Your Loons are slated to host FC Dallas in a high-energy midweek matchup, so it’s time for Storylines to do what Storylines does best: a deep dive into what makes the opponent tick.
Eric Quill’s side has done remarkably well this season, sitting at fourth in the West at the time of writing. It’s a full squad effort, but one name seems to float to the top every time: Petar Musa, tied with Lionel Messi at the forefront of the Golden Boot race. I’ve taken the liberty of going back to watch every single one of his 18 goals in order to accurately impress upon you my conclusion that this man is an absolute beast.
The Making of the Moose
First, a bit of background on our subject of choice. Petar Musa, fondly called “The Moose” by FC Dallas fans, spent most of his youth with a variety of Croatian and Czechian clubs. He then had a two-season stint in Benfica in the Portuguese top-flight, where he won two trophies, before making the move to MLS in June 2024 as a DP striker for Dallas.
Shortly after his arrival in Dallas, Musa scored his first league hat trick. (Unfortunately, said hat trick was against the Loons. Let’s hope he’s not gearing up for a repeat performance of that particular game.) Over the last two and a half seasons, he’s notched an impressive 52 regular-season goals, easily cementing himself as one of the most dominant strikers around.
The 28-year-old striker has established himself at the international level during that time as well. Musa has been a regular presence for Croatia’s senior team since 2023 and even scored against England in the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup™. He’s been called up again for the Vatreni’s Nations League matches later this month, which is no surprise — he just can’t stop scoring.
An Electric 2026
It’s been a busy year for the Moose. In addition to the aforementioned World Cup appearance, he was named to his second MLS All-Star team, landed on Team of the Matchday five times, and made his way to the top of the Golden Boot race with 18 goals to his name — well on track to outpace his 2025 stat of 19 goals on the season. He’s responsible for a whopping 40% of Dallas’ goals this year. At fourth in the West with a 10-6-7 (W-L-D) record and 37 points, the club owes a huge portion of its success to Musa and his penchant for constantly outperforming his expected goals stat. (Four times in August alone, by the way.)
What makes Musa such a consistent goal-scorer? First of all, he’s built for it. At 6’2”, he’s an absolutely dominating presence in the box. He can bully two to three defenders at a time with a combination of fancy footwork and sheer physical power, and he’s fast to boot (pun intended). He’s a natural when it comes to follow-through, quickly pouncing on any second balls that come his way. We don’t have any hard-and-fast second-ball scoring stats in good ol’ MLS, but from my count as I combed through his goals, Musa has scored at least four goals off an attempt rebound, and several more from simply staying alert in the box and trusting his teammates to get the ball to the right place.
That’s not to say Musa is simply a poacher. Several of his goals have come from stunning combination play with either Logan Farrington or Bernard Kamungo, and oftentimes Musa is the architect dictating the flow of the game as soon as the ball enters the attacking third. He won’t hesitate to pass if someone else has a better chance, and he also won’t give up on a play until the whistle blows.
Now take that stature, persistence, and speed, and add in precision and versatility. The perfect striker recipe. Musa knows exactly where needs to be, and once he’s there, he doesn’t need more than a second to capitalize on a loose ball. Seventeen of his 18 goals have been in the box (three of them PKs), with five of them in the six-yard box. And seven of them were scored with a single touch. Leaving him unattended for half a second is punishing for any team.
Perhaps most lethal of all is that he doesn’t just have one tried-and-true approach; he can do it all. He’s scored eleven times with his right foot and four with his weaker left, plus three with his head. He’s got a 100% PK conversion rate. He’s slid. He’s tackled. He’s broken away to make a run all by himself, and he’s battled three defenders at once in the box. (He hasn’t, however, scored off a rabona or bicycle kick, so we can keep tooting our horns about that.)
The takeaway for your Loons? Don’t let Petar Musa out of your sight. Never give him the opportunity to seize even the smallest defensive lapse, because he will — and it will work.
