Top 10 Moments in FC Dallas History: 3-1

During the temporary suspension of the season, many fans online have expressed sadness in the lack of the beautiful game, which has affected all of the FC Dallas fans.

I thought it would be cool to cover all the best moments in club history, whether it was a single goal in a game or a trophy-winning match.

The Top 10 moments will be covered over the span of the next couple of weeks.

3) MLS Conference Final in 2010

After beating Real Salt Lake, Schellas Hyndman and the team was set to face LA Galaxy. We all know LA Galaxy as the most victorious team in MLS History, and that year was no exception. The Galaxy were the Supporter’s Shield winner in 2010, led by Bruce Arena and players like David Beckham, Landon Donovan, and the Dallas kid Omar Gonzalez.

The playoff format was set up so that the conference final was only one leg, and that the team with the best regular-season record got to host. That meant that FC Dallas was set to play in Carson against the best team that year. Most pundits saw an FC Dallas loss as the most probable outcome of the match.

Well…

This was the type of game that displayed the talent and quality of David Ferreira. The skillful Colombian put the team on his back, scoring a worldie and also notching an assist that put Marvin Chavez behind the backline. Cult hero Brek Shea was able to get an assist after he drilled the ball across the face of goal to another cult hero, George John, who tucked it into the back of the net. Kevin Hartman was the hero in the defense, saving a ton of probable goals.

This was the game that had finally given credibility to the North Texas side. Not having won something significant in more than a dozen years, this was the second official trophy that was added to the trophy case in Toyota Stadium.

We don’t really talk about the game that followed.

2) Open Cup 1997

I wasn’t actually alive back then (yeah, I know that I’m young), but this moment was simply so important to the club’s history that I debated whether or not it should be in the #1 spot.

Like many of the great moments in this club’s history, the Dallas Burn came in as underdogs, as they faced DC United. This DC team was the best team for 2 years straight, winning the first two MLS Cups and the 1996 Open Cup. The team had some of the biggest stars in MLS history, including Marco Etcheverry, Raul Diaz Arce, Eddie Pope, and John Harkes. Most people thought that the team that would leave IUPUI Stadium with a smile on their face would play Bruce Arena’s squad.

The biggest surprise during the match was the way that FC Dallas held their own. Beginning in the first half, DC came out guns blazing, having multiple opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net, and they would’ve done if it weren’t for the spectacular plays from Mark Dodd. But as the first half ended, it seemed like the best team on paper was going to leave Indianapolis with a trophy on the team bus.

However, everything flipped on its head in the second half. Dallas began to control the match more, even have a chance that was rocketed off the post. When 90 minutes had gone by, nothing split the two MLS teams, which meant that there was a golden goal for 30 minutes. During Extratime, Dallas Burn controlled the match much more than DC United, as Was Webber hit the post, which was the second time that Dallas hit the post in the match.

This was not the best place to go into penalty kicks. The city was freezing, the players were tired, and after playing well, the uncertainty of penalty kicks was going to decide whether or not the team was going to get anything from the match.

Which is why it meant so much when Jorge Ramirez scored the winning penalty kick.

I mean, why is this moment so special? There are many reasons, but the main one that is also the most obvious is that this was the first trophy in club history, and was going to be the only trophy that the team would collect for the next two decades. Plus, the moment when Ramirez and the rest of the players celebrate the victory with all of the fans that traveled over 900 miles to see their team play in a cup final. This moment was one that all the players and the fans will remember forever.

As Mark Dodd said, “It was just euphoria.”

1) Open Cup 2016

We all know how this game went down.

After progressing through the tournament, FC Dallas was able to beat New England 4-2 in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup in 2016 to win their first trophy in 19 years.

There was a stream of the match on the US Soccer youtube channel a couple days ago that many fans watched, and I was reminded of what made that match so much more special that simply winning a trophy. This was the culmination of Oscar Pareja’s work in building a squad that could compete in MLS day in and day out by simply using the talent that the DFW metroplex had to offer. The performance of the team in 2015 created one of the best seasons in club history, but the club was unable to receive a trophy for the compensation of their hard work. This lack of a reward in 2015 made the victory in the 2016 Open Cup even sweeter, as it finally felt like the club got it’s due for an incredible couple of years.

This trophy also pushed our expectations of this squad. FC Dallas was a low-level MLS team for the majority of the century, only winning one trophy in 19 years of existence. Oscar Pareja’s team was able to create a squad that could compete with the big spenders and gave joy to a fan base that hadn’t seen a successful team in years.

This game, this trophy, that year, would be a turning point in FC Dallas history and will be remembered as the year that the club took a massive step forward into becoming MLS Champions someday.