MLS: FC Dallas 0-0 Seattle Sounders – reactions
FC Dallas (3-0-1, 10 points) was forced to play down a man for 73 minutes of the match, but still managed to keep the visiting Seattle Sounders FC (1-1-1, 4 points) off the scoreboard in a gritty, 0-0, draw in front of 18,333 fans tonight at Toyota Stadium.
FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja
Overall thoughts on the match…
It was a colorful game. There were a lot of things that still belong to the game that are frustrating, especially when you see your team playing the way they did and the way we were going in the half. After the red card, the boys showed one more time what they are made of and what we are doing here. That’s what I want to recognize today. Tactically we were phenomenal. We keep moving on. We keep moving forward. Obviously we wanted to gift our fans the three points tonight but they found something else. They found character. They found a team that is fighting for this franchise and for the fans. That sometimes is victory.
On the crowd recognition Ryan Hollingshead received when he exited the game…
One thing I recognized 16 years ago when I came to this country was that, in America, we come and work. The honesty and integrity to work hard first for a team is a must-have in a teammate. That recognition is high for the fans and my players know it. I know [the fans] saw an organized team that tried to win the game – they didn’t sit back. They tried to win the game. The recognition today was for that character and hard work. I have to say, I am very proud of what the boys have done today.
On Seattle’s second-half scoring opportunities…
It would be very unfair if I pretended playing with 10 [players] for three-quarters of the game, we would not give away one or two chances. It’s almost impossible not to.
Seattle Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid
On tonight’s game…
Obviously, I’m pleased we played to zero at the back. A lot of people think with a man advantage maybe you should get more out of the game, but the way Dallas plays, playing a man down doesn’t impact their game because they play for free kicks and they play a lot of long passes through to (Fabian) Castillo and try to run, so having one less man doesn’t affect how they play. I thought we did a good job on Castillo tonight. I thought we had three really good chances in the second half. We need to score one of those three. If we score one of those three then we’re walking away with three points tonight.
His expectations for tonight’s game with so many players out…
To win the game. Expectations are always that we’ll win the game. We have a lot of confidence in our young players, (Christian) Roldan gets his first start tonight, (Aaron) Kovar gets minutes off the bench, first game for Victor (Mansaray), first game for Oneil (Fisher), and I thought the guys did really well. Victor almost got the assist on the goal.
On his team’s defensive performance…
I thought they played well. I thought they were good. I thought they were conscientious about making sure they doubled when Castillo had the ball. I thought Tyrone Mears did a good job for us, defensively. Zach Scott stepped in and played very well. For Brad (Evans) it was a big game because of the fact that he lays the blame on himself for the other game, but it shows his character and what he’s all about.
