MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Legend Oscar Pareja Named Assistant Coach

January 9, 2006 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


Dallas, Texas - FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock announced today that the club has officially named legendary midfielder Oscar Pareja as an assistant coach for the 2006 season. Pareja ended a highly-successful eight-year MLS career in October when he officially retired as a player from the sport of soccer. In his eight years in MLS, Pareja scored 13 goals and added 52 assists in 189 regular season games, with all but 13 of those being played as a member of the Dallas organization as well as 17 postseason games. In his final regular season game for the Hoops on October 15 at Pizza Hut Park, Pareja scored the last goal of his MLS career much to the delight of the 18,021 fans who had traveled to Pizza Hut Park that evening.

"Oscar Pareja has been a standout player for FC Dallas and a great ambassador for the sport of soccer in Dallas-area for the past eight years. We're excited that Oscar will continue to be a member of the FC Dallas family as an assistant coach. We know that his commitment to excellence, drive of a champion and overall dedication to FC Dallas and the Hunt Sports Group will help us win championships," Hitchcock said. "Oscar will continue to serve as a positive role model in the community and will actively work on identifying the top local and international players while helping FC Dallas youth players develop into the top professionals in Major League Soccer. Oscar was one of the true great professionals in our league and we're confident he'll become one of the great coaches in Major League Soccer."

A native of Medellin, Colombia, Pareja was capped 11 times by his home country, scoring three goals in that time. He came to MLS midway through the 1998 when he was signed by the New England Revolution from his former club Deportivo Cali. Pareja played 13 games in three months for New England before being traded to Dallas for Damian Alvarez. His skill and leadership on the field quickly established Pareja as one of Dallas and Major League Soccer's premier players, while his warmth and openness to fans, as well as his ever-present smile, made him a fan favorite in the Dallas Metroplex as well.

On June 10, 2005 Pareja announced that the 2005 season would be his final one as a player, electing to retire and close the book on a career that saw him twice named as Dallas' Honda Most Valuable Player (2001 and 2002) as well as being named to the MLS Best XI in 2002, making him one of just five players in franchise history to be so honored. At that time both Pareja and the FC Dallas organization expressed a desire to keep Pareja within the organization at the close of his career, an objective that has been achieved with today's appointment.

"When I thought about my career coming to an end, I always thought that the next step would be to take all that information that I have collected through my years as a player, and pass it on to a new generation of players and my teammates, and now I have that opportunity," Pareja said. "I'm really excited and looking forward to helping this team win a MLS Cup title. As a player that was my dream and now I am blessed still have this opportunity that Colin, Michael and the Hunt Family have given me, and I am going to do my best to show that I deserve it."

Pareja will join Colin Clarke and the rest of the FC Dallas coaching staff early next month for the start of the team's preseason at Pizza Hut Park and work to get the squad prepared for the start of the 11th season of Major League Soccer in Dallas at Pizza Hut Park on April 1 against the Chicago Fire at 3 p.m.

FC Dallas 2006 season tickets are on sale now. There are a wide range of seating options available, starting at just $180 per ticket for a full season plan which includes all 16 FC Dallas regular season home games, as well as four bonus games. There are also significant discounts available on FCD's ten and five-game ticket plans. Call 1-888-FCD-GOAL or visit www.fcdallas.net to reserve your spot at Pizza Hut Park for the exciting 2006 FC Dallas season.

FC Dallas, a charter member club of Major League Soccer, began play at Pizza Hut Park, a new 20,000 seat soccer specific stadium, on August 6, 2005. The 145-acre facility is located at the intersection of Main Street and Dallas North Tollway in Frisco. Pizza Hut Park will accommodate Major League Soccer matches, major concerts, international soccer matches and High School football. Adjacent to the stadium are 17 regulation-sized, tournament-grade soccer fields which will be utilized on a year-round basis. On November 13, 2005 Pizza Hut Park hosted Major League Soccer's championship match, MLS Cup 2005 live on ABC Sports. The event saw a record crowd of more than 21,000 fans in attendance and was broadcast in more than 130 countries worldwide. For more information, log on to www.fcdallas.net.

Check out the FC Dallas Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from January 9, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central