S.J. Earthquakes 0 - 0 FC Dallas

Almost Perfect

Saturday May 3rd, 2008
MLS - Match 5


Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

Attendance: 10,515

Saturday May 3, 2008

It's good to be home and if the Earthquakes could have buried just one of their multiple chances, it would have been a perfect day to celebrate their debut in their new stadium, full of enthusiastic fans.

Everything was there: a solid defense, the team chemistry , a great collective chemistry, brilliant moves by the midfielders, creating many chances for themselves and for an always available Kamara and finally, sprightly substitutes almost bringing the little something that was missing so far...Everything but the essential: Goal(s)!

Dallas started the game with an ultra offensive display, their 3-5-2 looking more like a 3-4-3 with even, at moments, 4 players on the front line. It didn't seem to disturb San Jose who entered the field with more energy but also a recovered serenity, especially in defense. This was not given after the 2 difficult (and lost) road games and with the absence of Ryan Cochrane.

This confidence allowed the Quakes' midfielders to progressively orient the game forward and the Earthquakes were dangerous many times in the first half.

While Dallas had the first shot at goal after 5 minutes (header by Arturo Alavez after a free kick perfectly executed by Andre Rocha; wide high), San Jose created the first really dangerous situation when Guerrero had time to control the ball in the center, about 30 yards from the goal and perfectly found Kamara on the right side, at the edge of the box. The forward found the target, but the shot was too weak to really threaten Dario Sala who easily caught the ball (8').

One minute later, Grabavoy, in the same position, as Guerrero earlier, had time to control the ball and find...Guerrero who was in an ideal position to shot...above the goal.

The third shot for the Earthquakes came from the right side again. This time O'Brien, who received a good ball from Ramiro Corrales sent it wide left.

Then it's Guerrero, who seemed to be everywhere in this first half who stole a ball from Drew Moor. As Moor was trying to protect it while it was rolling into goal kick, the Quakes' midfielder managed to run around Dallas' defender and take the ball before it passed the line. Approaching the goal along the line, he crossed between the goalkeeper and the defenders, hoping that one of his forwards would run towards the goal and push the ball into the net...Unfortunately, Kamara and Glinton were expecting the cross at the penalty spot (21st) and the ball was deflected by a defender. On the following corner kick Dallas had every difficulty to clear the ball which roamed in the box, finally falling in Kamara's feet who looked surprised and couldn't hit the target.

Dallas then had a good opportunity with Kenny Cooper's shot, in a good position in the center of the box, went inches from the post. This was the best opportunity so far for Dallas but Joe Cannon seemed to be well positioned to stop it anyway (28th).

Two minutes later, Guerrero won a challenge (and the possession of the ball) in Dallas' half. he passed to Denton on the left wing who executed a beautiful in the feet of Kamara who missed the target (High, 30th).

The Quakes then seemed to lose their concentration for a few minutes. with less precision in the passes and the controls, the Quakes' midfielders lost a couple of ball, putting their defense under pressure for the first time of the game. Nick Garcia then committed two unusual mistakes, almost losing the ball twice to Kenny Cooper. He actually did lost the ball twice in a critical position, but he won them back himself, thanks to his above-average physical qualities...However the alert was serious (34th and 36th). It is also during this period that a instant of anxious silence occurred at Buck Shaw. Even the 1906 Ultras, who had not stopped singing since the begining of the match, shut up when a long ball arrived to Dallas' striker alone at the penalty spot with just Joe Cannon to beat. But the forward was called offside.

In the final minutes of the half, The Quakes took back the control of the game and, with a series of crosses from both sides putting Dallas' defense into trouble. As already mentioned earlier, they had a lot of difficulties to clear these balls roaming in their box.

After the break, Dallas seemed to have found a solution to their problems, as they possessed the ball for a few minutes, and managed to shot on target (Cooper, 48th). But it didn't last and San Jose started to dominate again.

Kamara had a great opportunity, after a nice combination with James Riley who gave him back the ball at the six yards line. Kamara totally missed the shot (50th). 4 minutes later, Kamara, again, crossed the ball from the right along the goal line. Glinton (in the center) and Grabavoy (at the far post) arrived an instant too late to push the ball into the net!

After Dallas created a dangerous situation (56th), the Quakes started a new session of crosses and, as in the first half, DFC seemed to be in trouble on almost each of them...But no black jersey was there to finish. As it is often the case in such circumstances, Dallas had their chance on a counter attack but Arturo Alvarez missed the opportunity (high, 62nd)

Both teams started to look tired, which was good news for Dallas who was now clearly trying to keep the result unchanged. Salinas came in for the last 15 minutes (replacing O'Brien) and brought his youth and energy to his team. It could have been the "little something extra" needed to make the decision.

Salinas definitely brought something that Obrien couldn't provide anymore after 75 minutes, but it was not enough. The Quakes tried again in the final minutes while Dallas' bench was begging the referee to blow the final whistle...Which he finally did after 4 minutes of additional time.

After the match, Frank Yallop and his players wanted to insist on their good performance. “Take out not scoring and it was a terrific performance by us". Yallop said. "We did everything right but score, and I do not want the guys to start to get anxious because that will come. It was a great performance by us and I think that if we perform like that we are going to win a lot of games.”

However they couldn't hide their disappointement with the result.

Only Joe Cannon seemed sincerely pleased:“It’s nice to have no goals at home", he said. "I think we did well defensively. The shutouts are always great, the defense is great.  We just need the forwards to get some goals; the guys up front will get one next game.”

Thierry Heumann

A success off the field

The players and the staff really looked disappointed tonight after the game, but for the club, the organization of the event was a great success. Apparently, the evening had been prepared very professionaly by the management and everything worked exactly as expected. The pre-game festivities were run in a festive atmosphere, the food and beverage concessions never seemed over crowded and everyone (the fans, the staff and the press) looked happy.

Even after the game, while the players were walking to the locker rooms with a sad smile on their faces, the crowed looked happy and long after the game was over, the Ultras were still singing. The score may be disappointing for Frank Yallop, but the Earthquakes management will probably keep a good memory of this day.

As nothing can be perfect, a little incident showed that it was a Premiere: Ten minutes before the game, two commercial signs which had been misplaced, were removed and re-positioned at their right places. It took about 1 minute and made everybody laugh except for the marketing department of the Earthquakes who probably had a moment of stress. They could argue, that it helped the crowd notice the ads!

T.H.

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Officials:

Referee: Shane Moody- Assistants: Fabio Tovar; Emilino Monje- 4th official: Yader Reyes

Attendance: 10,515

Yellow cards: 

SJE:Ramiro Corrales (Reckless Foul, 15)

FCD: Pablo Riccheti (Tackle from behind, 69)

Lineups:

San Jose Earthquakes: Joe Cannon - Eric Denton, Nick Garcia (C.), Jason Hernandez,  James Riley -  Ned Grabavoy, Ivan Guerrero (Ryan Johnson, 87), Ramiro Corrales, Ronnie O'Brien (Shea Salinas, 75) -  Kei Kamara, Gavin Glinton (Jean-Philippe Peguero, 55).

FC Dallas: Dario Sala- Anthony Wallace, Duilio Davino (C.), Drew Moor, Blake Wagner - Pablo Riccheti, Andre Rocha (Dax McCarty, 69), Marcelo Saragosa - Juan Toja (Aaron Pitchkola, 89), Arturo Alvarez - Kenny Cooper (Abe Thompson, 83).