PORTLAND – Life doesn’t always stop for a soccer game.
FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja and his team know that all too well now, with the tragic news breaking on Thursday that Pareja’s mother, Martha, had passed away in Colombia just days before the team's Western Conference Championship match against the Portland Timbers.
Dallas players offered their condolences to their coach during training at Providence Park on Saturday evening, and hoped that the tragic turn of events would help the team rally around their coach as they look to make another stride in the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs.
“We want to give him a result, give him something to bring his mood up a little bit,” FCD defender Walker Zimmerman told MLSsoccer.com at Dallas training on Saturday evening. “We’re family here – we mourn with those who mourn, we rejoice with those who rejoice and that’s just what we’re going to do tomorrow.”
Said midfielder Victor Ulloa: “It’s definitely a sad moment for us, but we’ll take that as motivation and this game will be for her.”
Pareja left the team to be with his family in Colombia after news of his mother’s passing broke, leaving his assistant to guide the team through their final preparations. He will arrive in Portland late on Saturday night and take the bench for Sunday's game (7:30 pm ET; FS1, FOX Deportes, TSN5).
“It’s tough for him and we’re obviously all close to him because he’s been a great coach to us and he always treats us well,” said Dallas forward Tesho Akindele. “We feel for him, but we have a job to do at the end of the day and he knows that, too, so I think when he comes back he’ll just be focused and we all kind of want to get the result for him.”
Pareja also received an unprompted message of support from his opposite number, Timbers head coach Caleb Porter, after his team's training session on Friday.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to Oscar and his mother and the passing,” Porter said. “I’m really sorry for his loss and certainly that’s going to inspire his group even more.”
