FRISCO, Texas -- Jeff Cunningham finally received his Budweiser Golden Boot trophy from a prolific 2009 season on Thursday, possibly offering up a bit of inspiration for FC Dallas’ veteran striker to return to his goal-scoring ways.
“You never know what motivates one human being and what motivates another,” Hyndman said after practice on Thursday. “I think it’s something that he’s obviously earned and worked so hard for.
"The timing couldn’t be any better from my point of view, but you never know how each person responds. I think the positive thing is to not only get that Golden Boot physically in his hand, but to see the support from the coaches and players for him.”
The FCD manager admits this has been one of the better weeks of training in a while for Cunningham, who was left out of the starting lineup for a second straight week against Kansas City last Saturday.
“I’ve seen a better week of training in Jeff than I have in the previous 10 weeks,” Hyndman said. “When things don’t go your way, you only have one option – how you respond. I think Jeff has taken a wonderful approach, whether it’s a chip on his shoulder or, ‘I want my position back.’ Whatever it is, he’s had his best week of training this week.”
Nuñez Training With Team
Ex-FCD midfielder Ramón Núñez, fresh off a stint with Honduras at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, trained with FC Dallas on Thursday.
Núñez played for Hyndman at SMU and was with FCD from 2004 to 2007, when he was traded to Chivas USA. Since then, he has played professionally in both Mexico and his native Honduras.
“He called, said he’d been in town for a few days and asked if I mind him coming out to training,” Hyndman said. “Of course, I said come on out. He grew up in Dallas. A lot of people had influence in his career. Played for me at SMU and then came on and played here at FC Dallas. We opened the door for him to come out and train with us.”
Marosevic Also Back
Also returning to FCD was second-year forward Peri Marosevic, the club’s top draft pick in 2009 who has been on loan to D2 Austin. After practice, Marosevic said he was unsure when he was headed back to the Aztex, as his loan was originally intended to be short term.
Shea Reverts to Traditional Look
Midfielder Brek Shea, who had his hair in cornrows for Saturday’s win over the Wizards, is no longer sporting his new look. In an online poll on MLSsoccer.com, fans weighed in and overwhelmingly said it was a bad look for the native Texan. Maybe he read the results of that poll and took heed.
