FRISCO - There was never a doubt in Blas Perez's mind about whether he would play tonight.
After a 180-minute two-goal week for Panama playing internationally in the Copa Centroamericana, it would have been very easy for Perez to take a breather and start on the bench for FC Dallas' match tonight against Vancouver. He would have none of it.
"With Blas it’s simple," FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja said after Saturday's match. "I looked at him on Thursday and asked him 'do you think you have gas in the tank' and the answer is 'of course' and that was it. We didn’t talk about it any longer."
Pareja loves to note that the beautiful game rewards players who deserve it, so it's no surprise that Perez had perhaps his best match of the season Saturday night scoring both goals in FCD's 2-1 win over Vancouver. It's Perez's first multi-goal MLS match since August 11, 2013 and it earned three huge points for his side.
MATCH RECAP - FC Dallas 2, Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1
"It was a little bit tired, but I recover quickly so I told him I was ready to play," Perez said through a translator. "He asked me if I could play and I said 'yes' because I recover quickly. Everything went how we planned and I’m happy."
There was certainly a little bit of luck in Perez's first goal of the night coming in the 20th minute. Perez rifled a cross from nearly the corner flag that deflected to loop over Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted and give Dallas the lead. However, there was nothing lucky about the Panamanian's game-winner. After conceding an equalizer to the visitors, Perez scored a trademark poachers finish on a deflected cross in the 77th minute to earn all three points.
"Blas sets the tone for this group in the locker room and on the field also. In the field you saw it. He’s a player who gave all he has and then the game rewards him with two goals today," said Pareja. "We needed him today. He played two games during the week and came in the first day after that and said 'I want to be on the field'. That represents what this group is about and I’m glad for him. He sets the path and the boys follow him."
"He’s older than most of the people on the team, but he’s still working hard every game," said Tesho Akindele. "He played three games this week, but you wouldn’t know it. He’s running all over the place giving us encouragement and keeping us going."
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With the vital win, FC Dallas moves eight points clear of Vancouver in fourth place with just six games left, taking an enormous step towards qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2011. However, like always, Pareja's eyes are only on the task directly in front of his team.
"I’m always in the mode that we're one game at a time. I feel today obviously very happy and proud to beat Vancouver and see the boys giving us that effort," said Pareja. "We get three points and get some distance, but the responsibility now isn’t to look at the standings, the responsibility now is to say we solved that problem tonight but the playoffs are not secure yet and the responsibility is to just keep looking ahead."
