FRISCO, Texas- FC Dallas had plenty of words to describe their stunning 4-1 home defeat to the cellar-dwelling Sporting Kansas City, but one in particular was left ringing the loudest:
Embarrassing.
"As a team we can’t have these types of performances very often," head coach Schellas Hyndman said. "I think we are a much better team than what we showed today. I think it’s an embarrassing moment for the coaches and for the players.”
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FCD came out of the locker room for the second half tied at one, but Sporting midfielder Graham Zusi and his supporting cast squelched the team's hopes by scoring early and often after the restart.
“In sports sometimes you have players that are off, but I thought we had too many players that were off today,” Hyndman said. “A winning culture is a culture fighting for every ball, and we didn’t have that today.”
Zusi’s blast from 45-plus yards in the 55th minute put the visitors up 3-1, but it also seemed to take the wind out of Dallas' sails.
“I thought they really kind of handed it to us today, to be honest,” said goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. “I think it was a poor representation of who we are as a group.”
FCD’s nine-game unbeaten streak — stretching back to their April 17 loss at JELD-WEN Field to the Portland Timbers — has come to an end. And according to Hyndman, he could see it in his players' eyes even before the game.
“They looked tired before the game started,” Hyndman said. “I think it's just one of those days. You can’t really put anything on it. If they all went to the same restaurant, maybe it was the food.”
The weather, near 100 degrees for most of the evening, was not a factor as Sporting had to play under the same conditions. The problem was the team that had once adopted Hyndman’s "winning culture" concept was nowhere to be seen on the evening.
Issues that troubled Dallas earlier in the season resurfaced Sunday. There was disconnection in passes, miscommunication, stagnation — and a slow start.
However, though Dallas performed poorly, Hyndman was quick to applaud Sporting’s effort.
“Give credit to Kansas City," Hyndman said. "They’re a team that was desperate and hadn’t gotten good results this year. They came in here with missing players and they came in here and really frustrated us.”
