FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas head coach Steve Morrow today officially named forward Carlos Ruiz as the 2007 FC Dallas captain:
"I thought that this was a very important decision and one that I thought long and hard about," said Morrow. "The important thing for me is to have a guy that everyone on the team respects, the coaches' respect, and he has that respect around the league as well. Carlos has great qualities, both on the field and off it; qualities that people probably don't know about. He's good in the locker room and great with the young kids. I really felt it was important to have a guy that can give me the qualities that I'm looking for both on and off the field and I know that Carlos can do a great job in both of those departments."
Ruiz is entering his third season with FC Dallas, and his six in Major League Soccer. Known simply as "Fish" to his teammates, he was traded to FC Dallas in March 2005 from the Los Angeles Galaxy. Since entering MLS in 2002, Ruiz has scored 89 regular season and playoff goals combined, which is more than any other player during that span. He is the all-time MLS leader with 15 career playoff goals scored.
On Saturday, April 7, Ruiz will guide FCD in the 2007 season opener at Real Salt Lake, in a game televised locally on FSN Southwest at 5 p.m. CT.
