Pablo Mastroeni is done waxing philosophically about the Rapids this season. He doesn’t want to hear excuses or any pep talks for underdogs.
So when Mastroeni was asked Monday what Colorado must do to dig itself out of a 2-1 hole Saturday against FC Dallas, the team captain was not subtle.
“I’ll give it to you in very plain, simple English, and that is quit thinking and just play,” he said. “That’s it. No thought, just go out there and play, end of story. There’s no theme, there’s no rhyme, there’s no motivation, there’s nothing – just go out and play.”
Simple enough.
“I could be articulate about it if you want,” Mastroeni said. “We’ve been articulate all year, and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere.”
The Rapids might be facing the end of their season at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, where they must beat the top-seeded Hoops by one goal to force overtime and two goals to win the aggregate-scoring series.
That’s a challenge, considering Colorado has not won since Sept. 13 and has not won on the road since Sept. 2. But it gets worse. The Rapids have not beaten FC Dallas on the road since May 5, 2001, and not by two goals since July 31, 1999.
Defensive mistakes contributed to both FC Dallas goals Saturday in the Rapids’ loss.
“We’ve had the worst defense in (Major League Soccer) this year, and you want to say it’s not reflective of who we are, but I think it is,” goalie Joe Cannon said. “Those mistakes are things that we’ve made all year long. It’s just disappointing and frustrating because I feel the potential of the group is so much better.”
Martins sees red
Thiago Martins didn’t want to talk about his red card for elbowing FC Dallas defender Clarence Goodson on Saturday, only saying: “I hit him. You can print that. I hit him hard.”
Martins said referee Hilario Grajeda should answer for not catching Carlos Ruiz’s handling of the ball in FC Dallas’ first goal, and for disallowing Martins’ goal in the 86th minute.
With Martins out, Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said he most likely will play Jovan Kirovski or Clint Mathis.
Injuries galore
Injuries might force Clavijo to make as many as three changes to his lineup.
Defenders Aitor Karanka (hamstring) and Dan Gargan (ankle) and left winger Jacob Peterson (quadriceps) are trying to recover from knocks they picked up against FC Dallas.
Clavijo said Monday that Gargan is in the worst shape after a rough tackle by Simo Valakari. Karanka jogged lightly Monday.
Rapids defender Mike Petke is available after the veteran finished serving his two-game suspension. Hunter Freeman, Eric Denton and Chris Wingert could take Gargan’s spot.
Peterson’s likely replacement would be rookie Colin Clark or Hernandez, which could open an attacking position for Alain Nkong, Fabrice Noel or Melvin Tarley.
Footnote
Saturday’s crowd of 4,176 was the smallest for a home playoff game in Rapids history. Colorado averaged 11,207 fans in two home playoff games last season. The previous low was 6,434 against the Kansas City Wizards in the 2003 quarterfinals.
