FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman says all pre-season matches are important for the club for a variety of reasons.
First of all, he cites trying to create a winning culture as the most important but also sees them as a great opportunity to give playing time to youngsters and trialists.
So far in pre-season, Dallas have lost three of their five matches (against Toronto FC and Houston Dynamo in the Walt Disney Classic) but Hyndman says the trip to Florida was rewarding despite limited success.
"These games are important for us. We want to establish a culture of winning but at the same time, we really do want to look at some of these players so we don't make some drastic decisions after only looking at players in practice," Hyndman said.
"We need to put them through games in the league. It's a great opportunity for some players and then another opportunity for trialists. It's also an opportunity for other players to step up a bit and get extra coverage."