FRISCO - There’s no place like home, and after being away for five games, FC Dallas is sure to have that ringing in their ears as they take the field on Friday night.
It will have been 42 days since last playing on their home field when FCD plays its first game at Toyota Stadium this Friday going all the way back to the 0-0 draw against the New York Red Bulls on May 9. With picking up two points in a five-game road span, Friday’s home match couldn’t come at a better time for the team.
“I’m so happy because being on the road for five games, that’s not easy,” defender Je-Vaughn Watson said. “That’s the longest road trip I’ve ever had in my life. It’s just blood, sweat, and tears this week. We need to bring it. We need the three points at home. We don’t want anything less in the Texas Derby.”
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The team’s first test in a back-to-back home stand is rival Houston Dynamo. FCD has already defeated the Dynamo once this season in 4-1 fashion in Houston on May 1. As if the first home game in six weeks needed any extra spice, the Texas Derby pres. by Novo Nordisk hasn’t taken place in Frisco since March 17, 2013.
“We want to be the best team in Texas,” midfielder Victor Ulloa said. “It’s good for the fan base. For us, we know what’s at stake. We want to keep the cannon so we have to get a good result.”
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Ulloa said the team is eager for a win after giving up a late goal last week to walk away with a tie against the Colorado Rapids.
“That will just motivate us more to get a win at home,” he said. “The next four of five games are at home, so we have to take advantage of that.”
FC Dallas has dropped only one game at home this season and has picked up four wins in the other six matches at Toyota Stadium. The team sits in sixth place in the Western Conference with 23 points and know a good run could propel them right back to the top spot they held for much of the early parts of the 2015 season.
“In this league the most important thing to remember is you have to take care of your games at home,” goalkeeper Dan Kennedy said. “We didn’t get as many points as we wanted out of that road stretch. It’s important that we just get back here and get started on the right foot and get three points on Friday night.”
