Ruiz suits up for home country
FCD striker will play for native Guatemala vs. Mexico
Ruiz will be playing in his 75th game for his country and his next goal will make the 28-year-old striker the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Guatemalan national team. He is currently tied with Juan Carlos Plata with 35 tallies.
"It's a very important game for us," he said. "There are a lot of expectations in Guatemala about this game. We have to go to L.A. and try to play well. Playing Mexico in L.A. is kind of like playing them in Mexico. So, we'll see how it goes. I think that if we can play well, then we can get a good result. It will be about 80 percent Mexico fans and 20 percent for Guatemala."
He will depart Frisco on Mon., Oct. 15 and is slated to return to Frisco three days later, in advance of the Hoops' regular season finale against Kansas City. The FCD captain has played in 21 games this season for FCD, 19 of those starts, and has seven goals and two assists. He also has two more goals in SuperLiga and another pair in U.S. Open Cup play, giving him a total of 11 in all competitions.
The Guatemalan international admits that while playing at a venue with as much history as the Coliseum is a great thing, it isn't exactly a new experience for him.
"I have played at the Coliseum many times," Ruiz said. "When I played in the last (CONCACAF) Gold Cup before this one, we played a lot of games there and have also played a lot of tournaments there. It's a big stadium and it does have a lot of history. We'll see if the grass is OK for soccer because I know that the USC football team plays in that stadium."
But the one question Ruiz is being asked more than any other heading into this match are his thoughts on possibly becoming Guatemala's all-time leading scorer in national team history as soon as next Wednesday.
"Everybody is asking me about this," he said. "But the thing is that, right now, I don't know if Mexico is going to play with their under-23 national team because if they play with that team and I score against them, it won't matter because for it to count, it has to come against their full national team. If I score a goal, it will be a wonderful thing for me."
In a 3-0 loss to Houston on Sept. 30 at Pizza Hut Park, Ruiz was shown a straight red card after an altercation with Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark that put him out of last Saturday's match in Columbus. Earlier in the game, he had already been booked, which put him over the caution limit and added another one-game suspension, which he served in Thursday's scoreless draw with Chivas USA.
Before his absence, Ruiz was showing solid late season form as he had five goals in his last 10 matches. If the Hoops are to advance past the opening round of the playoffs for the first time since 1999, Ruiz's play will be a huge factor for FCD. The Hoops are locked into the third spot in the Western Conference and will face either Chivas USA or Houston in the conference semifinal series.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
