FC Dallas are making good use of their weekend off ahead of the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal series at Pachuca on Tuesday (10 pm ET).
Dallas, who were initially scheduled to play at Colorado on Saturday but moved their match against the Rapids to October to better prepare for the CCL, traveled on Wednesday to Mexico to get a jump on training ahead of Tuesdayās contest.
Dallas will train in Puebla, Mexico for the next few days before traveling about 100 miles north to Pachuca on Monday. The clubās motivation for heading south of the border so far in advance of Tuesdayās matchup was twofold ā itāll allow the team to acclimatize to the high elevation theyāll deal with in Leg 2 and will force them to mentally hone in ahead of a huge road match.
āItās great prep for us. Not only physically, but mentally, as well, to get away and really concentrate on the task at hand, which is to move on to the finals of the Champions League,ā FCD defender Walker Zimmerman told the clubās website. āItās a great experience to be here. Now weāve got a full week of training ahead of us to prepare for whatās arguably the biggest game that weāve had as a club. Weāre ready for it and looking forward to get going.ā
Dallas hold a slight lead heading into the second leg after beating Pachuca 2-1 in Leg 1 at Toyota Stadium on March 15.