FC Dallas vs. Chivas USA

Sunday afternoon, 5:00, the thermometer on the car read 100 when we got out to head to the stadium. But, Olivia and I were in high spirits anyway. We got there a little early, secured water, nachos for O and a hot dog for me, and headed to our seats. They were in the sun. The metal bleachers proved to be too hot for some of the more sensitive bottoms at the game, so we headed to some seats close by that were in the shade. From there, we watched the first half. Interestingly, Dallas chose to wear their blue (away?) jerseys rather than their red and white candy cane jerseys. This allowed Chivas to wear their vertically striped red and white unis and caused a bit of consternation from Olivia who prefers the Hoops in their standard garb. Chivas, coming into the game on a three game winning streak did not look good. They had a lot of sloppy passing and FC Dallas controlled most of the play. In the 28th minute, a great ball by Carlos Ruiz found the back of the net, matching an MLS record with his 7th consecutive game with a goal. Although Chivas had some good opportunities, they never were able to capitalize, due in my opinion to sloppiness. By the time the second half started, the shade had crept over our real seats so we headed down that way. It proved to be more of the same and Olivia and I spent some time working on the Dallas players names and numbers. 4 - her number in her 1st grade class - Chris Gbandi (I thought you said Bondy, I did, the G is silent). 8 - her number - Richard Mulrooney. 3 - Hanna's number - Greg Vanney. 33 - Kenny Cooper - her favorite current player. 20 - Carlos Ruiz. 48 - Dario Sala - goalkeeper. 6 - Ronnie O'Brien - perhaps my favorite player. During the second half, he did drop a White, 12 Roger Staubach, 18 Glenn Carano, 25 Aaron Kyle. Anyway, when the subs came down with Oscar to startJFC and a couple of other F-bombs. He does tend to get his Irish up, from time to time. 9 - Roberto Mina - another possible Brian favorite. She still remembered them all when we got home. I was reminded of hours spent looking at the 1975? 1978? Dallas Cowboys team poster. 1 Rafael Septien, ... 11 Danny getting warmed up, I asked Olivia if she wanted to holler out to Oscar and she shyly declined. I thought it was a bit funny. Not long after going into the game, Roberto Mina got loose behind the Chivas defenders and steered one into the net to give Dallas a 2-0 lead. When Ante Razov scored in the 82nd minute, it did not give me much pause. Dallas continued to be able to hold on to the ball and kill the clock. One interesting thing that happened right in front of us, in the classic dribble into the corner and turn your back to the opponent with the ball in front of your move, Carlos Ruiz lost the ball when the Chivas defender stuck his foot between Carlos's legs and pulled the ball back through. I had never seen that happen. We also got to see a closeup of Ruiz spraying a big stream of water directly into his own face. Olivia thought that was quite funny. There was one scary moment when Sala came off his line to attempt to get the ball but missed, leaving a Chivas player with an empty net. Typifying the Chivas troubles, his shot went wide. So, the game ended with FC Dallas 2, Chivas 1. Next Up, June 24th vs the Colorado Rapids.