FC Dallas get their wish with Ferreira

FRISCO, Texas -- It has been a busy offseason for FC Dallas and the club has filled many of its needs heading into the winter months. However, one big need remained, finding a new central attacking midfielder. With the addition of 29-year-old Colombian David Ferreira from Brazilian side Clube Atletico Paranaense, FCD finally got their wish.

Ferreira most recently played in Dubai for Al-Shabib between February and June of last year. He played in 13 matches for the eventual United Arab Emirates league champs. He has played for CAP since 2005 and has 38 goals and 42 assists in 175 games for FCD's South American partner.

"We first saw David in 2007, when we conducted our first preseason training at Atletico Paranaense's world class facilities down in Curitiba, Brazil and played against him in the first leg of the USA/Brazil Challenge," said FCD president and general manager Michael Hitchcock. "At that time, we identified him as a very special player and a player of interest. We're very fortunate to have finalized the deal to bring David Ferreira to FC Dallas."

Head coach Schellas Hyndman was equally ecstatic about the signing.

"He is an outstanding player," he said. "This is a special player who reminds me of Oscar Pareja. He's very agile, quick and has got a great soccer brain. Technically, he's very strong. I think this is a player that will be a difference maker for FC Dallas."

The FCD boss sees Ferreira as bringing plenty of positives to his roster.

"I see his style as a two-way player who will work on defense," Hyndman said. "He's a very active player. He's not a player that's going to run at the big defenders, but he has the quickness, speed and intelligence to always get into space. We brought him in to be our No. 10, central attacking midfielder with the qualities of scoring goals, unbalancing the opposition and dribbling and passing abilities with penetration. I think you'll see our strikers feeding off of his quality services and passing ability. I think we will have one of the best strike forces in the league."

Adding Ferreira, who will join FCD while they are in Brazil for the next 10 days, means that Dax McCarty, who has been manning the No. 10 spot during much of preseason, could be shifting over to the right flank, especially since Andre Rocha, who was slated to start there, is an issue.

"The first thing we have to do is get Ferreira into the team to see how well he can adjust to the structure of the team," Hyndman said. "There is no doubt he has all the technical ability, the work ethic and experience. But at the same time, because we have worked so hard on the structure, he's got to be able to work with us in that structure.

"Dax (McCarty) has done a tremendous job for us this preseason. We have been very pleased with his attitude, his work ethic and his success on the field. Andre (Rocha) just came back a few weeks ago and he is not playing his best soccer right now because of inactivity for the last 6-7 weeks. If he's not 100 percent, then we could be going to Ferreira as the No. 10 and Dax could find himself on the right side. I think we have some flexibility there."

The signing of the Colombian international has only reinforced Hyndman's goals for his 2009 squad.

"I think the immediate goal would be to find success on the field, to be successful at home, to find the points we need on the road so that we can compete for an MLS championship," he said. "I think with the quality of players that we have here that should be a realistic goal for us."

Hyndman said he has been very pleased with how well his team has been preparing for the upcoming campaign.

"The players are committed and focused," he said. "I don't think preseason could have gotten much better. Right now, it's not only getting the quality players on the field, it's getting players who understand their roles and responsibilities on the field and to have good team chemistry where players want to play for each other. I am very committed and I think you will find this team is very committed to bringing a championship to Dallas."