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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Bows Out of Leagues Cup

August 1, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas bows out of the Leagues Cup after falling 2-0 to Liga MX side FC Juárez on Wednesday night from Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

SETTING A NEW RECORD

Goalkeeper Maarten Paes set a new Leagues Cup career high with nine saves tonight. Paes' previous high was four saves versus Mazatlán F.C. on August 2, 2023.

LEAGUES CUP DEBUTS

FC Dallas midfielder Enes Sali made his FC Dallas' debut after substituting into the match in the 88th minute. FC Dallas defender Omar Gonzalez also made his Leagues Cup debut tonight, starting for FC Dallas tonight. The Dallas native has made 14 appearances for Dallas in 2024. FC Dallas has seven debuts in Leagues Cup 2024 after six Dallas players debuted versus St. Louis CITY SC on July 27, 2024.

RECORD VERSUS LIGA MX TEAMS

FC Dallas are now 2-1-0 in Leagues Cup action versus Liga MX sides. In 2023, FC Dallas defeated Necaxa 3-0 and Mazatlán F.C. 2-1. All games versus Liga MX sides have been played from Toyota Stadium.

UP NEXT: A TRIP TO THE NATION'S CAPITAL

FC Dallas returns to MLS action on August 24 versus D.C. United from Audi Field in Washington D.C. The match will kickoff at 8PM CT and will air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, the FC Dallas app in Spanish and English, and Talk Radio 1190 AM in English.

FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES

Interim head coach Peter Luccin

General thoughts about the game...

"We're very far from our level. There is a lack of courage, not following plans. It was clear for us that we needed to cross much more. The first cross we almost scored with Petar (Musa) and we stopped crossing. We didn't create enough. Defensively, it is not just about the backline, it is about all the players losing so many duels. That game tonight was about duels. If we are not winning duels, it is going to be very hard to win games."

On what the team needs to do moving forward...

"For me since I've been the head coach, it was the worst game. And that's it. So it's not that we almost won. No, we were very far from winning that game. All of us - staff, players, coaches, now is the time for reflection and keep working hard. Now we have only one thing in our minds and that is to try and get to the payoff. And some of the players are going to come back and create more competition in the practice, more competition every single day. This is what we need right now. Because maybe we're too complacent and we need more fire."

Goalkeeper Maarten Paes...

On the game tonight...

"It's tough to think about it right now. We had high hopes, we really wanted to go for this League Cup journey. Every time you can win a trophy you want to go as far as possible. But the cruel reality right now is that this was not good enough. And we have now 2-3 weeks to discuss with each other how to reach the playoffs. It's not a losing season yet, we need to improve on a lot of things if we want to make it."

Midfielder Paul Arriola

On the team's performance...

"They appeared to be a much more experienced team than we are. Their game management skills, the way they went down, waste time. They did everything to push our buttons and at the same time put themselves in a position to get a result. A lot of credit to them. For us, I think this is one of the most disappointing results and I felt embarrassed coming off the field from the way we performed."

On offensive struggles tonight...

"First we have to give credit to their defense. We knew they would struggle in transition, but they didn't give up many transition moments. They were pretty secure with the ball. When they lost the ball it was higher up. Our press wasn't good so that did not lead to those moments where we could tear them apart. Obviously when you have big guys like Logan (Farrington) and Petar (Musa) in the box we're always going to try and give them the ball as much as we can. It just wasn't enough from us and physically it didn't seem like we were at our best today."

On what could be learned in the three-week break...

"I think for one, it will be a time of reflection. It's going to hurt us being out of the tournament and exiting out of a group we believe that we could have won. At the same time, hopefully this break gives us time to get some players back that will help us make a late push for the playoffs. The third thing is to work with Peter (Luccin) tactically and physically. I know that's a big emphasis on where we're at and how much further we have to go to put us in the right position. Tonight we didn't show what we should have. We're going to have a lot of time to reflect on and be ready to go in three and a half weeks for the rest of the season."

Defender Omar Gonzalez

On tonight's match...

"Obviously, we wanted more from Leagues Cup. We wanted more from these past two games, but it just wasn't there and that's what was disappointing. We had some good team meetings. Everything that was said was right. All the right words were said, but it didn't transfer to the field and losing tonight 2-0. We wanted to put everything in there to get the result. I don't think everything was given. And that's what makes it even tougher, because we talk the talk, but we didn't walk the walk. And when you do that, you get results like these. There's so much of the Leagues Cup left, and we're just going to be training. We're just gonna be training and that's, that's terrible. We want to be playing games. And so it's definitely a tough pill to swallow. It's gonna be a rough few days off, and then back to work."

On the three week period with no games...

"Well, the silver lining I guess is it gives us the chance to get Jesús Ferreira and Alan Velasco back. The next couple of weeks for us will be about working on the small details that we haven't been able to work on since Peter got the job. If we want to flip the script and make the playoffs, we have to work on all these details that we're not doing right now. Train them and then hit the last ten games flying and hopefully we make a push for MLS Cup playoffs and then see what happens."

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