FRISCO, Texas – In the words of many in the FC Dallas organization, the MLS Cup has been their top priority since the 2015 season began.
But with an opportunity to win the franchise’s first ever Supporters’ Shield, coaches and players are both chomping at the bit to prove their place as 2015’s best in the regular season.
“The Supporters’ Shield says a lot about the whole program,” head coach Oscar Pareja told MLSSoccer.com. “You may have gotten into the playoffs as the last seed and can win it with a good couple of games – that says a lot too if you win it – but the Supporters’ Shield has a different meaning. It means a whole year of work and getting through ups and downs. And at the end of the day, you’re there and are the best. That to me means much more in many other aspects.”
Dallas do not control their own destiny heading into Sunday’s #DecisionDay bout with San Jose (7 pm ET; ESPN3), and they won’t know whether a win will clinch it, either. The kickoff time for the New York Red Bulls, who are tied on points with Dallas but hold the tiebreaker, and Chicago Fire game was pushed back to the later time slot of the two simultaneous kickoff windows.
While some players said it would have been nice knowing the New York result, playing at the same time now hasn’t affected their game plan.
“It’s exciting for the fans,” defender Zach Loyd told MLSSoccer.com. “It makes Decision Day a little bigger and more important. As a player, you kind of want to see them play before so you can see the results. But either way, we’re going into that game the same way. We want to get a win and finish strong at home, especially going into the playoffs. We don’t want to limp in. We want to go in with a bang.”
Added midfielder Victor Ulloa: “We’re so close, but we can only control our end. So we’re going to go out there with everything.”
With the added excitement of simultaneous kickoffs on #DecisionDay, it provides Dallas with the unique challenge of focusing on the task at hand while in the back of their minds knowing another team holds the keys to their Shield fate.
Pareja said he has addressed this with his team.
“We cannot have our minds in two places,” Pareja said. “We need to do our jobs first. We can’t control what’s happening in Chicago. That’s their game. We have to take care of our game here.”
His players have received the message, loud and clear.
“Our mentality going into the game isn’t going to be focused on what New York is doing because no matter what we have to win,” Loyd said. “Going in with that mentality, we’re not going to be sitting there thinking, ‘Hey what’s New York doing?’”
Pareja also said he believes later Red Bulls’ game is fair, forcing his team to play yet another meaningful game down a pressure-packed stretch run.
And regardless of the Red Bulls’ outcome in Chicago, Pareja cherishes the opportunity to accomplish a franchise-first in front of its home fans at Toyota Stadium.
“It’s fantastic to have the opportunity in the last home game of the season to give a trophy to the club,” Pareja said. “It’s well-deserved by this group of players for sure and the coaching staff that’s worked the whole year with those objectives.”
