FRISCO, Tex. - With three weeks until their next league match, FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman wanted his team to head to the World Cup break on a high note.
Hyndman got his wish after FCD’s 2-0 win over San Jose on Saturday, giving his club a much-needed talking point before they return to action on June 26 against Chivas USA.
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“I thought it was a very good performance on our part,” Hyndman said. “We know that the heat took a little bit out of them, but we also raised our tempo and our play and wanted to have them run with us.”
Brek Shea scored two goals and Heath Pearce played a part in both, but Hyndman was quick to praise the pesky play of David Ferreira, who set up Shea’s goal in the 58th minute by skirting the San Jose defense to the end line.
Part of the reason why Ferreira was so effective was that he was able to play higher up the field, something that hasn’t been the case in FCD’s last few games.
“I thought (Ferreira) played very well tonight. One of the things he did very well was he stayed up higher,” Hyndman said. “He really did an excellent job holding up.”
Other than Pearce starting for the first time since not being among the 23 players chosen for the US national team, Hyndman made one other change to his starting lineup.
Bruno Guarda started at the linking midfield spot as Dax McCarty rested with a left hip pointer. Guarda came out at the break for Eric Avila, but Hyndman maintains it wasn’t for a lack of performance on his part.
“I got a lot from Bruno,” he said. “I thought Bruno did well. My game plan was to take the game to them and set the pace. I said to Bruno, ‘if we can get 50-60 minutes from you, we’ll be very happy.’”
Not more than 10 minutes after Avila entered the proceedings, he nearly scored off a shot from distance in the 55th minute.
“I thought he (Avila) did a good job because his touches were more penetrating,” Hyndman said. “There was a span of 12 minutes where we kept the ball and moved the ball. He was a big part of getting those touches.”
Saturday’s two-goal performance marked the first time in six games that FCD has scored more than one goal.
“Going into the break with the win feels good. Hopefully we can come back, get a few wins after and be in the mix of things,” defender George John said.
