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FC Dallas

FC Dallas Qualifies for CoNCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals

October 21, 2016 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (Thursday, Oct. 20) - For the first time in franchise history, FC Dallas qualified for the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League with a come-from-behind, 5-2, win against Guatemalan champions CSD Suchitepéquez.

A wild first half saw FC Dallas concede an early goal in its second straight CCL road game. A corner kick was initially cleared, but the ensuring ball in was inadvertently flicked off the back of Tesho Akindele to give Suchitepéquez a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.

Things went from bad to worse for Dallas mid-way through the first half as Wilson Morales stepped into a ball laid off to him and lashed a shot past Jesse Gonzalez in the 26th minute to give the home side a 2-0 lead.

FC Dallas staged a furious comeback as the half went on. Akindele beat two defenders and his cross from the end line was initially cleared but Carlos Gruezo headed in the rebound to score his first FC Dallas goal and pull FCD within a goal, 2-1, in the 27th minute.

Dallas dramatically tied things up in the 35th minute through the head of Matt Hedges. The FC Dallas defender headed home a free kick that was whipped in from Mauro Rosales to score in his third competition this season.

In the second half, FC Dallas picked up right where they left off. Rosales whipped in a free kick that goalkeeper Manuel Sosa punched straight into Atiba Harris. The ball rebounded into the goal off of Harris to give Dallas its first lead of the match.

There were nervy moments for FCD as it held on to the one-goal lead with Gonzalez tipping wide a fantastic effort in the 58th minute.

With about ten minutes to play, a torrential rain storm began and it didn't stop FC Dallas. Maynor Figueroa sent in a cross on an FCD counterattack that was cleared into the goal by a Suchitepéquez defender in the 87th minute to put the match beyond doubt.

However, there would be an important goal scored by FCD in the 90th minute as Carlos Lizarazo unleashed a laser from 25 yards that gave FCD a 5-2 lead. The goal was significant because it moved Dallas past New York Red Bulls on tie breaker, meaning FCD will be the seventh seed heading into the CCL quarterfinals.

In its first CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal appearance, Dallas will face Panamanian side Arabe Unido with the home-and-home series happening in February and March of 2017.

FC Dallas heads to Los Angeles where they will face the Galaxy on Sunday, Oct. 23 in a nationally televised match on FS1 as part of MLS Decision Day. If Dallas earns a win or draw, they will win the Supporters' Shield awarded to the top team at the end of the regular season for the first time in franchise history.

Scoring Summary:

SUC - Own Goal 6

SUC - Wilson Morales(Julian Lalinde) 22

FCD - Carlos Gruezo 27

FCD - Matt Hedges (Mauro Rosales) 35

FCD - Atiba Harris 51

FCD - Own Goal 87

FCD - Carlos Lizarazo (Carlos Gruezo) 90

Lineups:

FC Dallas - Jesse Gonzalez, Atiba Harris, Matt Hedges, Norberto Paparratto, Maynor Figueroa, Aaron Guillen, Juan Ortiz, Carlos Gruezo, Mauro Rosales(Carlos Lizarazo), Tesho Akindele(Michael Barrios 60), Getterson(Ryan Hollingshead 69)

Substitutes Not Used: Chris Seitz, Walker Zimmerman, Coy Craft, Paxton Pomykal

CSD Suchitepequez- Manuel Sosa, Miguel Gonzalez, Erwin Morales©(German Esquivel 59), Kevin Ruiz, Jonathan Garcia(Emerson Cabrera 69), Julian Lalinde, Juan Cardona, Wilson Morales, Mauricio Germi, Rene Mauricio Maites, Fredy Lopez(Sergio Tagua 79)

Substitutes Not Used: Miguel Bonilla, Yimi Villatoro, Victor Armas, Diego Orozco

Misconduct Summary:

SUC: Edwin Morales(Caution) 7

DAL: Jesse Gonzalez(Caution) 56

SUC: Rene Mauricio Maites(Caution) 61

SUC: Rene Mauricio Maites (Ejection) 66

Referee: John Pitti

Referee Assistants: Gabriel Victoria, Christian Ramirez

Fourth Official: Jafeth Parea

Weather: Rain, 73

FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja

General thoughts on the match...

One more time our players showed a lot of character despite the circumstances in the first half, where we gave up a very early goal and then it was 2-0. It was a different road and the boys found a way to tie the game up before the half ended and that was important. We knew that having control of the game would give us options to score. We understood the dominance we had in the aerial game and set pieces. We had patience. The game at the end gave us the reward for the character and patience we had in the game.

How big is it for the club to be in the quarterfinals of CONCACAF Champions League for the first time?

It's fantastic to put the club in the next stage of the CCL. Especially at this moment, when we are fighting for the Supporters' Shield and the difficulty with the news about Mauro Diaz last week and despite that the boys stepped up again and everyone who has waiting for their moment and opportunity, they came up big today. I'm very proud of the players who are not regulars in the lineup because the points and advancing tonight is due to the effort that they had.

FC Dallas defender Atiba Harris

On tonight's match...

I felt coming down here we did a great job in rebounding from giving up two early goals. The fans and their team were very excited but we kept our composure and scored five unanswered.

How big was tying game before half?

Once they scored everyone in the stadium was excited. [Carlos] Gruezo scoring that first goal took the crowd out of it a little bit and then Matt's [Hedges] goal silenced the stadium. From there on, we just kept building and building momentum.

How important were set pieces tonight?

Coming into the game, we knew we had a whole bunch of players who were strong on set pieces and their players were a little bit smaller than us so we worked all week on it and it paid off.

What did you see on your goal?

Right place right time... I've been learning from Maxi [Urruti] and Carlos [Ruiz] to just get in the box. It was a great ball by Mauro Rosales and the 'keeper gave me an assist. I'll take it.

Next FC Dallas home playoff game, presented by Toyota, is Sunday, November 6th at Toyota Stadium. Purchase your tickets at www.fcdallas.com

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