FCD 2, TT Foreign 2 - FCD wins on PKs

FCD gave up a pair of soft goals in the first 10 minutes, but came back to tie the game in second half stoppage time before winning on Pks...

Kenny made it 2-1 with a goal in the 38th minute, neatly finishing a play in which Denilson went through 3-4 defenders before laying it off to Kenny...after a rather dull second half, with the early highlight a left-footed blast from Ricardinho that dinged off the crossbar, Scott Jones knocked in a lose ball that Toja went high to keep from going out - this, in the 2nd and final minute of stoppage time...we thought Scott also scored the winning PK, but the ref made him re-take his shot after saying Scott started his run before the whistle...the keeper saved Scott's second attempt...a few shots later, Alex Yi hit the winning PK...

Their first goal came off a corner kick in the 8th minute...actually, the corner came in, and Ray tried to jump up to hit the ball out...but as you can see from the photo of the penalty box below (from yesterday's practice), it's pretty much a sand pit...Ray didn't get much on the jump, but did barely hit the ball out...as he hit the ground, TT's Jonathan Frias push in the lose ball...

Two minutes later, Frias extended the lead with another goal...this time, he took a long shot, which Ray appeared to have covered...however, as he began his dive to his left, the ball hit the ground in front and bounced the opposite way into the goal......

Gameday in Trinidad

Beautiful day here today...the guys just had their pregame meal, where they found out the lineup...Steve told the guys yesterday that he wants to play everyone at least 90 minutes combined over these two games...so some will play 30 today, and 60 on Sunday, etc, etc.

Today's lineup will be as follows:

--------------------------Ray (45 minutes)---------------
------Dello (45)----------Drew (45)--------Andrew(75)----
--Pautasso (45)----Bobby (60)---Chase (60)---Blake (45)
------------------------------Denilson (60)--------------------------
--------------Ricardinho (60)-------Kenny (60)-----------

The subs are expected to be:

------------------------------Kennedy (45)-------------------
------Alex (45)------------Pitch (45)-------Dello (15)------
--Watson (45)---Saragosa (30)--Wags (30)---Jones (45)
---------------------------------Toja(30)--------------------------
------------------Dominic (30)-------Abe (30)-----------

we're off to the stadium to see what the streaming situation is...we'll see if it can be done...if so, we'll update the team site with the info: http://www.fcdallas.com/

Training at Hasely Crawford Stadium

Atletico Paranaense had the field first today, training from 3-4 pm at the stadium...Steve and Dan Hunt went to watch the practice and say hi to some of our CAP friends...the rest of the team arrived a little before 4 pm, with the guys from the clinic just behind them...

As you've read, this stadium is the site of the World Cup Qualifier, where the U.S. defeated Trinidad 1-0 in 1989 to eliminate Trinidad and give the U.S. it's first berth in a World Cup (Italia 1990) in nearly 40 years...it seems like everyone here remembers that day, where they sat, where they watched the game from, how they felt...for us, it's cool to see these old grounds - nothing like today's stadiums in the U.S., expect the history it carries, and of course, the home-field advantage these crowds give their teams...

Martin arrived at the hotel a little after 2 pm, and quickly was introduced to the guys...he tells us he knows Pablo, since they share the same agent, and knows Dario because he's played against him before (and because Dario seems to know players on every team in the world)...Shaka also trained with Ray and Dan...Chris Clarke helps Steve set up the practice, and runs some drills...Marcelo looked good, and Juan felt and looked much better...it's a fairly relax practiced, though by looking at how much the guys were sweating you'd have thought it was a game they just played in...the thing is, it's pretty hot here...

Back to the stadium...the field is nowhere near the condition of Pizza Hut Park...as you'll see from the photos below, the goalmouth is basically a beach...Shaka works with Dan and Ray, chopping balls off the sand so they can prepare for how the bounces will go this weekend...the field is surrounded by a track, which is surrounded by a moat (which has a bunch of cats in it)...that's it for commentary, here are some photos...enjoy...

The Earthquake

Our Director of Youth Player Development - Chris Clarke, brought Denilson, Ricardinho, Scott, Chase, and Kenny to conduct a clinic for kids from select soccer schools in the area - and Shaka was ours and the schools invited guest...FCD fans know that our guys do many clinic throughout the year, but today's was a bit different...we get off the bus, and hear the loud calypso music playing in the park...this would be about as fun a clinic as these kids could experience...with an added twist....

Just as the guys took the balls of the bags, we all felt the earth move...for about 5-6 seconds, if not longer...Denilson walked up to everyone, asking if they felt what he did...of course, some staff said, it was an earthquake!...this was said about as calm as anyone could say it, apparently not a big deal, while our guys were in walking around with amazed looks at what had just occurred...Kenny and Ricardinho claimed they didn't feel - which could be since they were out jumping around and running in the open field at the time..

Denilson and Ricardinho proceeded to begin dancing to the music, stepping over the ball, holding it up high - leading the kids, and Kenny, Chase, and Scott, through the exercise which seemed like a Jazzercise Video...the kids were loving it, and so were the photographers and TV cameras that were filming (we'll hopefully have time later to bring you some of the video, of what Ricardinho called "Scott Jones as Robocop"...

We then meet the rest of the team at the stadium for practice - and all they were talking about was the earthquake...they were still at the hotel when it happened, telling the story of the building shaking, pieces of concrete falling from the balconies, and Dominic being so scared...they talk about it below...

The Press Conference

While Bobby took Denilson and Ricardinho down the U.S. Embassy this morning, the rest of the guys slowly trickled down to breakfast...we sat down with Hitch, who has been here for a few days, and he filled us in on the progress of his meetings with the TT Pro League staff as well...a press conference was scheduled for 11 am, here in the hotel, where the Pro League would make what they called, "a landmark announcement."

We see our friends from Atletico Paranaense...they fill us in on their checkin issues, which apparently took even longer than ours...also, since they went through Venezuela, something happened with the flight, and six people did not get on the connecting flight to Port of Spain...this morning, our guest player Martin, was to join the rest of CAP players in Venezuela, and they all flew in together...

The press conference started pretty much on time...as you see above, the TT Pro League Tony Hartford introduces the panel, which includes (from left to right) - Steve, Dexter Skeene (CEO), Hitch, Larry Romani (Chairman), Frank Romanoski (CAP board member), and Shaka...

They threw out the challenge to Steve, letting us know their players are excited to show us and CAP their qualities, and to expect a competitive game...then they talked about their visit to PHP, speaking high of Lamar and the vision he had with the complex he built in Frisco...

We'll try to be back with a bit more later, as we got a lot of video from the conference...the basics are, the TT Pro League have formed an alliance with FCD, which they feel gets is an important step in developing their brand and business...they have already seen and heard from the CAP reps, who spoke glowingly of their partnership with us...they also heard Shaka speak highly of the ownership, management, and team itself - and if you didn't know, he is a huge star down here - and appears to have a very big voice...

We're now heading the clinic with Denilson, Ricardinho, Kenny, Scott, and Chase - afterwards, we're heading straight to practice...we'll be back later...

Not in Trinidad...

While a good part of the team is here in Trinidad, we are keeping to keep with some of the guys that are not with us this weekend...yesterday, U.S. Soccer officially announced the 22-player roster for U.S. U-23 MNT team camp, which will train for a week in California before heading to China for a couple of games against the Chinese - both Arturo and Dax are part of that squad...at the same time, Anthony and Ibee are down in Argentina with the U.S. U-20 MNT..they both played 90 in a 1-1 draw with River Plate...then Wally played 90 and Ibee the first 65 in a 1-1 draw versus Argentina on Wednesday...their last game is against Uruguay.

Also in Argentina is assistant coach Marco Ferruzzi: 5-6 MLS teams have representatives down there taking a look at some players...Steve and Marco have already identified some of the guys they are going to see...one agent that has had success bringing players to MLS is conducting a combine of sorts with many of his players - which Marco will attend...additionally, Marco will be checking out a few others players through our contacts with other agents down there, agents who have also had some very successful players in MLS recently...

We're here...

Just as we finished writing the Airport Story blog, we got in line at C5 to board the plane...most of the guys are on aisles this time, and some on windows...the PSPs are out, and Jamie, Marcus, Daniel, Denilson, Chase, Ricardinho are all playing - often taking turns to play against another...Juan usually plays also, however, he come down with a bit of a cold - which we could see getting worse from the time we left Dallas to the time we boarded the flight in Miami..we always see him with a hood on, and this time, he's keeping the cords pulled down so that he needs to tilt his head back in order to see...

About 50 minutes after the intended takeoff- and on the second plane (which is why we changed gates) - we start moving...they inform us that the flight should take close to three hours...the movie tonight is "Evan Almighty"...as the intro videos start, some of us on the left side of the plane plug in our headphones, and no matter how many times we push up on the volume, we couldn't hear anything...a quick check across the aisle, we ask Scott to check if the audio works on his seat...it does...within seconds, we hear the attendants apologize for the technical problems...

Some guys have their own DVD players, others are reading books, some magazines...but as we said above, many are on their PSPs....halfway through the flight, a card game breaks out - which is easy to do since most guys are on the aisles, in front of each other...pens are passed around so everyone can fill out their Customs papers...

After a relatively calm flight, we land around 11 pm local time (two hours ahead of Dallas)...a representative from the TT Federations greets us, and opens three passport control lines just for us...a half hour later, we get everyone through...our bags had already been pulled off the belt...we turn in our custom's cards, and head outside - quickly realizing that it's pretty warm - realizing we're in tropical weather (or as some said, muggy and humid)...a flatbed truck awaits to load the team bags, and a bus is ready for the group...however, a couple TV cameras and photographers were also there...

Steve was interviewed first, followed by Bobby, and lastly, Denilson...the camera guys tell us that people here are really exited to see Denilson, and they tell him so through their questions to him...he answers the last question with the help of the Interpreter, and runs to the bus...as he boards, the guys - who sat their waiting for him to finish - begin teasing him: "We love you Denilson,", "Photo, Denilson?" "Can you sign this, Denilson"...he laughs it off...

The bus starts moving...about 40 minutes later, we reach the hotel - a Crowne Plaza...it's now close to 1 am here...the guys grab some prepared sandwiches in the room just past the lobby...they're all itching to get to their rooms...after getting over some of the confusion with regards to the rooms, we get everyone their keys...as we type this, it's now 2:30 am here...

Denilson and Ricardinho have an appointment at the U.S. Embassy at 7 am to work out their visas to return to the U.S. next Monday...Bobby and Daniel will go with them...breakfast is from 8-9:30, lunch at 1 pm...a few guys will do a clinic later in the day, and then the entire team heads to training at 6 pm...we'll try to be everywhere, so we can tell you about it here...

Airport stories

Ahh...airports...we've seen a lot of them, and of course we always seem to have airport stories...No problems at DFW, the guys all grabbed some food, and boarded on time...many of the guys were in the back, and while everyone was taking their seats, a mom and kid interupted the process by passing people in order to ask Denilson to pose for photos and sign some autographs. You could tell how happy they were as they moved back to the front, crossing the other passengers that waited for this event to take place.

As happens on most flights, the guys wait for all passengers to take their seats, and then the shifting began...Denilson is asked to swith with a couple that had separate seats...Ricardinho, wanting to sit next to Denilson, asks Abe to switch...Blake scouted the scene before realizing he had to keep his seat...Drew moves over to let a non-working flight attendant take the aisle...and so on...

A little over two hours into the flight, the pilot comes on the PA to inform us that we're 80 miles from Miami, and should be landing in 15 minutes...within minutes, we hit an air pocket / cloud / something - and the plane suddendly shook all over...it was one of those 'bumps' where you feel that if you grab the seat in front or lean one way or the other, the plane would straighten out - it didn't work. A couple more violent shakes and the plane settles...we look over and see Ricardinho, eyes closed and hands together near his mouth - he looks over and smiles, clearly the scare was over - and the laughs started at how everyone reacted.

The landing was fine...everyone is off the plane expect Ricardinho, who is looking all around his seat for something - his IPhone...the flight crew start lifting seats up (where he first sat down), we were on the ground looking under seats, etc, etc...finally giving up, hoping no one took it and that maybe it had slid somewhere else, we walk out of the plane with Ricardinho, listening to him whisper under his breath things we really can't repeat - but that we laughed at as he said them in all every language he knows, or kind of knows...

We come out of the jetway, and Denilson, Bobby, Josh, and others are waiting for Ricardinho, who quickly tells them what happened to his IPhone...they quietly listened, and before he realized why they were so quiet - they all start laughing. Blake had his phone!

Two hours later, as we wait in a crowded D36, we hear the announcement that the flight is now out of gate C5 - the caravan moves...we're boarding the plane...

Traveling to Trinidad

We're at DFW airport, waiting to take a flight to Miami and then to Trinidad. Half of the guys met up at the stadium this morning, taking the bus at 8:45 am...the rest of the players met up at the airport.

Here's the traveling party:
Goalkeepers: Ray Burse, Dan Kennedy (Guest Player).
Defenders: Drew Moor, Alex Yi, Michael Dello-Russo, Andrew Daniels, David Wagenfuhr, Bobby Rhine, Blake Wagner, Martin Pautasso (Guest Player).
Midfielders: Denilson, Juan Toja, Scott Jones, Chase Wileman, Marcelo Saragosa, Aaron Pitchkolan, Jamie Watson (Guest Player),
Forwards: Kenny Cooper, Ricardinho, Dominic Oduro, Abe Thompson.

Marcelo will be arriving straight from Brazil, expecting to get in around 3 pm today. Dan Kennedy, who was a Supplemental Draft pick by Chivas USA in 2005 and has been playing in Chile this year will meet us in Miami. Marin Pautasso, a 28-year old Argentine defender who earlier this year was at AEK Athens, will join us in Trinidad on Thursday. The final guest player is Jamie Watson, a Dallas-native who is plays for Real Salt Lake. We had intentions of bringing Kenny Bertz with us, but since he's signed to a USL contract, they had to release him to play with us - which didn't happen.

Keep checking the blog, as we'll try to 'bring' you with us to Trinidad with these posting. We've also been told by our friends in Trinidad that later today we'll know if they can set the stadium up to be able to webstream the games, either through our site or theirs.

Did you know that the games will be played at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad - which was the site of the historic Paul Caliguiri goal in Nov. 1989 which gave the U.S. a 1-0 win over Trinidad, and clinched the U.S. its first World Cup in nearly 40 years...here's more...

Last 07 Practice at PHP

As we sat down to write this update, we realized that today was the last time the team would train as a group at Pizza Hut Park this year. The practice was actually a scrimmage, with a few guest players filling in and with a couple of injured players being extra, no-contact neutral players.

Steve and Marco divided the guys up into two teams, playing each side with three defenders, four across the middle and one team with a within forward, and the other with three up top (click on photo for the lineups).

We saw Abe and Toja each score a goal, and then guest player Jamie Watson getting on the end of two goals - however, we don't know if any more goals were scored, so we unfortunately don't know which team won.

Pablo - wearing a cast on his right hand / wrist that is signed and drawn on by his kids - came in wearing a yellow vest, being a neutral and all-day offense. The other neutral player was Roberto Mina, who saw his first competitive practice-action since injuring his knee in the last preseason game way back in March which left him out for the year.

Arturo was also back...he had missed the last two practices before the break as went to train with French-club Bordeaux for about week. Both Dax and Arturo were given the week off since they won't be coming to TnT. However, since Artie's in town, he wanted to get another session in before the weekend.

After halftime, Blake came out to rest his groin - following Trinidad, he'll be heading straight to Germany for his surgery instead of waiting till mid-December.

We also had a couple of guest players with us today: Real Salt Lake midfielder Jamie Watson and defender Kenny Bertz, who was drafted by D.C. United in 2005 and recently played for the Rochester Rhinos of the USL First Division (and he played at Maryland with Dello and Abe)...Marco also brought in Ruben Lugo from his FC Dallas 91 team, and he got a few minutes of top after Blake sat out the latter part of the scrimmage.

FCD Youth Update

FC Dallas Youth showed well in the Pre-Thanksgiving Tournament held on the Pizza Hut Park complex fields November 16-18, with the 92 Boys Blue team winning its age group. The 97 Boys South and 96 Boys each reached the final of their respective age groups. The 94 Girls Red won its age group, and the 93 Girls Blue reached the final. Partner club Tigres Youth Academy’s 93 team won its age group, while the 95 team fell in the final.

Following that tournament, four FCD Youth boys’ teams traveled to Monterrey, Mexico to participate in the Torneo de la Amistad November 22-25. The 97 team won its age group, defeating Monterrey San Nicolas 2-1 in the final. The 96 and 94 teams each fell to Tigres teams in the semifinals, with the 96’s losing 1-0 and the 94’s falling 3-4 in PK’s after a 0-0 tie through regulation and overtime. The 93 team did not advance past the group stage.

Congratulations to all of the FCD Youth players and coaches on a job well done!

A special thanks to parent Raul Taylor who took and provided these photos.

Goodbye Oscar!

The guys got back to training this morning, ending a 10 day break for Thanksgiving. After practice, Oscar Pareja gathered the guys to inform them that today was his last practice with them - as he's accepted the Assistant Coaching position with the United States Under-17 Men’s National Team, thus ending his 10 years with the organization. As many know, Oscar was a leader on the field for eight seasons here, before calling it a career after the 2005 campaign. He's served as assistant coach the past two seasons, making his 10 years with the club the longest of any player / coach. We'll be back a bit later with some more from Oscar - but for now, we want to wish Oscar all the best, and of course thank him for all he's given to this club.

UPDATED: Note from Oscar...

Today, I write to you at a moment when my feelings and emotions will alter my family’s routine – the result, a very difficult decision as to which road to choose, since FC Dallas represents the most important personal and professional era of my life. Professionally, because these past 10 seasons with the club have filled me with futbol experiences; and personally, because it’s the city where I’ve seen my kids grow and where I’ve met incredible people - too many to mention.

Every step that I have taken is characterized by effort, but I’ve enjoyed every one of those steps, and it’s because of this that I want to thank all of the people that have accompanied me on this journey.

After making the decision to take a sideways step on this path, a decision that was not easy to make, but one I felt was important and will allow me to keep to my ideas and principles - I have accepted with great honor the opportunity to work with the youngsters on the U.S. U-17’s, which will represent us in the 2009 World Cup in Nigeria – a job that I have no doubt will prove beneficial in my professional life.

On behalf of my family, I want to thank the Hunt Family for giving me the opportunity and the priviledge to represent this club; to the Hispanic community, especially the children, for all the love and support; and also to all of the people that are part of FC Dallas, for your dedication to the project and for your professionalism - and especially, to the entire roster of players, I wish you the best in your professional careers and in your futures.

I have so many memories that I don’t even know where to start. I remember with much love our days as the Burn, when we had a trailer as our locker…I remember all of the classicos with Chicago at the Cotton Bowl…I remember my last game, when I scored my last goal…I remember having become the oldest member of the team, and my teammates started calling me “Papi.”…like I said, there are so many memories.

To the fans of the team, an unconditional thank you for all your support – I forever thank you for all those unbelievable moments! I am convinced that FC Dallas is and will be bigger than others, and because of this, your passion will take this club to the highest levels. We will be supporting you closer than ever, and in every possible way, because we will always feel part of this family.

Oscar Pareja

A Revised Look

We've been talking about giving the blog a newer look for some time - so we figured that since the team and front office already is the planning for the 2008 season, this was also good a time to try brightening up the blog a bit - you know, give it a fresh look as we move forward...while it's not a drastic change, the overwhelming response internally to the revised look has been very positive so far (though admittedly, the majority of our staff has been on break, so the responses so far have come from a very small number of blog staffers)...

Nov. 24 - Wally and Ibee Head to Argentina

Anthony "Wally" Wallace and Adbus "Ibee" Ibrahim are part of the U.S. U-20 National Team that left for Argentina on Friday, Nov. 23 for an 11-day training camp that will include three international games.

Wally and D.C. United's Bryan Arguez are the only two players on this roster that were on the U-20 side that advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Ibee is one of six players on this roster who competed at the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Korea. Jorge Flores of Chivas USA is the fourth MLS player on this squad.

The U.S. team will face Paraguay on Nov. 26, Argentina on Nov. 28, and finish out the trip with a game against Uruguay on Dec. 1.

Nov. 22 - Happy Thanksgiving

On behalf of the entire organization, we wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.

Nov. 21 - UPDATED: Clarence Chosen in Expansion Draft

We just received word from MLS Communications that Clarence was one of the 10 players that San Jose selected in today's expansion draft. We'll be back here later with comments from Steve.

UPDATED with comments from Steve Morrow (4:30 p.m. CT):

"It's been a stressful few days. A lot of thought and talking went in to our Protected List for the Expansion Draft, and a lot of tough decisions had to be made. It is disappointing for me to lose any player, and naturally, I'm disappointed to lose Clarence.

A few things factored in to the decision to leave Clarence exposed. First, he was out of contract, and both he and his agent indicated that a move abroad was a strong option. The new contract proposal to remain at FCD was more than we were willing to pay.

Secondly, the defense is an area of our team that I am focused on strengthening this off-season, and I am confident that we can upgrade this position in our team.

Clarence is a great guy and we'll miss him. We all wish him the very best in his next venture.

We will continue to work tirelessly to make the required improvements to the Roster in the weeks ahead."

Nov. 20 - "The Lost Tapes"

We were going through some piled DV tapes recently, and came across some footage that we had not used this year...We always shoot with the intent to show you, the fans, some behind the scenes action. Sometimes, nothing interesting or intriguing comes out, and sometimes, well, we just can't show everything, or the guys would do nothing fun. Also, given that we played 15 midweek games, we never seemed to have a good amount of time to cut some of these and make them relevant, since it seemed we were always quickly preparing for another game...

Over the next few weeks, we'll try to bring you some of these "Lost Tapes", bringing you more behind the scenes access, even if it is a bit outdated...Since we're heading into the Thanksgiving break, we'll start with this one - Pizza Hut's World Hunger Programme. In October, Chris and Dom taped a 15 second Public Service Announcement which ran on the stadium video boards during the Oct. 11 game. They also taped a 30 second spot for the radio broadcast (also made other appearances for this cause). We present you the first installment of "The Lost Tapes"...

Nov. 20 - Sad News

On Monday, we received sad news regarding a former FC Dallas front office team member. Peter Burks, who worked for FCD from 2005 through February 2006 before enlisting in the Army, lost his life in Iraq last week. His father called our office with the news, letting our staff know how much Peter enjoyed working for and supporting the team. Pete remained in touch with members of our staff. As the linked articles suggest (Dallas Morning News, McKinney Courier-Gazette, Associated Press), its no surprise that he was looking for ways to help kids in Iraq:

A recent email from Pete to Andrea Myers, Director, FC Dallas Foundation and Community Relation (follow up emails are not included):
===================================
From: Pete Burks
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 3:07 PM
To: Andrea Myers
Subject: howdy from baghdad

andrea,how's it going? i know it's been a while since we've talked, but i am writing because i have a very important favor to ask of you.

one of the things that we do here in baghdad to help out the little kids and locals is we hand out soccer balls. it really helps us too because when they see their kids treated nicely, they're more eager to help us and to point out the bad guys. my reasons for asking beyond those stated are as follows:

1. the 10,000 balls that we did have to hand out can no longer be handed out to the local people. the old iraqi flag with a verse from the quran is on the balls, and to them, that's very offensive since technically, a quranic verse would be kicked around/on the ground.
2. i was thinking that this could also be a way to get you guys some good p.r. because i would gladly take pictures of us handing out the balls to these kids. these kids are pretty much destitute, and often times can't afford to buy balls themselves.
3. also, if finances are a problem getting the balls to us, i would imagine that there would have to be some sort of tax break that you guys could get out of donating balls to help us out.

so, all that said, PLEASE help us if you can. seriously, these kids have little to nothing, and they are ALWAYS asking for soccer balls. anything you guys can do would help.

thanks,

pete
============================
The FC Dallas Foundation will be sending soccer balls to Iraq on Pete's behalf, to the address he sent on later emails. If you would like to donate soccer balls, please contact Andrea at amyers@fcdallas.net.

Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

Nov. 19 - The Expansion Lists

FC Dallas today protected the following players for the upcoming MLS Expansion Draft (rules), which will be the first steps for the new San Jose Earthquakes franchise in building their team.

M - Arturo Alvarez
GK - Ray Burse
F - Kenny Cooper
M - Dax McCarty
D - Drew Moor
M - Pablo Ricchetti
F - Ricardinho
F - Carlos Ruiz
M - Marcelo Saragosa
M/D - Adrian Serioux
M - Juan Toja

The following FCD players are available to be chosen by San Jose in Wednesday's draft. SJ may only select one player from each team: M - Sebastian Botero, D - Andrew Daniels, D - Michael Dello-Russo, M - Denilson, D - Chris Gbandi, M - Sandy Gbandi, D - Clarence Goodson, M - Scott Jones, F - Roberto Mina, F - Dominic Oduro, D - Aaron Pitchkolan, D - Bobby Rhine, GK - Dario Sala, F - Abe Thompson, D - David Wagenfuhr, M - Chase Wileman, D - Alex Yi.

D - Blake Wagner, F - Abdus Ibrahim, and M - Anthony Wallace are Generation adidas players and therefor cannot be made available for selection.

Nov. 19 - Decision Time, Expansion Draft info

Within hours of the 2007 season ending, the start of the 2008 season began. Starting on Monday morning, the League's trade moratorium was lifted, and team's were able to make trades until 12 p.m. CT.

Since the San Jose Earthquakes will be entering the League in 2008, they need to stock their team...the first steps of that process officially takes place this week - with the assistance of the other 12 MLS teams - through the Expansion Draft.

By 3 p.m. CT today, all teams must submit their list of unprotected players to MLS. Around 5 p.m. CT, MLS will let all teams know which other players have been left unprotected.

RULES FOR EXPANSION DRAFT:

• Each team may protect 11 players.
• Each team may only make one Senior International available (non-U.S. citizens or Residents - for FCD, the senior internationals are Carlos Ruiz, Pablo Ricchetti, Denilson, Marcelo Saragosa, and Adrian Serioux).
• Generation adidas players may not be left unprotected, however they will not count as one of the 11 protected players either. As of today, Dax has graduated from the program; however Wally, Blake, and Ibee will still be GA's next season.
• All other Developmental Roster players may be exposed - however if they are selected, SJ must offer them a Senior Roster spot.
• If a team elects to protect a player, it does not have to pick up his option, though it would retain the player's MLS rights.
• If a player retires, the team doesn't have to protect him - though if he later comes out of retirement, the team no longer has rights of first refusal to sign him.
• Even if a player's contract ends at the end of this year, he must be protected if the team wants to keep his MLS rights or try to re-sign him.

The Expansion Draft will take place at 12 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Nov. 21. San Jose will have 10 rounds to chose players, however they can only take one from each team; which means there will be three teams that won't have anyone selected. Following the conclusion of the Expansion Draft, team may again begin making trades (the trade window will stay open until next year).

Nov. 19 - MLS Cup: Houston 2, New England 1

On Sunday afternoon, a few of us from the FCD Blog stood in the lower bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington DC watching Houston come back to defeat New England to win the 2007 MLS Cup - their second straight. We saw their celebration, watched their families come running down our section towards the field, saw the orange-clad fans across the way - and we could feel some of the emotions that we're sure were running through many FCD fans...

So, the 2007 season has come to an end...here's a place to share your thoughts...

Nov. 14 - FCD and Tigres Youth Teams

The guys will have their last practice for a while on Friday, scrimmaging each other at 10:30 am. Fans are welcome to stop by.

On Friday night, four FC Dallas Youth teams will face four Mexican youth teams (two teams from Tigres Academy and two teams from Monterrey San Nicholas) in friendlies at The Greenhill School in Addison. FCD Youth and the Mexican clubs will then participate in this weekend’s Pre-Thanksgiving Tournament, here at Pizza Hut Par, which will have over 250 total teams participating. Not only will the youngsters have the opportunity to play against top level youth teams from Mexico, but they will also receive the added benefit of interacting with their counterparts off the field, as FCD Youth families will house the Mexican teams while they are here in the Metroplex.

Next week, four FCD Youth boys’ teams will return the favor by traveling to Monterrey, Mexico to play in the Torneo de la Amistad November 22-25. This marks the third consecutive year in which FCD Youth will compete in tournament, which will feature youth teams from Tigres, Cruz Azul, Barcelona and Real Madrid, to name a few. FCD Youth looks to build on its success in the tournament, after the FCD 92 team won its age group in last year’s Torneo de la Amistad.

Nov. 14 - Cameras at practice

With Steve in North Carolina, Oscar and Marco ran today's practice, which was conducted out on field 4 while the adidas Field has maintenance work done to it. Twenty-three guys took part, with Adrian, Carlos, Pablo, Dario, and Roberto sitting out, and Marcelo back in Brazil. Arturo was also absent today, as he had personal things to attend to. Also in attendance today was Shaka, who returned from Trinidad after last week's press conference. He stopped by to say hi to the guys. See video below for more from Shaka.

Following practice, Kenny and Drew took the camera from us to conduct their own interviews...unfortunately, only Kenny hit the record button (see his attempt at conducting an interview following the Shaka clip...

Nov. 13 - MLS in Seattle

We're thinking that if you've found a way to click over here to our blog, you may have already heard that on Tuesday, MLS officially announced that Seattle would join the League as the 15th team starting in 2009. The official name and colors, etc, will be announced at a later date. The team will play at Qwest Field, home of the NFL's Seahawks, using only the lower bowl which fits 24,500 fans.

The team is owned primarily by Hollywood movie studio executive Joe Roth; the other owners are current Sounders managing partner Adrian Hanauer, Vulcan Sports and Entertainment (owned by Paul Allen) - and Cleveland, Ohio native Drew Carey - the host of the Price is Right and a known MLS / US Soccer fan...he wants to have fans vote on the GM (and also have a marching band)...name, colors, logo, etc will be announced at a later date.

While this story may not pertain to FC Dallas at the moment, we thought it news-worthy enough to present here - something that we'll be looking to do more often - bringing other soccer / MLS stories here to see where FCD fans stand on them...and with this one, there's plenty to offer opinions on...

We knew this deal was getting close, especially when we learned that Joe Roth, the majority owner, was coming to the Open Cup semifinal game back in early September, when FCD defeated Seattle to advance to the Open Cup final (arriving, training, and game).

While in Seattle, we took photos that we didn't put up here at the time, so now we have another reason to do so - and revisit one of our trips...We went to the first-ever Starbucks, and also the first-ever Seattle's Best (and counted at least 30 of these two coffee shops in

the downtown area alone - usually within a block of each other)...we stopped at the famous Pike's Market, even saw the fish getting thrown around...we noticed the street performers / vendors, including the cat that gives advice...and of course, as we saw at ever stadium this year, we saw the FCD fans in the stands (including those with signs)...

Nov. 13 - Ruiz and Serioux updates

On Tuesday morning, Carlos underwent successful surgery at Baylor in downtown Dallas to clean up the lateral meniscus in his right knee. Upon arriving at Baylor a little after 6 am for his prep, his minor orthoscopic surgery took place at 7:30 am. We received word from the doctors at 9 am that everything had gone as planned. He'll be in recovery for a few hours longer and then released to go home in the early afternoon.

Adrian will undergo two procedures on Wednesday at the same center. The first to remove a bone spur on the top of his right foot...while there, he'll also have his left knee scoped.

Nov. 12 - Scouting trips begin

After having the weekend off, the guys came in today for the first of three training session this week. For a good chunk of time, the participating players were divided into two teams, each defending three small goals across one sideline, while attempting to score on the three goals along the opposite sideline...Pablo and Dario remained inside, while Adrian was able to participate fully...Carlos will have his surgery on Tuesday morning, thus not joining the Guatemala national team for it's two friendlies next week...we thought we took some great photos of today's session, only to learn now that we forgot to put the memory card back in the camera...

The scouting trips (outside of those down to SMU) also start this week...

On Wednesday morning, Steve will be in Cary, North Carolina - site of the 2007 ACC Men's Soccer Championships. Coach will attend all four quarterfinal matches at the SAS Soccer Complex on Wednesday, getting a chance to look at players from eight teams in one day, including Boston College, Wake Forrest, Duke, Virginia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, Clemson, and either Virginia or North Carolina State.

Later in the week, Marco will be going to Dayton, Ohio for the 2007 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Championships. He'll have a chance to watch St. Louis, Rhode Island, UMass, Dayton, Charlotte, and Fordham.

Nov. 12 - Botero returns to Colombia

Over the weekend, we said goodbye to midfielder Sebastian Botero, who asked for, and was given, permission to return to Colombia to see if he can catch on with another team there. Seba was signed by FCD on August 22, on loan from Colombian-side Independiente Medellin. He did not make any first team appearances with FCD, though played in four Reserve Division games, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win over Toronto on Sept. 9.

Nov. 8 - Final Autograph Session

This morning, the guys came in for their second practice session since last Friday (they were also in on Tuesday)...the regular season may be over, but in a few weeks we'll be leaving for Trinidad and Tobago for a post-season trip - playing two games against two all-star teams made up of players from the TT Pro League...the practices so far have consisted of small-sided games, not too intense, but, as always happens, no team wants to lose - so you have the friendly competition forcing each to stay sharp..

Following Thursday's training, the guys had their last 'team autograph session' of the year in the Verizon Wireless Club...3-4 times a year, the front office holds these sessions to stockpile 'stuff' signed by the players...these items are used throughout the year for multiple reasons...for example, our Community Relations department (and FCD Foundation) receives many requests from various fundraising organizations requesting such donations...

Couple of updates since we last discussed the players...

• All the players are preparing for the Trinidad trip - though not everyone will be traveling...the coaching staff is hoping to be able to chose the traveling party towards the end of next week...
• Adrian's deep thigh/hip/quad bruise will keep him from joining the Canadian National team next week...the team is scheduled to play in South Africa on Nov. 20...he has been limited to rehab this week...
• Carlos will have surgery next week to clean up the damaged meniscus in his right knee (date has not been set yet)...if you recall, he had an MRI after the Seattle game which revealed the minor damage...
• Pablo also sat out of the practices...first, trying to recover from the groin injury...and second - he now has a cast on his right hand, a result of a broken bone he sustained in the Houston game (after the game, while depressed with the result, Pablo couldn't move his right hand...noticing how swollen it was, we asked him if it hurt, and he told us he had forgotten about it...our trainer was quickly made aware of this and attended him...upon returning to Dallas early the next morning, the x-rays confirmed the broken bone just below the thumb part of the hand that connects to the wrist...surgery will not be required)...
• Dario has also stayed in...he sustained a Grade II MCL strain on his right knee early in that game...toward the end of the season, he had been recovering from a slightly strained left knee MCL...no surgery will be required...
• Blake will be going to Germany to have sports hernia surgery in December (Dax went through this procedure last January)...as the case with Ruiz's meniscus, Blake can play through this, but since the two are in between seasons now, the minor surgeries should have them both ready to play again without discomfort in 2008.
• We are also awaiting confirmation on a few FCD players joining two U.S. National teams...the U-20's and U-23's will be holding separate camps in the latter part of the month and in December...
• Next week, the guys will train in the morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (scrimmage)...they'll then have the following week off for Thanksgiving, before regrouping on Nov. 25 for training before the Trinidad games...the team will leave for TnT on Nov. 28..
• Yesterday, Michael Hitchcock and Denilson took part in a video teleconference with media in Trinidad, which also included TT Pro League representatives and Shaka - as they officially launched their push for the upcoming games...Trinidad Express...Trinidad Newsday.

Nov. 6 - Morrow: "Assessment of our season"

FCD Head Coach Steve Morrow..

What a rough weekend! Like most of you, I’m sure, still trying to pull myself up from the huge disappointment of Friday night’s loss in Houston. (My poor wife and kids don’t know what to do with me)! I didn’t get too much of an opportunity to rant and rave after the game (on camera!) so here goes. Plus I’ll give you a brief, but honest, assessment of our season – the positives and negatives, and what I intend to accomplish in the off-season to make this team better and get us where we need to be.

In the days and hours leading up to kick-off (in fact after kick-off too!) anything that could have gone wrong did. Pablo not being fit to start was a blow (I knew ball possession would be vital in Houston). Losing Clarence 2 hrs before kick-off was another blow – he kept Ching very quiet in Game 1 (credit to Alex for stepping in and doing so well though). Losing Dario early in the 1st half was a blow (and a valuable waste of a substitute). Losing Adrian in the 2nd half was another tough loss and enforced the last sub.

The biggest blow of all though was obviously the red card to Arturo (by the way, we don’t blame him in any way for the result. What he did was out of character – I felt for him, he is totally devastated and inconsolable). From that moment in the game, I could see the self-belief and energy just slipping from the players. The way we fought for the remainder of the game made me very proud. Until we went down a man, the game plan we had set out went exactly like we wanted and I had no doubt in my mind that we would win comfortably. But, that’s the playoffs for you! (DC and Chivas were, according to conference standings, the two best teams in MLS…and we know what happened to them).
From the moment we knew we were playing Houston, the thing I wanted to work on most with this team was our mentality. Our message was simple – “our season starts now”, because, let’s face it, results towards the end of the season were inconsistent. Now it was three games to get to a final and the mentality of the team going in was superb. At the end, a little bit of luck deserted us…Is that the whole story though? Not exactly ….

The season as a whole? Let’s be brutally honest, we’re in the business of winning and getting results – something this team has failed to do in recent years – and we’ve fallen at the first hurdle again. Yes, we performed well in SuperLiga. Yes, we got to the final of the Open Cup, and yes, we were a red card away from knocking the existing Champions out of the play-offs in their own stadium. Not quite enough though – yet! I say that because I will not settle for second best. I know we’re on the right road now. I know where we need to improve and the work starts now to make these improvements. I’m realistic –if I can’t do that sufficiently in a reasonable time period – I’ll be the first to admit it.

There are numerous positives to take from the season. We have a great core group of young talent that have made good progress - Clarence, Arturo, Dax, and Ray all had a big year. Abe, Dominic, and Pitch all played significant minutes and continue to improve. Kenny and Drew are young and will only get better. Ricardinho has settled in well, is a huge talent and I believe will have a big year next year. Blake and Wally saw their first taste of MLS and have shown me they have a big future. Dello had his first start and did well. Andrew, Ibee and Chase have all come in, impressed me, and have the ability to do great things next year.

Young talent needs experience to bring it along. Of the “older group” – newcomers Juan and Pablo made a significant impact and were everything I expected them to be. I believe they will be even better next year (and the next few!) now they have settled and know the league. Adrian had an unfortunate start with the knee surgery, but finally regained his best form towards the end. Dario had an up and down year due to bad luck with injuries, and Fish didn’t live up to his own expectations in terms of goals scored – though a great leader and person who I greatly respect. Chris had a tough year, though finished strong, which I was pleased about as he cares deeply about the team – same for Bobby who’s a great leader in the locker room.

The loss of players to long-term injuries was significant – Kenny and Adrian for half a season, as well as Roberto (who I hope can regain his fitness and best form) and Marcelo at an important time. The introduction of our DP Denilson was also significant. This was a deal worth doing – it’s been a tough situation for him and in the time he’s had so far, unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to show the undoubted ability and talent he’s got in terms of production on the field. Trying to find the right role for him in the team, plus other factors such as long-term injuries, loss of form, and players needing a rest, lead to more changes to the line-up and system than I would have liked.

We don’t have completely the right balance on the roster at the moment to settle on a system and fit players into it. At times, it was getting the most out of the talent that we have. The better teams in this League (Houston, New England and D.C) and in the rest of the world have a core group of players who have been together for some time and know their role within the system. Believe me, we will be better equipped next year.

From what I set out to achieve at the start of the year, the one thing that has significantly improved is the chemistry and mentality of this team. We have a group of players who I love working with that are “together” and ready to fight for each other. Clearly our goals against record is a concern and an area that we will be focusing on – not just in terms of the back 4, but defensively as a “team”.

A lot to build on – we are all hurting and disappointed right now. We need to learn from it and move on. I want to create a positive environment around this team. Negativity and criticism are understandable and expected…but usually not beneficial.

Thanks so much for your support this season – let’s rally together and move forward.

Steve

Nov. 4 - Hitch: "Thank you FCD fans"

From GM Michael Hitchcock - written and submitted on the morning of 11/3...

Dear FCD Fans –

It’s the morning after a tough loss to Houston (it's 7am and we're about to leave for the Airport); on behalf of the entire team, allow me to thank all of the FCD Fans and staff who made the Friday afternoon trek to Houston.

To say that your support was amazing and inspirational would be the understatement of the weekend. You represented FCD unbelievably well, and at times, the 400 FCD fans were louder than 28,000 Dynamo fans. You helped inspire the team to fight, and I think everyone will agree that your team left it on the field under very difficult circumstances. It's your support that makes us work as hard as we work to try to create something special.

I'd also like to thank the 300,000 soccer fans who attended FCD games at PHP this year (which is the most in our Franchise history). From preseason, to SuperLiga, to exhibition matches, to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, to the Major League Soccer regular season, to the MLS CUP Playoffs – your support was outstanding.

Our vision is to create the best home field advantage in MLS and for that to happen, we need to fill our beautiful stadium with passionate FCD fans. Thanks to your support, we've created a good foundation to build on – and we're working hard to continue to grow the fan base to realize this vision.

We'll take a couple of days off this weekend, clear our heads...Then get back to work and start working hard on '08. We enter the off-season knowing that we have great supporters who share our passion for FC Dallas and commitment to excellence. And, together, we will be successful!

This off-season, keep checking the blog for all your FCD news and information. You have our commitment to keep you informed. We'll have end-of-year recap blogs, we'll share comments/info about the future of MLS from the upcoming league meetings, will bring you with us through the blog on the postseason trip to Trinidad, and keep you updated as we work on our combine/SuperDraft plans – plus any and all team related news. We'll keep you "in the know" as the best informed fans in MLS.

Thanks again for your support. We look forward to seeing you at Pizza Hut Park in 2008.

Sincerely,
Hitch
General Manager
FC Dallas

PS: If you haven't reserved your '08 Season Seats, call the FCD Front Office at 1-888-FCD-GOAL. You'll have the same great seat for all MLS games, receive great benefits, save money plus we're offering a Monthly Plan-holder Payment plan, which makes season seats start as low as $30 per month.

Nov. 2 - FCD 1, HOU 4, Houston advances 4-2 on aggregate

UPDATED (11:30 pm CT): We'll start by once again thanking the large number of FCD fans that made the game...what a sight to walk out to warm-ups and hear and see the fans, displaying a huge FCD jersey that appeared to fill an entire section behind one of the goals...

We posted some during the game, but we'll clean it up a bit below...

At 4 pm, we first learned that Clarence was feeling sick...we took him to a local medical center to try to get an IV in him to get him fluids...it turned to be too close to kickoff, so Clarence got on the bus with the team...going through incredible traffic, which was anticipated, the team arrived at the stadium at 6:15...Clarence was still not feeling good, so Alex was penciled in to start at center back (Clarence out with a stomach virus)...

Pablo also could not get the pain to go away in his groin...he got a pain-killing shot right before the half, and as you saw he played almost the entire second half and OT...

None of the players thought twice about these injuries - it's happened all year and all year others have been called in to play...they all had confidence in each other...

In the first minute of the game, Dario injured his right knee...he tried to fight through it, but told the coaches at the 20 minute mark that he could not continue...he'll be evaluated further upon return to Frisco...

With the aggregate score tied, and FCD down to 10-men, Adrian is next to fall...he injured his left hip / high thigh contusion, and couldn't go on...Dom came in for Adrian...

A quiet locker room after the game, as can be expected...the guys all had kind words for each other's effort - and they all told each other they win together, and lose together...no blame was passed...

The recap of the game should be posted online soon...we're kind of depressed to throw out stats, etc, so we'll leave this be...the team will depart in the morning for DFW.

Nov. 1 - Travel day

Practice began a little after noon today, the team going through a light session that ended with some set pieces...actually, even after training ended, the guys remained on the field...some taking free kicks, a few different keep away games started, and of course a few juggling contest...at one point, Steve and Oscar said enough - they wanted to make sure the guys went in to eat as the bus was leaving shortly for the airport...20 players, along with the coaches and support staff will be on the 5:30 pm flight....below are some thoughts from Bobby and Arturo...

Nov. 1 - Game Info

Couple notes:
* Thanks to all of you that reserved space on the buses to Houston...unfortunately, the front office buses are full. We encourage those of you still looking to go to Houston to use this forum to find others that are also looking for a way to car-pool to the game.

* Tickets for the FCD Supporter's section at Robertson Stadium cost $15 (on the South side of the stadium in section 231 and 232). Call Joel in Houston at 713.276.7531 in advance to find out if tickets are still available.

* FCD fans will be tailgating in Lot 15 C (north side of stadium, off Homan St.)...enter the stadium through Gate 14.

* Friday's game will shown locally in the DFW area on KFWD Channel 52, on MLSnet.com (subscription), and on the MLS DirectKick Package (subscription through DirecTV, Dish Network, or local cable). It will also be available on Spanish radio (1540 am)...English audio will be available on mlsnet.com...

* Fans that are not traveling to Houston are encouraged to gather at The Londoner in Addison for the official away-game viewing party.

* If you need to contact the front office, we suggest to calling or emailing before 1 pm on Friday as the majority of the office is heading down to Houston...214.705.6700.