FRISCO, Texas -- In-state rivals FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo will open their preseason slates against on Friday morning when the teams meet in the Bayou City. The two sides are very familiar with one another but things have changed a bit since the sides last met on June 26, 2008 at Robertson Stadium, a match that ended in a 1-1 tie, a draw that meant FCD won the season series for the first time.
All rivalry talk aside, there have been a number of personnel changes for both sides. FCD has jettisoned defender Duilio Davino, traded defender Dominic Oduro and seen veteran Bobby Rhine retire.
New to the Hoops is midfielder Dave van den Bergh, who came over from New York in the Oduro deal; defender Steve Purdy was signed after a stint in Germany; forward Sean Bucknor, a former U-17 player in Jamaica, also was inked; and former Real Salt Lake defender Daniel Torres is also new to the fold.
Houston no longer has midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, defender Patrick Ianni or forward Nate Jaqua in the fold. But FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman knows that despite those subtractions, the two-time MLS champions still have a formidable group.
"They are an extremely well-disciplined, well-coached team that follows a team structure. They can remove a player from the lineup and the next guy comes in and you didn't realize he was that good," Hyndman said. "It's because it's a team structure where people fit into what they're doing. Now with De Rosario gone, you think they're not going to be the same. But when you've got (Stuart) Holden in there, they're just the same. It is a good measuring stick for us. I'm looking at this for how far we have come compared to a good team and how far we have to go."
The Orange likely won't be happy to see van den Bergh, who in last fall's MLS Cup Playoffs, scored the lone goal for the Red Bulls in the Western Conference Championship to send New York to its first-ever league title game.
"I think they're one of the best teams in the league and think that's not going to change," van den Bergh said. "They lost two valuable players in Dwayne DeRosario and (Nate) Jaqua. I still think they're very good at what they do. They're very predictable but they execute almost to perfection. It's a good task for us. It's a new team for us. We can take a lot of from these games to see how we hold up against one of the best teams in the league."
FCD will still be without star forward Kenny Cooper, who is away with the U.S. national team. Brazilian midfielder Andre Rocha is experiencing visa problems in his home country and has yet to report to camp. Defender Adrian Serioux, a member of Houston's 2006 championship team, is also out as he continues to recover from a hernia.
No matter who his personnel is, Hoops head coach Schellas Hyndman's goal for games like this remains basic.
"One of the things I said to [the front office] was that I would like to get as many games as I can," he said. "A big part of it for me is team structure and getting people to buy into what you're doing. Some of the best results you can get from games is taking a loss where you can see the areas you need to improve in. I'm looking at the preseason games as a learning opportunity for the coaching staff and for the players. The emphasis is on being able to win games when we get into the season."
Two FCD veterans who have played in their share of Lone Star derbies are clearly looking forward to facing their in-state adversaries once again.
"We don't want to lose any game or show any weaknesses, especially with our state rival," goalkeeper Dario Sala said. "It's really important for us that we move the ball and start to play as professionally as we can. We have to be as prepared as we can. This game should give us an idea of where we stand right now. Hopefully we win the game and start to show a little bit of what the coach was working with us on the defensive mentality he is trying to build on this team. If we start to show a little bit of that, I will be happy."
Fellow Argentinean and midfielder Pablo Ricchetti concurs. "It's good for us," he said. "We want to play and it's good to have a team like Houston with such quality players to play. It will be good to have two games against them to see where we are."
The sides will turn around and meet again on Monday morning in Dallas at 10 a.m. CT.
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