FC Dallas will be hosting their arch rivals in the first round of the MLS playoffs when the Houston Dynamo visit Pizza Hut Park. It’s been a tough road for the Hoops since the arrival of the Dynamo in Texas for the start of the 2006 season. In that time the two sides have met 8 times during the regular season in what is now known as the Texas Clash. The Hoops record in those meetings is an awful mark of 1 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. This includes a record of 3 losses and 1 draw this season with a humiliating 3-0 loss at home in their last regular season meeting earlier this month. As if this were not bad enough for the Hoops supporters, Houston also happen to be the defending MLS champions.

The outlook is not as bleak for Dallas as it would seem on the surface. Manager Steve Morrow and many of the club’s players were quite happy to find out that they would be going up against the champs. One of the reasons for the optimism is that this will be the first time since the arrival of Brazilian world cup winner Denilson, that Morrow will have his full complement of players available. Club captain Pablo Ricchetti of Argentina is back to 100% fitness and will be able to start in midfield alongside the Colombian Juan Carlos Toja. That will give the Hoops two bona fide ball winning midfielders to go along with the attacking skills of the aforementioned Denilson. Up front, Kenny Cooper has now started two consecutive matches and is ready to play 90 minutes. This development should help take some of the load off of Carlos Ruiz and free up some space for him as well.

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