FC Dallas knocked out of Leagues Cup by Juárez as season goes from bad to worse

FC Dallas will be on vacation for more than three weeks, which is bad news for a club that has had a turbulent season.

With Wednesday’s 2-0 loss at Toyota Stadium against FC Juárez, FCD was eliminated from the Leagues Cup, the midsummer tournament between MLS and Liga MX teams.

FC Dallas was forced to win its match against Juárez after losing its group opener 2-1 on Saturday at St. Louis.

The Leagues Cup includes 77 matches hosted at MLS stadiums throughout the U.S. and Canada.

All 29 MLS clubs and 18 Liga MX teams participate in a World Cup-style tournament. The competition has a Group Stage made up of two regions (East and West), followed by knockout rounds until one team is crowned champion.

Officially sanctioned by Concacaf, the top three teams will receive automatic bids into the Concacaf Champions Cup with a chance to represent the Confederation at the FIFA Club World Cup.

FC Dallas will not play again until August 24, when the MLS regular season resumes, on the road against D.C. United.

In the 23rd minute, Juárez scored the decisive goal with a header from the center of the box by Ángel Zaldívar, assisted by Ralph Orquin.

In front of 13,367 fans who faced a 90-degree temperature at the start of the game, FC Dallas tried to shake off the surprise of finding themselves down on the scoreboard but could not create any dangerous plays in front of the opponent’s goal.

In the 82nd minute, Juárez got a penalty kick in their favor, with Ecuadorian Avilés Hurtados giving the visitors a 2-0 lead.

The early elimination in the Leagues Cup against Juárez, one of the weakest teams in Liga MX, is a painful reminder of how things have gone for FCD this season.

Juarez’s win was only the second for a Mexican team in the Leagues Cup in 40 games.

So far in the Liga MX tournament, FC Juárez had lost three games and tied one.

FCD’s elimination from the Leagues Cup adds to the club’s nightmare of a season. With eight games left in the regular season, the Frisco squad is currently out of the MLS playoff picture.

FC Dallas interim coach Peter Luccin acknowledged that his team had a terrible game against Juárez.

“It’s been our worst game since I took over as head coach,” said Luccin, who on June 9 replaced Nico Estévez as FCD head coach.

“It’s a sad day for me. We’re very far from reaching the level we want. On offense, we didn’t create opportunities, and on defense, my players lost many personal duels. You can’t win games like that,” said Luccin.

The FCD coach said that the elimination from the League Cup hurts him a lot.

“We are squeezing a lot of players from the second team and the Academy, asking them to do too many things. Other players are too tired; they have no more juice right now. These are not excuses; we played very poorly today”, Luccin said.

“We must all reflect on what we’re not doing well; today’s defeat was like a punch in the face.”

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