At the beginning of April, FC Dallas manager Eric Quill called the next two months of the season a gauntlet. Part of that was due to his club playing three of four games in April on the road, with the month of May potentially seeing three different weeks of games on Wednesday followed by a game on Saturday.
Quill’s club is currently in a bit of a rough patch, with only two wins in their last eight games across all competitions.
Wednesday night’s US Open Cup Round of 16 match against the New York Red Bulls could be a spark that gets the club back on track.
“It’s a championship game in our minds. It’s win or go home. It is a great format that puts a little different pressure on you than the regular season does,” said Quill. “I think they’re excited for it. They believe in what our mission is in this tournament and now it is about executing the game plan.”
Quill and his staff will need to come up with a strong game plan, as the club has yet to pick up a win against the Red Bulls in their building. Over the years, FC Dallas has gone winless in games at Sports Illustrated Stadium (formerly known as Red Bull Arena), going 0-5-2, with the last positive result coming in a 1-1 draw during the 2011 season.
The Red Bulls were able to advance fairly comfortably in the previous round, when they knocked off USL Championship side Colorado Springs Switchbacks 4-1.
Since then, the Red Bulls have had highs that included downing the LA Galaxy in a 2024 MLS Cup rematch 7-0 before losing two straight games last week, including a 2-0 loss to rivals NYCFC.
“Nothing changes in how we scheme or game plan,” said Quill. “There are little variables that add to the game like overtime or penalties that we have to think about. Hopefully we take care of business in regular time.”
The last time the two franchises met in the US Open Cup was all the way back in the 1997 season, when FC Dallas was then known as the Dallas Burn and the Red Bulls were the MetroStars. Their semifinal match went into extra time, with Dallas coming out on top. That then led to the Burn winning the club’s first US Open Cup in the final round over D.C. United.
Perhaps history can repeat itself for Dallas when they take on New York, either way, Dallas has to rise to the occasion to advance further into this tournament.
“We have to have self belief that we’re going to go there and advance,” said Quill.
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