FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas trained in San Salvador, El Salvador today, where they will face Alianza FC Thursday night (9 p.m. CT on FOX Soccer) in CONCACAF Champions League competition.
Yesterday was the only day of on-site media availability since FC Dallas left for Toronto on Tuesday, July 19 – accordingly, the team faced a gauntlet of questions from the media following training. The team also welcomed the return of U-17 World Cup Champion Richard Sanchez and got a new match ball to adapt to for CONCACAF Champions League play.
FC Dallas goalkeeper and U-17 World Cup Champion Richard Sanchez
On how he feels being back with his club after winning the U17 World Cup…
It feels great. I feel at home. It is good to be back with the teammates. They greeted me well.
On if he feels more confident since returning…
Yeah I feel a bit more confident. I feel like I have to work on some little details, on getting back into the game, but we will work throughout the year on getting better at those.
FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman
On the difference between the MLS and CONCACAF Champions League balls…
On a week-to-week basis we are playing with the Jabulani adidas ball. The Nike ball we have just seen today [for the first time], so we are still working out the differences. The Nike ball doesn’t come as fast, but it is heavier. It doesn’t move as much as the adidas ball, but I am sure we will get more and more used to it as we train [Wednesday] and prepare for the game.
LISTEN to FC Dallas utility man Andrew Wiedeman’s interview on World Football Daily.
FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman
On the atmosphere he expects to face in El Salvador…
Alianza did very good in their last season. They finished one or two in their league. The atmosphere is going to be that of an international culture. It is going to be very chippy on the field and in the stands.
On the excitement he feels heading into Champions League competition…
There really is an excitement. The expectation is to win these two games and get into the next round. We deserve it. We did well last year so now we're in a position to win. I wish things were different. I wish we were at home. I wish we were healthy. I wish we didn’t have as many games as we have right now, but none of that is going to come true on my wish list. Right now, we need to go in there and be excited about it. We need to focus on these two games being very important to us.
FC Dallas defender Ugo Ihemelu
On what he expects to see in El Salvador…
[Andrew Jacobson] played against them while he was with D.C. United. He said it is a hard place to play. I am just looking at it as another game. I really have no idea about the level of competition. The coaches are working on putting some film together on them to watch [Wednesday], so we will see.
