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FC Dallas exposed by ‘more experienced’ Tigres club in international friendly loss

Despite the 3-0 loss, manager Nico Estévez was happy to have this type of warm up before the home stretch of the MLS season.

FRISCO — Better to get it out of the system now.

FC Dallas was eager to play Saturday night’s friendly match against a prestigious Tigres team. The Mexican club started nearly half of the lineup it typically starts in Liga MX play. FCD used more of a reserve side.

Ultimately, it showed, with the visitors winning 3-0 in front of a crowd of nearly 15,000 at Toyota Stadium, many of whom wearing the bright yellow shirt of Tigres.

A decidedly Tigres UANL crowd celebrates the game’s first goal during the first half as FC...
A decidedly Tigres UANL crowd celebrates the game’s first goal during the first half as FC Dallas hosted Tigre at Toyota Stadium in Frisco on Saturday, September 24, 2022. (Stewart F. House/Special Contributor)(Stewart F. House / Special Contributor)

FCD manager Nico Estévez wasn’t making excuses for the loss after the match. Still, he said he hopes his team can take some of the deficiencies exposed by Tigres and polish them ahead of the last two matches of the regular season and what FCD hopes will be a deep playoff run.

“I’m really happy to have this type of game,” Estévez said in his post-match news conference. “Despite the fact we won’t draw a lot of conclusions and it was more about physical exercise, a mental test to be in the game, to help get players who haven’t been playing to play, it really helped us to refresh every players’ energy and motivation.”

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With starting forward Jesus Ferreira and first-choice winger Paul Arriola with the U.S. national team and another typical starter, winger Alan Velasco, still recovering from a thigh injury, FCD went with an attack led by forward Franco Jara and young wingers Kalil ElMedkhar and Beni Redzic.

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While Jara had a handful of chances, including a rocket from outside the box in the 51st minute shortly after Tigres’ second goal, he wasn’t able to beat either Tigres’ No. 1 Nahuel Guzman or reserve goalkeeper Miguel Ortega, who came in during a wave of changes for both squads in the second half.

On defense, it was a chance for Estévez to get a look at fullbacks Nanu and Eddie Munjoma as the typical starters in those positions rested as well. While there were few major system-wide breakdowns, FCD struggled with Tigres’ individual quality.

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“I felt like this team was a little bit more experienced,” FCD center back Nkosi Tafari said after the game. “Can’t necessarily say they played better than us, but they took their chances. I was defending and it didn’t really feel like we were under too much pressure. Fires were put out fairly simply.

“They just have experience and clinical finishing. That wins games and championships.”

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Jesus Garza had Tigres ahead just before the halftime break, looping a shot from outside the box over FCD’s defenders and surprising FCD goalkeeper Maarten Paes as he put the long-range effort into the corner of the net. And Tigres doubled the lead five minutes after the interval with a goal from midfielder Juan Pablo Vigon, who popped up at the back post to finish a cross from forward Jordy Caicedo.

The final goal saw Nicolas Lopez, who returned from injury for Tigres to play in the friendly, attempt to beat Paes with a chipped finish. Left back Marco Farfan, in as a substitute, cleared it off the goal line, but Caicedo hit the post with the next touch and the rebound fell for Florian Thauvin.

The result won’t count against FCD in the table, but the most concerning part about the defeat may be that few players who got their chance were able to take advantage of it in a convincing way. That will likely see Estévez continuing to rely on the rotation he’s established throughout the season, using a shorter bench than most MLS managers.

Ferreira and Arriola will be back ahead of FCD’s trip next weekend to meet the Colorado Rapids, with Velasco potentially healthy for that trip or for the season finale against Sporting Kansas City on Oct. 9.

The Dallas Morning News partners with The Striker Texas to bring coverage of FC Dallas and other notable Texas soccer stories to dallasnews.com. Find more soccer coverage at thestrikertexas.com.

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