FRISCO, Texas — After Fabián Castillo hit his team for yet another man-of-the-match performance on Saturday night, Colorado Rapids head coach Oscar Pareja was left with one tongue-in-cheek thought about the young Colombian he was instrumental in bringing to Texas.
“We shouldn’t have brought him here,” the former FCD assistant said.
HIGHLIGHTS: DAL 3, COL 2
For the second straight game against Colorado, Castillo turned around an FC Dallas deficit with a goal and an assist, sparking the team to victory.
“He’s maturing into the player we all hoped he would be,” Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman said after the game. “He’s got tremendous speed, quickness and he’s creating some really, really dangerous situations.”
Indeed, Castillo is quickly turning into a Rapids-killer on par with former players like Jason Kreis and Dante Washington. Half of Castillo’s six career assists have come against Colorado, while two of his five career goals have come against the Rocky Mountain side.
According to Hyndman, favorable matchups with the Rapids defense have been a big part of why the Colombian is so successful against their Western Conference rivals.
“I think it was a good matchup for him whether he’s playing against [Luis] Zapata or [Hunter] Freeman,” Hyndman said. “Those two players don’t have the pace to stay with him or the experience [playing against him] in the league.”
While Castillo’s goal late in the first half tied things up, the Colombian was most pleased with the fact that he had the assist on fellow countryman David Ferreira’s game-winning goal, his first in 16 months.
“I’m very happy to be the one to supply the pass for David to score his goal and it’s the same thing that happened last season, too,” Castillo said. “Usually it’s David setting us up to score, so it’s great to set him up for one.”
