FRISCO, Texas – Last Friday, FC Dallas suffered their worst loss under head coach Oscar Pareja, falling 4-0 to the previously winless – and scoreless – Colorado Rapids.
FCD’s big defeat came with captain and defensive anchor Matt Hedges in the stands, unavailable after suffering a blow to the head in training the day before.
“It was hugely frustrating,” said Hedges, who returned to training on Tuesday. “It’s something that happens, a fluke thing during free kick training. It sucks but you don’t want to take any chances. Watching the game, it’s just frustrating because I know I want to be out there.”
Seeing the team play so poorly added salt to the wound, and the 4-0 loss did not sit well with Hedges.
“We came out flat, and that’s not something you can just forget about,” Hedges said. “If we played ok and lost a game, that’s something we can get over, but I don’t think we did well in any aspect.”
Despite some rough moments, Dallas did not lose by multiple goals many times in 2014. Other than their 4-1 loss to D.C. United in April, which saw Mauro Diaz and Blas Perez go out injured and Zach Loyd get ejected all in the first half, Dallas was competitive in every other match under Pareja. Friday, though, the team seemed unable to find their footing for any significant stretch of the game.
“I told the guys, normally we get the loss out of our system, but this one, you have to remember how it felt,” Hedges said. “You can’t forget when you lose 4-0. You never want that to happen again.”
The poor performance opened up every position to completion, with everyone on the Dallas roster needing to earn their spot in the lineup ahead of Saturday’s match against Toronto FC *8:30 pm ET, TSN5, MLS Live).
“Every guy has something to prove again,” Hedges said. “If you were on the field, you want to prove it was a fluke.”
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On a personal note, Hedges is looking forward to the challenge of playing against TFC's US international Jozy Altidore, who sat out the US’s win against Mexico on Wednesday night because of a red card received in the US's match last month against Switzerland.
Hedges and Altidore played together earlier this year when both were at the US’s annual January camp.
“I was in camp with him and got a first taste of what he is like,” Hedges said. “There’s always something to prove.”
