FRISCO, Texas -- Throughout the 2008 season, FC Dallas have shown a tendency to lose focus at times. On a few occasions, the lapses in concentration have sent the Hoops on to defeat, while in other matches, they have resulted in points left on the table in the form of a draw.
Thursday night against Colorado, the issue reared its ugly head yet again for FCD. In the 60th minute, Rapids defender Mike Petke was left completely unmarked on a corner kick and all the 32-year-old MLS veteran had to do was head Terry Cooke's service inside the far post from about six yards out for the only goal of the game.
"I think it was a letdown on defending a corner kick," FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman said. "The player that scores a goal has nobody around him for five yards. You look at the video and how the goal was scored, a guy ran away from one of our players and he didn't follow him. Now he's standing there by himself and the game is over.
"It always takes 90 minutes to win and one second to lose. That's the disappointing part. This was a game that we needed to win. It was a desperation game for both teams and I think we let ourselves down and I think we let our fans down."
Before the win on MLS Primetime Thursday, the Rapids had not won a regular season game in Dallas since May 5, 2001, a span of 13 games. With the loss, FCD has now dropped three of their last four and their home record fell to 4-4-4. Most importantly, the Hoops dropped from third place to fifth in the Western Conference standings.
For the vital contest, Hyndman made two surprising changes to his lineup in the wide midfield roles. On the right, third-year midfielder Michael Dello-Russo got just his second MLS start. On the other flank, Hyndman went with Anthony Wallace, who was seeing his first action with the first team since May 24.
"I don't think we got what we had hoped to get out of them," Hyndman said. "I thought it got better when Eric (Avila) came on and we were able to change (Wallace). I think it got better when they scored. They were sitting back and we were able to launch quite a few attacks."
Dax McCarty, who had started the last two games at left midfield, entered the match in the 65th and almost from the moment he hit the field, the third-year midfielder added considerable spark to the FCD attack. He was especially deadly on corner kicks and other set pieces.
"I think Dax did deliver a lot of good balls," Hyndman said. "I think he was dangerous and a player that was very much involved in our attack. At the same time, we're down 1-0 and they're sitting back in a 4-5-1 with the opportunity to serve and get involved. We had some great chances tonight, some short corners, some head balls and some redirection balls. If we're not going to get lucky, then we at least need to stop them from scoring."
Hyndman's players clearly shared in his disappointment.
"Obviously it's not the result we wanted," FCD forward Kenny Cooper said. "We've got to stay positive because this is a really important part of the season and especially considering the race we're in. It's important that we start to get points. We've got a big game away at D.C. Hopefully we can bounce back and I believe we can."
Pablo Ricchetti, normally the Hoops' holding midfielder who started at center back against Colorado, concurred with his teammate.
"We're very disappointed," he said. "We didn't play a good game and didn't play good soccer. We didn't do good work today. They had some corner kicks and scored because we lost somebody. I don't know what happened there. One got free and they scored. We got some great saves from Dario (Sala) but we can't wait for him to save us every time."
The loss was even more distressing because all week, Hyndman stated how the match was a must-win. But when it came time to deliver, his team fell flat once again.
"I think this team has given up soft goals all year and I think we're still continuing to give up soft goals," Hyndman said. "When you don't cover somebody and they have a free header, it's like, when does that happen for us? I think this is accountability and this is discipline. I think it's something that has been going on all year. All I can say is that we work on it in training but when it gets into a game, it looks like it doesn't happen."
Despite his team falling to fifth in the West table, Hyndman reiterated that the ultimate goal remains for FCD to reach the postseason, an end result that looks to be tougher and tougher to attain with each passing week.
"The bigger picture is still trying to get into the playoffs," he said. "We've bumped our toe the last two games because those are both games I think we could have won. If we can stop giving up the silly goals, I think we'll find ways to win."
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