On a bitterly cold night in north Texas where temperatures were in the 40s at game time and dipped into the upper 30s as the match wore on, FC Dallas played their last preseason match before heading to Brazil, finishing in a scoreless draw Tuesday with Southern Methodist University at Pizza Hut Park.
FCD controlled the run of play for most of the evening but was unable to convert any of their scoring chances into goals. Besides the cold, players and fans also had to contend with sprinklers that came on late in the opening half, making the cold temperatures even more frigid. Once the sprinklers on the field also activated, the opening half was cut short by several minutes.
"I thought it was a good game," said FCD head coach Steve Morrow. "It was a very competitive game and always is against SMU. They raise their level when they come out here and give us a good, competitive game. I thought for the first half, we controlled the game for the first 30 minutes and created some chances. The only thing that was missing for us was a couple of goals. There were a lot of pleasing things and it was a good workout."
FCD had several great chances in the first half. The first came in the 20th minute when Brazilian midfielder Andre Rocha sent a rocket from about 20 yards out but SMU goalkeeper Craig Hill was there to make a great save to keep the ball out of the upper left corner of the net. Rocha was very active over the opening 45 minutes.
"I thought he did well," Morrow said of Rocha. "He's starting to settle in and we're starting to see his qualities. He has great range, great fitness and gets around the field well. I would like to see him get forward a little more as well. He's a good passer, works very hard and is a very honest player as well."
FCD's other great chance of the opening half came in the 28th minute. Forward Arturo Alvarez, who earlier in the day learned he would be heading to camp with the U.S. under-23 team prior to Olympic qualifying, hit a free kick from 28 yards that bent toward the goal but went wide left by mere inches.
In the second half, FCD forward Roberto Mina also had several chances. In the 50th minute, he found some room on the left flank and got off a point-blank shot but Mustangs 'keeper Jonathan Lester made the stop. And one minute later, Mina got off another shot, this one from the left side but didn't get much on it and Lester came up with the easy save.
"He (Mina) had one or two chances," Morrow said. "He could've done better with a couple of situations but he did OK."
And in the 80th minute, FCD midfielder Michael Dello-Russo had a great opportunity inside the SMU box but his effort went high over the goal.
"We had our chances for sure," Morrow said. "I think we were solid in the back. They didn't have too many shots on goal and it was a good display defensively. We had enough shots but didn't take them."
For the second straight game, Morrow employed a 4-3-3 formation. Alvarez started up top alongside Kenny Cooper and Ricardinho. The midfield featured David Wagenfuhr on the left, Rocha and Marcelo Saragosa in the middle with Dax McCarty on the right flank. In the back, it was Adrian Serioux on the left, Duilio Davino in the middle and Moor on the right. Ray Burse started in goal.
At the break, Mina came on for Alvarez and Pablo Ricchetti, who was making his preseason debut, entered for Rocha. Later in the half, Morrow replaced the rest of his starting 11.
"I feel good," Ricchetti said. "I need more games but for right now, I feel OK. There's not too much to say. The field wasn't good and it was too cold. It was good for us to play a little bit but we need more days and more work. I need more games and more minutes but I'm OK."
Still despite the draw, Moor likes where the club's focus is at with them heading to South America in a few days time for a two-week trip.
"We have a very positive mindset," Moor said. "It's a very different team from last year but I like it. We have no big-name players or big-name egos. It's just 28 players working hard and looking to get into the starting 11, which creates a great atmosphere. It should prove to serve us well in Brazil."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
