FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids meet Wednesday night in Denver in a matchup of two Western Conference teams who have struggled of late. The Hoops come in on a three-game losing streak and also having not scored in 270 minutes while the Rapids lost their last time out, their third loss in their last five contests.
On Sunday, the Hoops lost 1-0 at Kansas City with the Wizards getting their lone goal in the 62nd minute from Scott Sealy after a deflection off an FCD defender landed at his feet. It was their third consecutive loss since the All-Star break.
Colorado comes off a 1-0 loss at Chicago on Saturday. They surrendered their only goal in the 12th minute as Fire rookie defender Dasan Robinson scored his first career MLS goal off a Chris Armas corner kick. Just a week before, the Rapids had played D.C. United to a 1-1 tie in the nation's capital.
FCD head coach Colin Clarke knows his team will be energetic and ready to play against their Western Conference foe on Wednesday. "I know we'll go into the game tomorrow night with plenty of energy, move it and pass it," he said Tuesday. "Now, we just need to find that goal."
The sides have met three times so far this year with FCD holding a 2-0-1 advantage. On April 15, they played to a 2-2 draw in the Mile High City while both of the Hoops wins have come in Frisco, a 1-0 decision on June 24 and a 4-1 victory on July 29 that closed out of the first half of the season.
But the Rapids are a totally different team at home, as they hold a 8-2-3 mark on their home field compared to a 1-7-2 record away from Denver. Colorado has scored 20 goals at home, allowing only 15 while they have only scored eight times away from home and allowed 20 in their 10 road contests to date.
Clarke's players know what a challenge it can be to play in the Rocky Mountain State.
"With the altitude, it is a tough place to go and play," said midfielder and captain Simo Valakari. "Lately, we have won against them but you never know how they're going to play on any given day or who they're going to bring on."
Valakari added that their focus is on righting their own ship, not on their next foe. "At the moment, we're not concerned with anybody else, just on what's happening inside our locker room and how we play as a team on the field," he said.
Defenders Chris Gbandi and Drew Moor know FCD is up to the challenge.
"We're going though a bad stretch right now and Colorado is a team in our division," Gbandi said. "We have more incentive to go out and get at least one point, but hopefully three points. We all know this is a big game for us. We want to get a win and then come back home because we haven't been home in a while."
Moor agreed. "It's a good test for us," he said. "They're playing well right now, especially at home. It's always a tough place to go and play. It's a great opportunity for us to turn things around a little bit here as we end this road trip. We have to stay together and our character will get us out of this little funk right now."
FCD did win 3-1 in Colorado on June 25, 2005 but prior to that, the Hoops hadn't won there since June 16, 2001, when they beat the Rapids 6-3. All-time, FCD is only 5-10-4 on the Rapids home field.
More good news for the Hoops is that virtually the entire roster is healthy. An MRI on all-star midfielder Ronnie O'Brien's hamstring was negative and he started in Sunday's 1-0 loss at Kansas City.
The only injury of note is midfielder Marcelo Saragosa, whom FCD acquired in early July. He continues to be bothered by tendonitis in his left Achilles and will not travel with the team for the second game running.
Hoops forward Kenny Cooper emphasized that despite their current struggles, he and his teammates have never lost faith in themselves.
"We haven't had the best run of results lately, but we're looking forward to this opportunity, going against Colorado," Cooper said. "They're a good team. I don't think we've lost faith in ourselves. We've had a great record so far this year. We know we can still score goals and just have to do better."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
