Outside of league play this season, FC Dallas has won the USA/Brazil Challenge with South American partner Clube Atletico Paranaense and taken the Copa El Mexicano against Mexican side Club America, while also capturing the Brimstone Cup for a seventh consecutive season in their regular season series with the Chicago Fire. The Hoops will look to further add to their trophy case on Tuesday when Mexican side Tigres UANL visits Pizza Hut Park for the second leg to decide the Rio Grande Plate.
Tigres won the trophy last year and currently has a 2-1 lead in aggregate after winning Feb. 20 in Monterrey, Mexico. In their last visit to Frisco, they blanked the Hoops 2-0 on July 11, 2007 to secure the trophy for the first time. FCD won the award in 2006, the first year that the clubs squared off.
"I think it's fantastic," said FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman. "I was just talking to the players. This is a great game for us for a few reasons. One, it gives us another opportunity to play and the players want to play. The second thing is that it's great for the Hispanic community to get a chance to see a team they grew up with to give a little bit of legacy to their children. It's another great opportunity for our fans to see us get another game in. It's a huge benefit for us to play them."
FCD just played two days ago when they tied Toronto FC 2-2 on Saturday night and Hyndman's players are itching to get back on the field after that disappointing result.
"They're a very exciting team to play," defender Michael Dello-Russo said. "They bring a lot of talent, attacking talent because it's the Mexican league. It's a great atmosphere when you play there. And when we play here, we get a lot of fans that we don't normally get. It's a really good experience for everybody."
"It's a good team out of a good league," added striker Dominic Oduro. "They play in one of the best leagues in the world. They have a lot of skillful players and are great at attacking and getting forward. The season is almost over and we have a good opportunity to play in our stadium again. I think we're just going in to have fun with the game and see what happens."
While it's unlikely that any starters from Saturday's draw will see much action on Tuesday, especially with a huge league match ahead on Saturday at Real Salt Lake, one player that should is left-sided midfielder Victor Sikora, who has missed six of the last seven matches while recovering from a knee injury. The Dutch international started on Aug. 16 at Columbus and Aug. 23 at Kansas City before being injured early in the second half of that game.
"I have Victor starting tomorrow," Hyndman said. "I think it's a good game to see how he does. We brought Victor in to help our strike force and unfortunately, he got hurt in a game against Kansas City after a good first game on the road in Columbus. He's been out since. I've tried to give him a few minutes here and there but we've been under so much pressure that it's not been appropriate. This is game where I think he can go in there and show us what he's capable of doing."
Still, Hyndman was quick to not label his lineup for Tuesday's friendly as composed entirely of his reserve squad.
"I think what we're trying to do is put a good product on the field and give ourselves an opportunity," he said. "We do have a few players banged up who are going to need some recovery time. The biggest thing for us is to be 100 percent effective with Real. But at the same time, I don't want our fans to think we're not putting out a good quality team. We're taking this game seriously."
This season, FCD is 1-1-0 against Mexican teams. On June 29, they fell 2-1 to Chivas de Guadalajara but followed that up with a 2-1 win against Club America. Since that victory against the Aguilas, the Hoops have gone five consecutive matches without a defeat.
With two regular season games remaining and FCD still in the thick of the race for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, Hyndman is hoping for a similar effect from playing Tigres.
"Every game is an opportunity to springboard," he said. "I don't read a lot into what other teams are doing or this and that. And I don't follow a lot of our stats but I've been reading where we're on a five-game non-losing streak. You look at our record and we're .500 with 11 ties. That's a heck of a lot of ties. We're a team that I think is playing it's best soccer right now. We need to keep finding ways to motivate ourselves.
"I think these next two games are going to be huge for us," Hyndman continued. "This game against Tigres is another opportunity for our players. We lost Andre (Rocha) for Real. So, this is a great opportunity for somebody to show that they believe they belong on the field. I'm excited for this and we hope that it continues to be a springboard."
In five matches with Tigres, FCD has been outscored 8-3. Their goal in the match in Monterrey earlier this year was the Hoops' first in the series since June 19, 2006.
No matter if it's a friendly or league match, FCD's overall goal remains the same.
"We're going in to win," Oduro said. "We're playing at home and the least we could do is win. Our main focus is to win but at the same time, this is a friendly game and we want to have fun."
Added Dello-Russo: "Definitely, any win is a win. Every time we go out on the field, we want to win. It doesn't matter who we're playing or who plays for us, that's how we look at it. If this can help our team get forward that would be great."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
