Real Salt Lake will visit Texas to take on FC Dallas at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday evening and will bring former Dallas Burn star Jason Kreis with them. The much-anticipated match at the Cotton Bowl will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature the homecoming of Kreis. His last match with Dallas came at the Cotton Bowl on Oct. 16 versus the San Jose Earthquakes.
Kreis has scored one goal in three matches with Real Salt Lake this season and is MLS' all-time leading goal scorer with 92 career goals. He broke the MLS goal record with his 89th career tally with Dallas on June 26, 2004 vs. DC United. The 5-8, 155-pound forward also ranks first on the FC Dallas all-time list in games played (247), goals (91), assists (65), shots (686) and shots on goal (313). He was originally acquired by Dallas as a fifth round (43rd overall) draft pick in the 1996 MLS Draft. Not a bad resume for somebody who was drafted behind 42 other players. Kreis served as the team's captain in 2004 and helped bring and market professional soccer to the Dallas market for the first nine seasons of the team's existence.
The FC Dallas weekly radio show with English radio play-by-play announcer Ray Canevari will feature Kreis this Thursday. "FC Dallas Weekly" airs every Thursday from 6 - 7 p.m. on KFCD. This week, Canevari is also scheduled to have interviews with head coach Colin Clarke and Walter Bahr. Bahr is one of the original players from the team featured in the movie "The Game of Their Lives." "The Game of Their Lives", made by the team behind "Hoosiers" and "Rudy," tells the story of the U.S. team's upset victory over England in the 1950 World Cup.
The meeting between FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake should prove to be a meaningful one. Not only does Jason Kreis return to where he made so many memories for the Dallas soccer fans, but the two top teams in the Western Conference will battle it out. After defeating Chivas USA on Saturday evening by a 3-1 score, FC Dallas improved their MLS-best record to 2-0-1. The seven points the team has earned through the first three matches is an MLS high, with Columbus in second with six points (2-1-0). Also, the +3 goal margin by FC Dallas is tied for the best in the league. The team has outscored their opponents by a 5-2 margin, as has New England through their first two matches (1-0-1).
The seven out of a possible nine points to start the season ties for the best start in the team's 10-year history. Although the team did begin the 1998 regular season with a 3-0 record, two of their wins came in shootout form and Dallas was only awarded one point for those two wins. They had five of a possible nine points to begin the season.
Real Salt Lake, one of the two new expansion teams in Major League Soccer this season, come into the Cotton Bowl in second place in the Western Conference with a 1-1-1 mark for four points just behind FC Dallas.
