Maybe the greatest gem of the Dallas soccer scene, the Dallas Cup will kick off it's 35th year this Sunday at the Cotton Bowl. If somehow you're a reader of this forum board, but have never attended a Dallas Cup game, for the love of all that is good and holy - do so. You don't even have to pay to see any of the teams. Games at Richland College and Moneygram Park (the new City of Dallas facility off of Walnut Hill and I35) are all free. Only the games at the Cotton Bowl require a ticket. A couple of suggestions: The u19 Super Group is a no-brainer. Just to go see Emerson Hyndman's (grandson of that Hyndman, yes) growth as a playmaker for Fulham is reason enough, but the current champs of the group are just a fun side to watch. But make a trip to Moneygram to see one of the games of FCDallas' U13 team. Without question the most exciting team in the FCD academy. Not just David Ferreira's son, Jesus, is surprising in what he does as a 12 year old, this is a team loaded with kids playing way beyond their age. Yes, this is a U13 ACADEMY team, and FCD is one of the few (if not only) MLS teams to reach that early to start one. If this group can stay together thru u19, the results will be mind bending. Here's our full list of players and teams to watch.
Absolutely all true. If you have any soccer junkie in your soul, you have to do this. See www.dallascup.com for details. The overall schedule is there. Many games are at Richland College and the new facility near I35 and Royal, and are free to attend. But also, there are feature matches at the Cotton Bowl, including this Sunday's major day - FC Dallas v. Fulham, Chivas de Guadalajara v. Fluminense (Brazil), the really cool opening ceremony event and then the marquee game, USA U-20 team v. River Plate. And.... if you want to get special pricing on tickets, use this link and my personal code - "KL1" before Sunday. You can save $15 off the week passes (which is already $5 off the day of game pricing) and $5 off day of game pricing. http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/venueSearch.jsp?venue_id=8545 Finally, like FC Dallas and the Sidekicks, they have unique youth soccer team experiences. Call me on the cell for details, but do it soon! (214) 542-8077. For the record, or those who don't know me personally or otherwise remember, I worked for FC Dallas for 7 years before leaving to open my law firm in September of 2012, but I am consulting with various other soccer organizations including the Sidekicks and the Dallas Cup.
thanks for the link db will pick up mine today...looking forward to sunday night and the always-crappy opening weekend dallas cup weather
Cool post! Not to familiar with all the age groups, but looks like the U15 will be loaded with some very good teams from Mexico and the USA. Some of the better USSF teams are here. Monterrey, I think made the semi-final of mexico U15 tourney. Wish I could watch some of these games...
Here are links to all the games: http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/venueSearch.jsp?venue_id=8545 Links to Sunday's Opening Day - three games plus opening ceremonies: http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1794247 Code for each of the promotional savings is "KL1".
is there a place to bet on weather? honestly I don't think I recall a dallas cup opening day where the sun appeared...of course my attendance has been spotty the past few
So Hyndman's grandson plays for Fulham Academy, I didn't know that, but I guess a possible USMNT contender in a few years
Got to see Fulham play today vs a Swedish team, and I was very impressed with the Fulham team and their play. But, I didn't see or hear anybody named Hyndman on the field. I also got to watch a half of our NT vs Eintracht Frankfurt. Feel free to disagree with me, but despite the 3-0 win, I was left feeling pretty bad about the future of US soccer. While we were clearly the quickest and fastest side, we also had a terrible problem controlling the ball first time. We frequently made clumsy passes up in the air, behind runners, as well as unpressured passes to the opponent. I remember the U-17's that featured Beasley and Donovan. No such group this time. The Brazilian team from Parana, (Coritiba?), that was waiting for the field to start their warm ups was trying to not make rude comments as they watched the low level of soccer being played. I guess we can feel lucky that Fulham are not a national team?
Emerson didn't play and was rested. He's #8, I believe. I think you're being a touch harsh on the US side. They just got together Saturday. Everyone else is a club team. Go watch the FCD U13 academy team... they are a blast.
agree with hitman about being a little harsh given time together and unbelievable strong (and freezing-ass cold) wind yesterday pretty cool to watch the kid juve offered skc $1mm+ for, as well as acosta looking like one of the best players on the field. while i agree we still are a bit reliant on athleticism over soccer, the offense started to click a bit towards end of match and think they are in good shape for knockout round. the #7 was a bit of a ballhog though and looked out of his depth, turning over or slowing down promising attacks repeatedly.
Too harsh for reasons described above. This is a hastily constructed team playing against guys who play together every day. Long-time US YNT followers believe this could be our most talented U20 team since the 2001 group of Donovan, Onyewu, Convey, Beasley, Brad Davis, Edson Buddle, Conor Casey, etc.............................. Also keep in mind that this is just a sliver of the US U20 pool. There are players like Junior Flores of Dortmund, Joel Sonora of Boca Juniors, Russell Canouse of Hoffenheim, Eric Lickert of Freiburg, Kainoa Bailey of Leverkusen, Kristian Scott of Swansea, the aforementioned Emerson Hyndman of Fulham............and on and on and on that aren't currently with the team. When the actual squad for the U20WCQing and the U20WC comes along next year, it could be pretty different.
Good comments (I know you follow in depth on the US youth boards). I guess you're not in the area to watch live? I just thought to myself that if I knew nothing about Acosta I would be raving about his performance the other day and thrilled if I knew FCD was picking him up. He gave the best defensive mid performance I've ever seen from a U20 US Dallas cup squad and I've seen all of them since the aforementioned Donocan-Beasley group. The big forward looks pretty special also and I haven't seen all the players yet as the 4:00 game was too early for me. Plan on watching again tonight and Friday.
saw acosta in the stands at cb tonight during us game. did fcd recall him? or just have the night off in prep for semis on friday night? nice goal by #11 tonight off an underrated early ball out of MF (cant recall who passed it) but i think tonights performance overall was the weakest of the 3 so far. cant wait to see the brazil-argy-us semis on friday.
He played part of the FCD reserve game didn't he? I suspect they are saving him for the later rounds and Tab wants to see more of the other players. Arriola was captain and since I'd never seen him before I was trying to figure out who he was. He was decent but not as good as Acosta at least in the middle. I believe he plays winger at Tijuana. Still like Spencer the big forward and the defenders looked better although Tigres is not River Plate. I still do not like Allen. Just has a bad attitude. The US #10 was surprisingly poor considering his number. Struggled again with porr passes and dribbling into traffic. Not ready for this level of competition yet.
Holy crud. Have any of you got to see the Coritiba team from Parana, Brazil? They dismantled a very stout Fullham team. Did any of you ever see the Nike film "Joga Bonito" whereby they posed the question of whether the heart of Brazilian soccer would continue to be a game of skill and intelligence or would the dark forces of size, strength, and athleticism dominate the Brazilian game? I guess the Coritiba youth system engineers asked: "why the heck don't we do both?" They have brute force, decent height for even a college basketball team, crazy skill, great ball movement, and they attack the set pieces like Velocirapators. I don't think I'd like to see our senior FCD squad take these guys on. They are smoking good! If we took the entire group hostage and nationalized them all, we would have the base team for the USNT for years to come. What a joy these guys are to watch regardless of the style of soccer you like. These guys will end up earning big transfer fees for their club. I even thought Fulham played well despite getting completely destroyed. Little Emerson was a treat to watch. Yes he is too tiny to ever play in the EPL. But, his skill set and off the ball smarts will allow him to make a good living off of his game.
I forgot to mention that Julian Green is actually still U20 eligible, and is presumably one of the best players now in this age group for the US. [Although he presumably won't play for the U20s] Also Marky Delgado of ChivasUSA wasn't released due to the McNamara injury. He'd be one of the kids to play in the middle of the park (or playing fullback). Ramos may decide the team is better with Acosta at fullback and Delgado in the middle. Fullback is clearly a problem area if Acosta plays in the middle. #11 was Rubio Rubin, the kid that plays at Utrecht in Holland. He was a potential homegrown signing for the Timbers, but he decided to go abroad after Bradenton.
That was some great soccer at the Cotton Bowl last night. After seeing Cortiba dismantle Fulham thought they were the team to beat but River Plate battled them to a 2-0 win in an entertaining back and forth game. The USMNT game was one for the ages though. 2-1 at halftime for the US, all quality goals. Then an early second yellow (?) and the US on its heels for 40m plus minutes, hanging on until deep in stoppage a tying goal from Flum. First OT a Flum guy gets sent off (for bitching too much?) and its game on. 2OT US draws a penalty (legit?) and bangs it home. 3-2 US. Plus the Cotton Bowl rules.