Last Saturday night Will and I drove to Frisco to watch the first game of the MLS Western Conference Semi Final: FC Dallas v Houston Dynamo. We didn't get much chance to catch many MLS games this season, so we didn't know much about this years team other than online stats. Houston was statistically better while Dallas was ranked a few notches down from last year, so I wasn't expecting a win. But I was happy to go see a live game. I really like live games.
We watched nothing but EPL games this year, minus part of a college game (Brown I think) and a couple Serie A games since nothing else was on. I have to say, EPL games are entirely another caliber compared to MLS. Duh! But I find it amazing how different they are. EPL games are generally beautiful.
Sitting 13 rows up just left of mid field, we had a great view of the field. I do want to say that Dallas has some very rude fans. I've never heard so much booing at players as they're either walked off field or subbed out. Dirty plays after dirty plays. A lot of waiting for the ball, inability to move the ball forward, forced fouls, poor control, and overall bad theatrics. My opinion of Ruiz took a big turn this game. I don't know if I never really noticed how much of a drama queen he is or if he just saves it all for Houston, but I can't stand him. Toja faced Houston's goal maybe as much as a handful of times. If he wasn't standing around like an 80s rock star waiting for the ball to grace his presence, he was losing the ball with bad passes and forcing fouls.
Ruiz...Toja...Alvarez...Ricchetti... The four divas of Dallas.
Friday, Dallas went to Houston and vomited their chances away. It was a horrible game. 40 fouls, 12 yellow cards resulting in an ejection, and an ejection due to a well-deserved red card. The Dallas Divas strike again. Alvarez got himself ejected at the 47th minute after a post-play knee to the balls. Ruiz was an absolute baby. He was rolling around on the ground whining about his shins and ankles four plays back to back. I got a good laugh from what one of the commentators said regarding Ruiz: "His recuperative powers have always been amazing." ...after Ruiz gets up and walks away from a forced yellow against Houston without even a limp. I kept forgetting that Toja was on field as he didn't contribute much. When he did, you could predict that he'd lose the ball to Houston from a lousy pass.
Alvarez's foul wasn't the only shocker. Serioux flat out stepped on the back of Holden's neck with obvious payback intentions from an earlier foul. I don't see how that wasn't a red. It didn't even get him a yellow. Toward the final 15 of overtime, one of the commentators said, "Somewhere here some soccer's going to break out." By the end of the evening, we were cheering for Houston. Houston definitely deserved to win the semi-finals. Dallas reminded me way too much of typical Italian teams. I'm curious to see if we get another Houston v New England match...
