All the facts from FC Dallas’ playoff exit.
FC Dallas saw their season come to an end on Sunday night in a 2-1 loss to Austin FC in the Western Conference semifinals.
Head Coach Nico Estévez
On the season ending…“I would like to congratulate Austin FC, the staff and the players on reaching the Western Conference Finals in the second year. I would like to say that, when we go back to the beginning of the year, after the disappointment of the last season, every one of you, I’m pretty sure, had a lot of doubts about what this team could do this year.”
On the team… “I feel really, really proud of my players, my staff, the entire front office for this club for all the hard work that they’ve done throughout the year that puts us in a position to be fighting for the Western Conference Final. We couldn’t do it tonight, we came up short. In the first half, we didn’t show what we are able to do in the second half. We are a brave team, an aggressive team, and we had the chances to change the score. But I want to send a positive message from the entire season that this team has done. We’re disappointed today, but we learn to come out stronger for the next season.”
Forward Jesús Ferreira
On tonight’s result…“It’s heartbreaking to end the season like that. We know that everyone gave everything they could throughout the year to get to where we are now. We were unable to get the result this time but we will keep our head cool as we look forward to next season.”
A message to the fans…“Thank you for supporting us along the way. We would like to thank you for trusting us since day one. We dreamed of bringing the trophy back home at the end of the playoffs to you all. Unfortunately, we were unable to this year but we are looking forward to the next one and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again soon.”
Midfielder Brandon Servania
On the match…“We didn’t play how we know how to play. So that’s on us. We know it’s a playoff game and you can’t afford to have a slow start in these games because everyone’s great competition, they’re going to take advantage of it.”
On the team this season…“It’s a great group of guys. We made progress from last year and it still hurts because we know that we could have gone further than we did. But we just learned from what we did this year and we will keep progressing from last year to this year, and then next year be even better.”
Defender Matt Hedges
On the match…“The first half we didn’t look ready, we didn’t come out like we were ready. We didn’t come out with intensity and it showed. And you can’t win playoff games playing one half.”
On the team’s slow start…“Our intensity wasn’t where it needed to be. It was the difference in the game. Between the first and second half, (our intensity) was night and day. We pushed the game to where it needed to be.”