Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki honored at FC Dallas match

Dirk Nowitzki - Smiling

It wasn't FC Dallas' day on the pitch at Toyota Stadium, but one man literally stood tall on his day at the match.


FC Dallas celebrated the career of recently retired NBA star Dirk Nowitzki at Saturday's game, which ended in a 3-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls. Nowitzki, formerly of the Dallas Mavericks, got to place a scarf around the neck of the statue of Lamar Hunt before the match, and was later honored on the field.

Nowitzki signed plenty of autographs and took a penalty shot on the team mascot, playfully pretending to limp after the kick.

Nowitzki, a native of Germany, is good friends with the Chicago Fire'sBastian Schweinsteiger, a countryman, and has talked publicly about his fandom of soccer. He announced his retired after the Mavericks' home finale last month.