FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas will return to Dallas from Los Angeles on Monday, August 21, taking a morning flight out of LAX that has them arriving at DFW at 2:30 p.m. The reserves will be at training on Monday morning, while the full team will get one day to prepare for their next game - the Quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against Houston Dynamo. Upon returning from Houston, FCD train twice before departing for Kansas City, where they'll face the Wizards in a regular season game on Sunday, August 27.
SCHEDULE:
Monday, Aug. 21: Reserves Training - 9:30 a.m. CT at Pizza Hut Park
Tuesday, Aug. 22: Full Team Training - 10:30 a.m. CT at Pizza Hut Park
Depart to Houston by Coach in the afternoon.
Wednesday, Aug. 23: U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals - FC Dallas at Houston Dynamo - 8:00 p.m. CT
Carl Lewis Field, University of Houston
Thursday, Aug. 24: Reserves Training - 9:30 a.m. CT at Pizza Hut Park
Friday, Aug. 25: Full team training - 9:30 a.m. CT at Pizza Hut Park
Saturday, Aug. 26: Full team training - 9:30 a.m. CT at Pizza Hut Park
Depart for Kansas City in the afternoon.
Sunday, Aug. 27: FC Dallas at Kansas City Wizards - Arrowhead Stadium - 7:30 p.m.
- Schedule is subject to change. All times Central.
NOTES:
- FCD is in the midst of a five game road swing, all during the month of August. So far, the team has started 0-2-0 with losses at Houston and Los Angeles. Dallas is 3-5-2 on the road in regular season play.
- With the game on Sunday at LA, FCD began a stretch of five games in 14 days, concluding with a home game on September 2 against Houston.
- Should FCD win on Wednesday, they will host the U.S. Open Cup semifinals on September 6 at Pizza Hut Park, playing the winner of the Colorado Rapids versus Los Angeles Galaxy quarterfinal. In that case, the team would be scheduled to play nine games over the next 28 days, playing weekend and midweek games from now to September 16 before getting a full week between games.
- FCD and Houston have already played three times this season in regular season play, with Dynamo winning twice in Houston and the teams tying at Pizza Hut Park.
- Wednesday will be FCD's third knockout game of the year. On July 26, FCD won the Rio Grande Plate with a penalty kick win at Tigres in Monterrey, Mexico. Then on August 2, FCD defeated the Charleston Battery in the 4th Round of the Open Cup, also on penalty kicks after drawing 3-3 through 120 minutes.
- Dallas has advanced to the Semifinals of the Open Cup in five of the ten seasons they have played in the tournament. Last year, FCD defeated D.C. United on penalty kicks after tying 1-1 through overtime to advance to the Semifinals.
- Following the weekend, only ten points separates FCD from the fifth place Real Salt Lake team, though still four poinst ahead of second place Houston. The top four teams in each Conference at the end of the regular season advance to the MLS Cup playoffs. Click here for the complete standings: http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/standings/.
The U.S. Open Cup is recognized as U.S. Soccer's National Championship, and is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money broken down as follows: $100,000 to the champion and $50,000 to the runner up. with $10,000 going to the team from the lowest division that advances the furthest.
