FC Dallas looking to add more firepower

Schellas Hyndman didn't mince words on Thursday when he strolled over to the press tent.

"We have to find a striker," the FC Dallas coach told Goal.com. "We need to find a striker. We've identified a short list and there are three people on it."

With Kenny Cooper leading the way and Dominic Oduro playing well but inconsistently, Hyndman is looking to add firepower. Plus, Cooper most likely will be sold in the winter transfer window. Speculation late Thursday evening was that Jeff Cunningham of Toronto FC might be one of those three players. The MLS trade deadline is August 15, so a deal with TFC would have to be done in the next week. But nothing is confirmed.

"The three guys we have in mind are a Croatian forward, a current MLS striker and a South American, really in that order," Hyndman explained.

An MLS striker, Pat Noonan, was available last week, but Dallas moved too slowly to make a deal with New England, and the former U.S. international went to Columbus. Instead, the Hoops signed Dutch striker Viktor Sikora.

"I'm happy with [Sikora]," Hyndman said. "When we signed him, we didn't know of Pat Noonan's availability. We definitely would have been interested in Pat, though. We found we could have been a player for Noonan after we signed Viktor, therefore, we felt obligated to stick to our choice."

In other personnel moves, FCD recently brought in two young players from Argentine powerhouse River Plate, right fullback Lucas Malacarne and forward Lucas Gomez. "I like their work ethic here, but they just aren't ready yet," said Hyndman. Forward Ricardinho, brought over from Clube Atletico Paranaense (Brazil) a year ago, does not appear to have garnered much favor since Hyndman's arrival either. He has no goals in just one start this year.

Regardless of who the new striker is, the good news for Hoops fans is that Dallas has posted two straight shutout wins. The club is now in third place in the West, with the weekend off from action.