second player to appear on the show in the past few weeks...Chris Gbandi was first...interesting difference in this show compared to other media appearances - the show sends a car service to pick the guys up at their place, take them to the taping of the show at Victory Park's WFAA studios, and then drop them back off at their place...we're also working on finalizing details for a national media appearance for a couple of the guys later this week. Stayed tuned.

August 8 - Juan's Ankle

An early wake up this morning as we're were on the way to the Charleston airport by 7 am ET. We landed in Atlanta around 9:30, many guys had some sort of breakfast, and we were back on the plane by noon, arriving here at close 1 pm CT. Juan, despite having a right ankle injury, was able to fly back with the team:)

Upon arriving here at Pizza Hut Park, he had his right ankle X-rayed this afternoon. However the team doctor was called in to surgery and has not had a chance to provide the reading to our trainers as of this posting. We know it's a high ankle sprain at this moment, and that he'll be out at least for the Crew game this weekend. We'll do our best to keep fans informed as we learn more.

August 7 - FCD 2, Charleston 1 - U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals

Another nail-biter tonight, with FCD pulling out the 2-1 overtime win over the Charleston Battery in the heat and humidity of South Carolina. Clarence got on the end of a Dax corner kick a few minutes after former DC, KC, and Crew midfielder Stephen Armstrong ripped a blast from 35 yards - which knuckled, dipped, and moved, leaving Ray to only attempt to reach it before it hit the back of the net. Arturo hit the game-winner, cutting in from the right to set up his favored left foot for the goal five minutes into extra time. Click here for more.

NOTES: Juan sprained his right ankle in the 37th minute...he said at first he thought it was his ankle, but then it didn't hurt when he stepped back on...however a few steps later he felt the pain a little higher up on the ankle and knew he couldn't go anymore...he played it out till halftime, giving Dom enough time to warm up...Carlos traveled with the team but was rested and did not dress; he had a right foot injury heading into the Colorado game, and had played in every game since returning from the Gold Cup (including both Rio Grande Plate matches)...Marcelo also has a knock, still feeling the effect of a hit he took to his side on Sat vs. Colorado...Ray, making his first U.S. Open Cup appearance, became the 100th player in team history to play in an Open Cup game…Bobby tonight played in his 18th Open Cup game for the team, passing Jason Kreis for most Open Cup appearances in team history...this is the sixth time in 12 years that Dallas has advanced to the semifinals of this tournament...also, of the last nine Open Cup game, six have gone to OT, and of those six, three have been won in PKs.

August 7 - FCD at Charleston; U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals

The team trained indoors on Monday at Pizza Hut Park, doing more recovery work after both the first team and reserves played on Sat and Sun respectively. By 2 pm, 18 players were on the bus on the way to the airport, heading to Charleston, South Carolina for Tuesday's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal game versus the Charleston Battery. Fans can watch the game live by clicking here at 6:30 pm CT.

We couldn't get direct flights here from Dallas, so we first had a lay-over in Atlanta. Then, of course, as has happened often this year, we were delayed for a bit.

We arrived in Charleston around 10:30 pm...it was not till we walked out of the airport with our bags that we realized how hot and humid it is here. WOW!

Dinner was ready for the guys at the hotel, which is only a few minutes from the airport. Backup keeper Boris Pardo met the team here, since neither Dario nor Shaka are ready to play yet.

They're expecting potential record high temps today - but even if it doesn't reach, it's already hot here (9 am, weather.com has it listed as 'feels like 99 degrees.'

So there are 19 players here: Ray, Wags, Pitch, Clarence, Bobby, Dello, Chris, Drew, Carlos, Marcelo, Abe, Dom, Arturo, Adrian, Dax, Anthony, Pablo, Juan, and Boris - only 18 can dress tonight. One of the Open Cup rules is that team's can have a maximum of five international players available, so the coaches will have to decide who doesn't dress between Dom, Carlos, Marcelo, Pablo, Juan, and Adrian...

August 6 - FCD TV: Wally's Humble Abode

In continuing our features that bring fans “behind the scenes”, FCD TV today introduced our newest and latest segment (though we’re holding off on naming this just yet). Taking a cue from MTV’s “Cribs”, where celebrities show off their houses, or ‘cribs’, our players will be giving fans access to their own dwellings. Eighteen-year old rookie midfielder Anthony Wallace goes first, taking our cameras into his ‘humble abode’… (you can also see a lower res version on the FCD's YouTube page)

It’s the first time he’s lived on his own, so you’ll see how ‘Wally’ (as he’s commonly known around the team and to his friends) lives, how he decorated his place, and what he drives…Keep an eye out as we’re hoping to bring you a different player every couple of weeks – and we’ll then see what each player calls their own place…tell us what you think...who do you want to see next?

August 5 - Pardo and the Reserves

Despite being up a man for a long stretch, it was FCD goalkeeper Boris Pardo who was a difference maker on Sunday morning as the FC Dallas Reserves played a scoreless game vs. the Rapids Reserves on the adidas Field at Pizza Hut Park.

You ask, "who is Boris Pardo?"

Boris is one of the League 'pool' goalkeepers....what's that?

Since MLS rosters are limited to 28 players, if a team loses two if its three (most teams) goalkeepers, that team is put under what the League calls "Extreme Hardship". That is, a team can't really sign any other keeper, but also doesn't have other players that can play the position. So they need help.

So what MLS has done for the past few years is sign a certain number of goalkeepers to be 'pool' keepers. They train regularly with a local MLS team, but can be called in to be available by any team that is down to one healthy keeper for a game. Boris, Sam Reynolds and David Monsalve are the League Pool keepers this year.

On Saturday vs. Colorado, Dario was a day of game decision since his right knee continued to be sore (he's listed as day-to-day)...also, Shaka has had back problems over the past few week that continue to keep him in and out. So, seeing as how Ray would be the only healthy keeper, the coaches made the call to the league on Friday to request one of the above mentioned keepers to back up Ray (and to play in the Reserve game, since Ray would not have been able to play after playing 90 the day before; MLS Reserve Division rules state that player cannot play more than 120 minutes combined between a first team or reserve division game in a 60 hours window).

If you look around the previous game recaps around the league, you'll see the names of these guys show up for a few teams - but most notably Toronto FC. Toronto only had two keepers (didn't sign a third), so they've had a pool keeper with them for the past 11 games. Reynolds and Monsalve have even had to start a couple games for them (they did sign another keeper this week). One thing to note, a team with three (or more) keepers would have priority to call up a goalie ahead of a team that only has two keepers on the 28 man roster.

Back to Boris...born to Chilean parents, he's a 23 year old keeper that trains daily with the Kansas City Wizards. Prior to Saturday, he had backed up at Toronto on three occasions...He went to Seton Hall Univ. and most recently had been playing at Universidad de Chile...today, as the game was winding down and FCD pushed forward, Pardo first denied Herculez Gomez with an acrobatic diving save to his left and then stopped former Mexican national team forward Daniel Osorno on a mini-break away, also diving left...

August 4 - FCD 1, Colorado 0

FCD pulled out a 1-0 win over Colorado tonight at Pizza Hut Park...as you'll see in the notes below, beating Colorado in the regular season has been a pretty good constant for a little while (and we're not really wanting to remind anyone about the playoffs)...Ray made his first MLS start today, coming up with the shutout and win...as always, check out the www.fcdallas.net for the game recap, highlights, and some quotes; sorry, no video today as Fox Soccer Channel kept us busy (and our backdrop) following the game....

NOTES:

• With tonight’s win, FC Dallas now holds a record of 10-6-3, 33 points, good for second place in the Western Conference, one point behind Houston, which lost 1-0 to Real Salt Lake tonight.
• The shutout was the FCD’s third straight home clean sheet, and fifth overall shutout of the year. Dallas is 5-2-1 at home this year.
• Second-year goalkeeper Ray Burse Jr. made his MLS debut in goal today, earning his first win and shutout, while making three dramatic saves.
• FCD is now 10-0-2 versus Colorado in regular season HOME games over the past 12 games. The last time Colorado won a regular season game in Dallas was on May 5, 2001. Since then, Dallas has won four times at the Cotton Bowl, twice at Dragon Stadium, and registered a 4-0-1 record against the Rapids at Pizza Hut Park.
• Dallas is also undefeated versus Colorado over the past 11 games (home and away), recording an 8-0-3 record versus the Rapids since May 2001.
• FCD is now 8-2-2 versus Western Conference opponents in 2007.
• The team is also 10-1-1 when scoring first.
• Drew Moor’s goal was his second of the season, and first-ever game-winning goal.
• Dax McCarty’s assist was his team-leading fifth of the season.
• Dario Sala was not available due to a sprained right MCL. MLS ‘pool’ keeper Boris Pardo was summoned to backup Burse as Shaka Hislop was also unavailable with back pain. Ricardinho (R hamstring), Alex Yi (L hamstring), Kenny Cooper (R tibia), and Roberto Mina (L knee) were also out injured.
• FC Dallas heads to South Carolina to take on the Charleston Battery (USL-D1) in the Quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday, August 7 (6:30 pm CT).
• FCD returns to regular season play next weekend with a home game versus the Columbus Crew at Pizza Hut Park (7:30 pm).

Steve Morrow on the game: “I’m very pleased with the one-nil win tonight. I want to give a lot of credit to the boys, we had a lot of tired legs out there. We had three very, very tough games in SuperLiga and we knew and expected there was going to be some kind of hangover from the SuperLiga games because it was a tough stretch for us. So a lot of credit to the boys, to come out with a clean sheet. Colorado threw everything at us as well, had a lot of forwards, a lot of offensive power on the field in the end. I though we played well in the first half and couldn't keep the ball as well in the second half as we wanted to, and that might have eased the pressure on us. But it was a great effort from the boys, did what we had to do, defended well when we had to.”

August 3 - Preseason Game vs LA

Thanks to all of our fans who came out to our SuperLiga game versus LA on Tuesday. Although we’re disappointed with the result, what an entertaining game and electric atmosphere! You fans helped the team make an almost miraculous comeback. So thanks again.

The feedback from fans after the game was so overwhelmingly positive about your experience. As fans of this great game, everyone in the front office shares your opinion. It was an amazing moment when 20,000+ fans jumped to their feet to celebrate as Arturo’s shot hit the post and went in. It’s one of those moments that I will never forget.

As you know, we appreciate hearing from all of you. After a few days of working hard on a plan for everyone who shared our disappointment of not seeing David Beckham on Tuesday, we’re excited to announce that we'll host the Galaxy in a charity preseason game next spring. More details will be sent to all of you who purchased tickets for July 31st in the coming weeks.

This will be a good event for soccer in North Texas that hopefully many of you will be able to attend. It will raise funds for charities that share our commitment to making the community in which we live, work, and play a better place to live, work, and play; not to mention a great preseason game for FC Dallas as we prepare for the 2008 Major League Soccer season.

Thanks again for your support.

Sincerely,
Hitch

August 1 - Toja Interview

Last night we took out the Juan Toja comments out of the post-game press conference video, so today our camera caught up with Juan following the recovery session. Below is a five minute interview where he comments on the team's performance in SuperLiga, the regular season, how he feels physically, on his play so far and if he feels pressure given the attention he's drawn, on what the fans' support means to him, and the team's goals for the rest of the year...

Though Juan's English continues to improve, he asked if we could do this in Spanish, so we did...So we're trying something new here with this all-Spanish interview...we're thinking there are some Spanish speaking fans that can help translate this for those that don't understand Spanish...

OK...we've made some more time, so here goes the translation, broken down by each pause in the video:
"In looking back the statistics don't really help us at all because they were two ties and we lost one game, but on the field I think we did great things against the Mexican teams. For example we tied - we started off winning but they tied us - which was an error that we committed. But we played equally with them and at moments we were superior. The game versus the Galaxy was when we had to play to advance, and in the first 20 minutes we committed many defensive mistakes that cost us four goals. And well, it was a different game, atypical, and we tried to tie it in the second half being four goals down and almost did it, but it was complicated and the Galaxy plays good. So now SuperLiga is over for us. One can't say it was a positive but can't say it was negative either because we did great things, though the results don't show that."

"Now we have to think on MLS, the local tournament. We are doing well, have been sychronized all season. Now we have another test versus Colorado. We'll continue as we've been doing, working well and doing things right, improving our deficiencies. So our feeling now, obviously no one likes to lose and its bad to lose, and even more in the way we did lose, but that is now history so we need to erase the cassette and keep looking forward to what's coming up."

"At times I feel very tired, and at times in games I want to run but I don't have it...I have to regulate myself a bit because I do feel tired and this humidity also influences that. Obviously having gone through this part of the season I feel very tired at times, waking up, after some games I feel bad, though today I feel relatively well. There are some days were I wake up feeling bad, but well, all the weight influences that. But for now, so long as my body can give I'll do everything possible. You have to take good care, sleep well, eat well, all these type of things to help the body. If at any moment I'm in pain or something were to happen to me, I'd have to stop or if feel extremely tired or my performance drops. But that also we'll talk it over with Steve and Oscar who are always asking me how I'm feeling because up to now, yes I feel some of the load of games, but overall I'm feeling good."

"I'm feeling really good, feeling happy with my performance but that performance is not only mine but that of all my teammates. The team makes it so one can perform like this because they help you, they collaborate, they run with you, play with you - we are a team. So obviously that helps me individually but also many others. On what you ask about the responsibility, yesterday at the press conference they asked me why against Pachuca I didn't play good. And it was only one game, and over the majority of the games I've had very good games. This game, versus Pachuca, I didn't play bad, but I also didn't play it good. I didn't break up much, but played a more tactical game. So one hears that the press is saying that a more normal game is one that you didn't play well; and for me it was not a bad game, not good either but it wasn't bad. So that lets you know that people are expecting a lot of you. In one way it makes me very happy because I feel like I've done the things the right way, but at the same times its a big responsibility. The truth is that the press part doesn't matter as much because one is good or is bad; The responsibility for me is more for my team logically and for the fans that support us, wanting the best for everyone."

"I sense that caring feeling the fans have for me, and I try to return that feeling on the field; not wanting to leave one ball to be lost, trying to play the best possible game, fighting - the same as all my teammates. In truth, I felt an enormous kindness when the people talk to me, when I'm walking around many times people recognize me on the street. I see this is a soccer country and that people are more motivated. They greet me and treat me very good. So what you ask about being on the field and the applause, of course I hear and feel it, and obviously it fills one with emotions."

"I think our goal is to be champions. That has to be our goal. But first we take it step by step, qualify for the playoffs and then to the final and then obviously become champions. Its very difficult because there are great teams, but I think we've demonstrated that we are one of the strongest teams. So we have to continue with everything that we've been doing; continue working as we have, game by game, and make the final. I only that's my goal and know that's the same goal for everyone also."