With frustration creeping in, it took a moment of class from Jesus Ferreira to break the deadlock in FC Dallas’ 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday.
The hosts had pushed hard, but were wasteful in their efforts to take the lead against the newly crowned, visibly tired and rotated North American champions.
But when an Emmanuel Twumasi pass was brilliantly dummied by Paul Arriola to Ferreira in the 65th minute, there was nobody more composed in Toyota Stadium, with the homegrown DP taking a touch to settle before picking his spot and placing a supremely accurate finish beyond Stefan Cleveland.
It’s not the first time Ferreira has been the difference-maker for Dallas this season. The 21-year-old is now tied on seven goals at the top of the MLS Golden Boot standings after just 10 appearances.
That form has unsurprisingly pushed Ferreira back into Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT reckoning and many are placing him at the front of the race to be his nation’s No.9 when the World Cup rolls around in November.
But right now, Ferreira is staying focused on the present, scoring goals for Dallas and helping his boyhood club win titles.
“I don’t want to think too much ahead on the national team or what role that would be,” he said. “My mentality’s mainly here, here at home, (to) keep working hard, to earn a spot on the (Dallas) roster. I’m going to keep working, keep doing the things to make Dallas gain points. The ultimate goal is to win a championship with Dallas, so obviously my mindset is always (to) score goals, help the team in any way I can so we can achieve our goals.”
Un gol para la familia pic.twitter.com/dtZIcUa3Bs
— FC Dallas 🙂 (@FCDallas) May 8, 2022
Dallas’ success would ultimately be to the gain of the United States. Their strong start to the 2022 campaign has been largely fuelled by the combination and understanding forming between USMNT duo Ferreira and Arriola, with the pair notching a combined 12 direct goal contributions so far. It was the latter who put the game beyond Seattle in the 88th minute on Saturday.
“Paul and I played in the National Team together before he came here. We’re good friends outside of soccer and in soccer, so it’s something we build in training day in and day out,” Ferreira said of his connection with Arriola.
“I’m happy that we’re clicking. If you can tell, it’s kind of hard right now to click with the front three but we’re trying to make the best of it. And that comes with time, learning each other’s movements. Paul and I are getting to that stage where we understand each other’s movements and what we need to do to free someone up.”
Next up for FC Dallas is a trip to Sporting Kanas City in the US Open Cup round-of-32 on Tuesday.
