A hat trick and assist just before going to represent the US men’s national team in World Cup qualifiers as Concacaf’s three automatic Qatar 2022 spots get locked in? That’ll earn you the Week 4 honor of MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire.
That player, of course, is FC Dallas forward Jesús Ferreira who scored three times within a 10-minute span to spark a 4-1 win over the Portland Timbers on Saturday night. He also assisted fellow USMNT attacker Paul Arriola’s late goal that iced the match.
Ferreira, the “smart choice” after a combined fan and media vote, is the ninth player in league history to score a hat trick in the span of 10 minutes or less. It’s the fastest hat trick in FC Dallas history.
The 21-year-old homegrown is playing as the No. 9 in new manager Nico Estevez's 4-3-3 formation. That role used to be occupied by USMNT striker Ricardo Pepi, who departed in the offseason via a club-record transfer to FC Augsburg of the German Bundesliga.
This past offseason, Ferreira re-signed with FCD as a Young Designated Player. He originally turned pro in 2016.
After the March international break, FC Dallas return to action April 2 when visiting an unbeaten Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field (3:30 pm ET | Univision, TUDN, Twitter).
The MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
