Image: Toros95
06/23/2023
It took me a while, but I've finally done it... I finally went to an FC Dallas away game! I tried back in 2020, I bought tickets and hopped on a plane for their match against New York City FC. It was my first time to visit NYC (or even get on a plane) and I was excited.
Unfortunately, that was the weekend when the USA shut down. The NBA postponed their season the night before I going to travel. I still hopped onto the plane (I had already spent the money on tickets for the plane, game, and Broadway). After I landed in New York though, I found out the match had been postponed...
Fastforward to June 2023 and now I work weekends so it's harder for me to go to (or even watch on AppleTV) FC Dallas matches. I saw that Dallas was going to play Austin in Austin, TX on a Wednesday and since I would have the day off, it was one of the away games I wanted to attempt to go to.
Texas is huge. We have three Major League Soccer teams and it's taken me until 2023 to see another MLS stadium up close. The game was originally slated for a 7:30 start but that time was pushed back to 8:30 due to the excessive heat. Because of that, I knew I could wait later to drive down to Austin. I didn't have the money to stay somewhere in the city, so it was going to be a day trip, drive down and drive back up.
I drove over four hours and met up with some more Dallas fans in Austin. We walked towards the stadium, stopping at a brewery on the way to kill some time. While at the brewery though, we noticed something that had plagued Dallas a couple of times already this season... lightning... lots and lots of lightning...
Image: Toros95
I made it to the stadium and to one's surprise the game was postponed for a bit. I made it up to the away supporters' section and waited with other Dallas fans. The game finally did start (around 10:00pm) and Dallas looked okay at first. We were missing most of our regular starters. We had six players listed as "out" due to injury, three on the "questionable" list, Jader Obrian (who has been filling in Paul Arriola) was out due to suspension, and Jesus Ferreira had already left to be with the USMNT for the Gold Cup.
The game was bad for Dallas. Hardcore Dallas fans knew this would be a tough match for them, we had over ten players out. There were some good moments for Dallas in the first half, for example Maarten Paes' double save around the 12th minute (I can't find a clip of just that moment sadly).
The 16th minute came and Austin FC took the lead. Ethan Finlay put the first dagger into Dallas. It was only a 1-0 lead though and it was only the first half so there was plenty of time for Dallas to even it up. Diego Fagundez added another goal for Austin in the 41st minute. Austin went into halftime with 2-0 lead.
Image: Toros95
The second half starts. Dallas kept Austin from furthering the lead and it seemed as though Dallas might actually push for a comeback. Forward Jose Mulato subbed in for fullback (turned winger for this match at least) Collin Smith in the 53rd minute.
I cannot think of anything that the Dallas attack did in the second half that was notable. Maarten Paes had another great save but other than that, I can't remember what Dallas did in the second half, it was extremely forgettable.
In the 57th minute, Gyasi Zardes scored to make it 3-0. I was already tired and with the match starting at 10pm, I was going to be coming back home pretty late, so I left after that third goal. I listened to the rest of the game on the radio. I made it home around 4am.
Despite the loss and forgettable performance, I'm glad I was finally able to make a trip to an FC Dallas away game. I'm going to try and go to another one this year, hopefully by then Dallas will get more of their starters back.
By Toros05