PORTLAND ā Life doesnāt always stop for a soccer game.
FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja and his team know that all too well now, with the tragic news breaking on Thursday that Parejaās mother, Martha, had passed away in Colombia just days before the team's Western Conference Championship match against the Portland Timbers.
Dallas players offered their condolences to their coach during training at Providence Park on Saturday evening, and hoped that the tragic turn of events would help the team rally around their coach as they look to make another stride in the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs.
āWe want to give him a result, give him something to bring his mood up a little bit,ā FCD defender Walker Zimmerman told MLSsoccer.com at Dallas training on Saturday evening. āWeāre family here ā we mourn with those who mourn, we rejoice with those who rejoice and thatās just what weāre going to do tomorrow.ā
Said midfielder Victor Ulloa: āItās definitely a sad moment for us, but weāll take that as motivation and this game will be for her.ā
Pareja left the team to be with his family in Colombia after news of his motherās passing broke, leaving his assistant to guide the team through their final preparations. He will arrive in Portland late on Saturday night and take the bench for Sunday's game (7:30 pm ET; FS1, FOX Deportes, TSN5).
āItās tough for him and weāre obviously all close to him because heās been a great coach to us and he always treats us well,ā said Dallas forward Tesho Akindele. āWe feel for him, but we have a job to do at the end of the day and he knows that, too, so I think when he comes back heāll just be focused and we all kind of want to get the result for him.ā
Pareja also received an unprompted message of support from his opposite number, Timbers head coach Caleb Porter, after his team's training session on Friday.
āMy thoughts and prayers go out to Oscar and his mother and the passing,ā Porter said. āIām really sorry for his loss and certainly thatās going to inspire his group even more.ā