FRISCO, Texas -- A come-from-behind win seems to be common these days in the Metroplex.
FC Dallas fell behind early to New England on Saturday night, by means of a Lee Nguyen penalty kick. But they gathered themselves enough in a six-minute span in the second half to win their home opener 2-1.
āWe donāt want to make it a habit, for sure. Itās not something weāre trying to do,ā said defender Walker Zimmerman, of trailing games early. āIt does show the character and resiliency of our team to find ourselves in these bad spots and get out of them.ā
Just three days prior, FC Dallas trailed Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions League semi-final, dropping a goal in only the third minute, before ultimately coming out ahead 2-1. In similar fashion, FCD came out flat against the Revs, not even registering a single shot on target in the first half.
āWe do have to eliminate those early mistakes ā goals in the first ten minutes. We canāt afford to do that,ā Zimmerman said. āThen itās an uphill battle the whole game.ā
Head coach Oscar Pareja could have elected to use the same strategy he used last week in Kansas City. Knowing his squad had three games in seven days, he ran mostly reserves onto the pitch a week ago, with the usual suspects playing in a crucial CCL semi-final.
But Pareja left the same lineup ā for the most part ā on the field that he used in Wednesday nightās CCL match.
āTheyāre ready and theyāre fit. They did a tremendous preparation,ā Pareja said, shrugging off the idea of playing fatigued. āI saw them in Argentina playing seven games in a week. I saw them suffering every single morning tired and sore and needing to play against teamās first teams. And I saw them reacting well.
āThey know theyāre capable to do it. The professionalism of this group is remarkable. Iām confident.ā
Pareja also emphasized the importance of the home opener, where they raised both a 2016 USOC and 2016 Supporterās Shield banner for fans. By coming back and winning in āFortress Frisco,ā FC Dallas kept a handful of Dallas streaks going. The team hasnāt lost a home opener since 2009, and still hasnāt lost to New England since September 10, 2011. They also extended a lengthy home unbeaten streak, with their last loss at Toyota Stadium coming in August of 2015.
āIt was one of those familiar nights with our team where we have to come back from moments that are difficult,ā Pareja said. āAnd one more time, I wonāt get tired to say that the character of this team surprises me more and more.ā