DALLAS, Texas - FC Dallas Interim General Manager John Alper announced today that the club has added veteran Argentine goalkeeper Darío Sala and Canadian Under-23 National Team defender Winston Marshall to the roster. Sala will occupy the fourth Senior International slot on the FC Dallas roster, a spot that was opened up when Ronnie O'Brien officially received his Green Card in late July. Both players will be eligible to take the field for Colin Clarke's side upon the receipt of their international documents which include their visas and an international transfer clearance for Sala. Per league and team policy, specific terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Sala comes to FCD after spending the last seven years playing professionally in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. While in his native Argentina, the 30-year old Sala plied his trade for Primera Division teams River Plate, Independiente, Newell's Old Boys and most recently, Arsenal. He has also spent time with Deportivo Cali of Colombia and Jugares de Chiapas of Mexico. He will occupy the fourth Senior International slot on the FC Dallas roster, a spot that was opened up when Ronnie O'Brien officially received his Green Card in late July.
Marshall who was selected by the Hoops in the third round of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft and will be placed on the team's Developmental Roster as a Youth International, joins the Hoops after playing four years at Wright State University. He finished his career with the Raiders with 13 goals and 10 assists and was named to the all-Horizon League Second Team twice. The Scarborough, Ontario native is also permanent fixture in the Canadian Under-23 National Team. He played all five matches for Canada at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championships and also appeared for the National Team in a pair of Olympic qualifying matches.
In order to make room on the roster for both Marshall and Sala, FC Dallas was forced to place midfielder Ty Maurin and midfielder/forward Alex Woods on waivers.
Maurin was in his second season with FCD after being selected in the third round of the 2004 SuperDraft out of UCLA. After not playing in any games a year ago, Maurin made his MLS debut on April 23 against Real Salt Lake, replacing Carey Talley in the 85th minute. He went onto to play in a total of 17 minutes in three games for the Hoops, in addition to starting seven FC Dallas Reserve games in which he collected a goal and two assists.
Woods joined the team on April 25 after being a four-year star at Trinity College in San Antonio. As a junior in 2003, Woods had 13 goals, including one in the National Championship game, and 10 assists as he helped lead Trinity to a perfect 24-0 record and the NCAA Division III National Championship. He appeared in all eight FC Dallas reserve games, scoring one goal, but did not see any action with the first team.
Marshall, Sala and the rest of their new FC Dallas teammates will be back in action on Sunday afternoon when they host Real Salt Lake at Pizza Hut Park. This game will be televised live on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. That game will be preceded by a NASL Reunion Game at 11 a.m., and followed by the Reserve Division game between the FC Dallas Reserves and the Real Salt Lake Reserves. Tickets for this game and all other FC Dallas home games are on sale now. Call 1-888-FCD-GOAL or visit www.fcdallas.net for tickets or more information.
