FC Dallas striker and captain striker Carlos Ruiz, who missed the first two days of training this week tending to personal issues in his native Guatemala, will not start against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night, FCD head coach Steve Morrow said on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, after Ruiz returned to the club and the two spoke, Morrow said Ruiz's absence was not excused and that discipline would be forthcoming for his star forward. That discipline came after training on Thursday when Morrow announced Ruiz will not start against the Wizards.
Ruiz called FCD assistant coach Oscar Pareja on Monday to inform the coaches that he would be unable to make training on either Monday or Tuesday. He returned to the training field on Wednesday and met with the coaches after the conclusion of the morning session.
"If he had called me on Saturday or Sunday, we could have talked through the situation and I would have agreed to let him stay based on the circumstances that he faced down there and had a personal issue," Morrow said. "There's no doubt that he's telling the truth about what went on. The only thing he did wrong was not communicating with me earlier and having that absence excused. If he had done that, we would not have had a problem."
After starting the season with a goal in each of FCD's first two matches, Ruiz now has failed to score in the last four games for the Hoops. The Guatemalan international clearly has been frustrated with a lack of touches and scoring chances near the opposing penalty area. He has gotten a yellow card in each of those matches, and with one more caution he will face suspension.
Part of that can be attributed to poor possession by FCD in a 1-0 loss to New York on April 26 and a lack of chances in the attacking third in a 1-0 defeat to New England just three days later. But after a 3-1 win against Colorado on April 22, Morrow announced that Ruiz had some tightness in his hamstring and was limited a bit. He now appears to be over that ailment.
"I think he knows that he can play better and that his level of play needs to be higher," Morrow said. "Consequently, I don't feel that he's in a position to start for the team on Saturday after missing a couple of days of practice."
Morrow said it's also a matter of treating his captain like everyone else on his roster.
"It's important for me to send a message to the other players about those disciplinary things and that this is one of those issues that I won't stand for," he said. "Carlos is going to get treated like everyone else on that team. He accepts that punishment and it hurts him not to be able to play on Saturday and he'll also be heavily fined as well."
With Ruiz out of the mix for Saturday's match, Morrow has a couple of options up top. He could play Kenny Cooper, who also has two goals but has failed to score in the last four games, at one spot with either Dominic Oduro or Abe Thompson at the other.
Oduro, a speedy second-year forward, has one goal in 2007, a second half stoppage-time tally against Colorado last month. Thompson has played in two games thus far in 2007, without a goal. But the third-year forward out of Maryland finished 2006 on a strong note, starting six of the last seven matches and finishing the year with two goals and six assists, five of those coming in the last eight games.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
