Jesus Ferreira still feels the pull of FC Dallas. The Seattle Sounders forward said he gets butterflies before Saturday night’s meeting in Seattle with the club where he grew up, and he is looking forward to seeing it from the other side.
“There’s still, like, butterflies,” Ferreira said before the match. “Going against your childhood club, the club that you grew up your whole life in … so, it’s exciting. I’m looking forward to it.”
Ferreira enters the game in his second season with Seattle with five assists, tied for fifth in MLS. The Sounders come in at 5-1-1 with 16 points and a five-match unbeaten run, including a 4-0-1 stretch, after beating St. Louis City 4-1 at home last Saturday.
That win showed why Seattle has started so well. Cristian Roldan scored twice in the first half, Albert Rusnak assisted both goals on corner kicks, and Rusnak later converted a penalty after Roldan declined a chance to chase a hat trick. Osaze De Rosario also scored off a Ferreira pass, while Seattle has allowed an MLS-low three goals all season. Its 495-minute shutout streak ended only when St. Louis scored on a deflected shot in stoppage time.
FC Dallas arrives at 3-2-4 with 13 points and a 0-1-2 run over its past three matches. Petar Musa leads the MLS Golden Boot race with nine goals, giving Dallas at least one finishing threat as it tries to end a long run of frustration at Lumen Field.
The club is 1-12-4 all-time there, and its only victory in Seattle came in 2011. Dallas coach Eric Quill said the recent addition of Santiago Moreno is beginning to fit in better after the winger made his first start Wednesday in a 1-0 loss to Minnesota United. Moreno, who is on loan from Brazilian side Fluminense, joined FC Dallas in late March and, Quill said, his quality is becoming more obvious as he learns the team’s style and teammates.
That makes Saturday night more than a reunion for Ferreira. It is a Western Conference match between a Seattle team playing like one of the league’s sharpest early contenders and a Dallas side still searching for traction in a stadium where history has been mostly against it.
