FRISCO - It was the Argentinians who shined on Saturday night, leading FC Dallas to a 4-0 victory over Alianza FC.
Forward Maxi Urruti and midfielder Mauro Diaz both found the back of the net twice, capping off an impressive outing by the team. In Urruti’s first competitive match with the team, the newcomer did not disappoint. The striker hopes he and his teammates can take the performance and build on it throughout the season.
“[I felt] very comfortable. We did a very good job,” Urruti says. “It was our first friendly with the team and we felt good. Hopefully things will continue to happen for us so that we can win a championship.”
Both players scored impressive goals, with Urutti scoring his two in the first half and Diaz getting his brace in the second. Perhaps the biggest highlight was a Diaz chip shot — the midfielder’s favorite goal of the night — in the 61st minute that sailed over the Alianza goalkeeper’s head after getting a perfect feed from Fabian Castillo on the counter.
The duo’s chemistry on the field was just a carryover from their budding bro-mance off it. When Urutti joined the team, the two Argentines hit it off right away. Besides the fact that two developed a close friendship, Diaz says the best thing about having Urruti on the team is what he’s capable of bringing on the field.
“Maxi is a proven striker and he can score a lot of goals for us and he will help us,” the midfielder said. “Our job will be to bring the best out of him and put him in a position win games for us.”
Though the team was clicking on cylinders this past weekend, Urruti says there are a few things to improve before the start of the regular season. Some adjustments to their passing game is one aspect the team could improve on, the striker says, but in time the team will overcome some of those mistakes and grow together.
“We had some bad touches because we’re still in preseason,” Urruti said. “We’re still working on how to improve the team and we’re doing everything we can to help coach realize his plans. We’re trying to do things right so we can face the tournament in the best way possible.”
Though Diaz himself doesn’t like to make predictions, Urruti said earlier in preseason that he wanted to score 15 goals in 2016, and laughingly said that two he scored on Saturday will count towards that goal. But if the team keeps improving, Diaz says it doesn’t matter how many goals somebody scores, as long as it leads to the team’s success.
“Every goal counts, every goal builds confidence,” Diaz says. “We’re going to try to keep this form so we can score a lot more in the future. No predictions, but we’re going to try to do the best for the team and if we do that, assists and goals will come.”
