Last weekend, FC Dallas beat the Colorado Rapids 2-1 in the first leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series in Denver. The return match is on Saturday evening at Pizza Hut Park (7:30 p.m. CT) and the Hoops have one thing on their mind -- dispatching the Rapids and winning a playoff series against their West rivals for the first time.
"We're up 1-0 and have 90 minutes to go," said FCD head coach Colin Clarke. "We won't sit back. We have to attack them and get the first goal, because it will be important. We've played well at home all year and need to continue that. We need to be positive."
Last weekend, FCD took a quick 15th-minute lead through a goal by Carlos Ruiz, who is the all-time leading scorer in league playoff history. An unassisted tally by Colorado's Terry Cooke leveled the match in the 23rd minute. But Ruiz's strike partner, Abe Thompson, who was making his postseason debut, scored his first career playoff goal in the 55th minute off a great feed from midfielder Ronnie O'Brien and that proved to be the deciding blow.
There was some added drama in the 88th minute when Rapids striker Thiago Martins was sent off for a hard foul on FCD center back Clarence Goodson. Martins hit Goodson with a hard elbow in the ribcage and will be unavailable for selection this weekend.
FCD is in a much better spot than they were heading into the second leg a year ago. Then, the Hoops and Rapids played to a scoreless draw in the Mile High City and Colorado came into Pizza Hut Park and got another draw over 120 minutes and proceeded to advance on penalty kicks.
Even though FCD holds a one-goal edge after one game, they know the Rapids will not go quietly.
"They're going to come in here and push a lot of guys forward," said left back Chris Gbandi, who earlier in the week was named FCD's Defender of the Year. "It's going to be difficult. We feel like if they're going to do that, then, we can get them on the counterattack, especially at home. We have guys here that can finish and put pressure on teams. It's going to be a tough game. We have to start from scratch and play very well to get a victory."
Any thoughts of his team looking ahead to the winner of the other West semifinal between Houston Dynamo and Chivas USA were quickly put to rest by Clarke.
"We're not looking to them," he said. "We have a big job to do Saturday. It's important. They're going to come in here confident. They went up 1-0 on us here last year. That first goal is going to be very important. We have a lot of work to do over 90 minutes. It's not going to be any easier than it was on Saturday. It's probably going to be a little bit more difficult."
Ruiz suffered a strained right quadriceps muscle in training on Wednesday. That injury forced him to miss Thursday's practice and he will also sit out training on Friday as well, meaning Clarke might very well have to make a gametime decision on the Guatemalan striker. The FCD boss said after training Thursday that he was hopeful that Ruiz would be ready.
Should "El Pescadito" not be able to go, FCD will have to shuffle their lineup a bit. Thompson will start at one forward spot, but the second spot could go to Kenny Cooper, second on the team with 11 goals in the regular season, or Ecuadorian forward Roberto Mina could get his first start since July 4.
Mina injured his knee on July 8 and made his return to the 18-man roster last weekend in Denver, but did not play. Clarke has enough faith in the talented forward to put him on his game roster, but it's still unknown if he could last the entire 90 minutes, if necessary.
In the midfield, the Hoops lineup could see some changes as well. O'Brien will start on the right and if Ruiz is able to go, Cooper will play on the left. But if he has to move up top, fellow Dallas native Ramon Nunez could take his spot. The central midfield will be anchored by veterans Richard Mulrooney and Simo Valakari.
One place without any questions is in the back. Gbandi will play on the left side and Bobby Rhine on the right with the center spots being held by Drew Moor and Greg Vanney. In goal for the second consecutive week will likely be Dario Sala, who was sensational in his playoff debut last weekend.
The Argentine 'keeper had not played since suffering a strained right calf in a 3-2 loss at Real Salt Lake on Sept. 23, but showed no signs of rust in his return to the field.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
