On Wednesday, FC Dallas fell 1-0 to Mexican Primera Division club Tigres UANL, and in the process, lost the Rio Grande Plate to their Mexican partner club. On Saturday night in Monterrey, Tigres handed the Hoops a 2-0 defeat and finished the two-game series with a 3-0 victory on aggregate.
But despite the disappointment of losing the trophy, which FCD had held last year in the inaugural season of the series, head coach Steve Morrow still learned plenty about his team in the two games.
"I'm disappointed to lose 1-0 tonight," Morrow said. "I look over both games and we didn't deserve to lose by three goals over both games. I thought that tonight we performed well and dominated the game. But we probably didn't create enough around the goal and had a few chances but probably not enough."
FCD finished the match with 10 shots to Tigres' four but in the end, it was the visitors who left Pizza Hut Park with a 1-0 win thanks to Walter Nicolas Gaitan's unassisted tally in the 76th minute.
"That was the only chance they had in the second half and they took it,' Morrow said. "It was a little similar to the game down there where they didn't have any chances until late in the second half until later on and we ended up losing 2-0."
But the Hoops boss was happy with what he had seen from his younger players as FCD fielded a lineup consisting largely of reserves for both matches.
"I'm very pleased with the effort that a lot of the boys put in and we found out a lot about some of our younger guys as well," he said. "I was certainly pleased with performances from some of the younger guys as well. I think we got a lot out of the two games but am disappointed that we gave up our trophy."
One of those players who caught Morrow's eye was 21-year-old Liberian striker Francis Doe, who is on trial with FCD and started up top Wednesday.
"I thought he did well," Morrow said of Doe's performance. "In the first half, he showed a lot of good things. We know him quite well and have been trying to get him in to take a look at him for some time. He impressed me by some of the stuff that he did. I think he tired a bit in the second half but I was impressed with what I saw with him."
Morrow also lauded attacking midfielder Chase Wileman, who was a fourth-round pick by FCD in the 2007 MLS supplemental draft out of Southern Methodist University and is fighting for a roster spot.
"Chase always impresses me when he comes in," Morrow said. "For the first hour in Monterrey, he did well. He's got good technical ability and showed me a lot of good things. He's fighting hard for a spot and I will make a decision on him very soon. But I like what I see."
FCD did get some bad news when center back Alex Yi left the field in the 69th minute with an injured hamstring. "It looks like he has done something to his hamstring," Morrow said. "We'll assess it [Thursday] but it looks bad -- another injury."
