After the last game against Turkey, we now have........................ ...............8 players that spent time at the Dallas academy who've played at a World Cup. Kellyn Acosta Jesus Ferreira Rogelio Funes Mori Weston McKennie Shaq Moore Ricardo Pepi Chris Richards Alex Zendejas We could have had some more (Tessmann, Cannon, etc.) but I believe that's the list. Am I missing anyone? A well-earned World Cup debut for Alejandro Zendejas 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/wJSGBFJyKy— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) June 26, 2026
Time stamps refer to video time, not game time. Mexico U16s v England U16s, Vertex Cup, 4/22/26 (Mexico loses 5-1) · Watching here for 2010 CB Chris Guillen-Lopez, who starts as the central CB in a back three for Mexico. (Former FCD trialist from El Paso, Aric Mata, starts at RCB). After the first half cooling break, they move him to LCB and then back to the right of a CB pair about 10min into the 2H. Headline: struggled badly, but less than the team as a whole. Fair amount to say positive about his work on the ball but he was way too up and down against it. · 16:10 – CGL slow to react to a shot (and the subsequent rebound) which lets the England FW get to it first and nearly score. Breaks the offside line 1:51:25, directly leading to goal #4. · 22:18 – well done to get his head on a cross into a crowded box. 23:08 would prefer him try to clear with his foot than his head. · 25:30 – slows the play but can’t prevent England’s ST from getting turned around eventually and making play. Can’t even slow the play at 29:50 and England gets a quick break and their first goal. Much better 1v1 at 43:20 to turn the #9 over near the box. Likewise, tough spot at 1:27:15 as his hapless CB partner gets turned and now he’s effectively defending 2v1 – patient backpedaling, waits for the ST to commit one way, and then closes like a jaguar to tackle the ball loose and out. · Despite Mexico’s general issues playing through England’s pressure, CGL’s kind of the only Mexico defender that looks comfortable and effective back there playing to feet (#13 Aguilar especially is well into “Brother, don’t pass to him. On my mother’s life, he is playing against us.” territory). Not much show-stopping but he’s getting the ball upfield almost every time to his teammates’ feet – he’s not just passing the buck sideways. Don’t know what he sees at 1:22:30 – can’t let the other team speed you up. He gets into trouble when flighting balls over defenders + distance (eg: 35:25, which almost leads to another huge chance). USA U16s v Argentina U16s, Vertex Cup, 4/22/26 (USA loses 5-3) · Watching here for 2010 CM/LB Alex Soria, who starts as the single pivot for the US in this one (in possession – defending he’s often the left side of a double DM look) wearing #14; goes to the left side of a double pivot after halftime. I note that, though he’s been used as a LB prior with this age group, this tournament they rely on him heavily in this DM position – gets usage like he’s one of the top kids of the vintage. Subbed out about 15min into the 2H. 2010 CB Arne and FW Kimbrough start on the bench – both come on (as a RCB and ST respectively) as Soria goes off. The US had their fate in their hands – a win meant winning the event. Headline: disappointed by how much of a passenger Soria was for the bulk of this tournament - struggled to make plays to make a difference. Arne comfortably below the level for stretches. Kimbrough scored the great goal and was solid if underfed otherwise. · What’s the thought behind the touch at 2:46:24? Can’t direct the throughball at 2:49:50. Can’t control the ball and loses the 50/50 at 3:15:55. Drives but can’t find a pass at 3:25:10 after giving it to his CBs a few times and getting it right back. Nearly another assist on a CK at 3:26:35. Better decisiveness and execution at 3:49:40 to play fast and vertical. · Really nice step to intercept and start an attack the other way at 3:13:25. Again at 3:17:52. Again nice work to get to the ball first at 3:18:42 but he needs to control the game from there – gets out-psychical-ed off-the-ball soon thereafter. · Argentina’s first happens soon after 3:14:05. Watch Soria fail to track his runner who eventually arrives at the top of the box to score. Tyler Adams v Netherlands in 2022 kind of thing. · Argentina’s second happens soon after 3:16:55 – Soria hesitates to close down the Argentina #10 and allows a free shot from ~27 yards – well struck and in. · Kimbrough: Like the awareness of space and timing at 4:05:15 to get into a window and quickly move the ball up the wing. Good run at 4:08:00 to make himself and option and then carry into a dangerous zone – a hard cross across the six maybe find Danjaji at the back post for a tap in. Fantastic goal at 4:10:30 - no notes. Nice at 4:23:42 to get onto the long ball and carry into a dangerous spot, but can’t quite make the yard needed to get a shot away. · Arne: Argentina’s second comes soon after 4:03:10 – hard to tell exactly because a lot happens off camera but Arne’s got to mark #9 and #10 by himself on the weakside because Niles zones out for a second and can’t catch his man – once #9 checks up at 4:03:15, one hopes Arne is desperately trying to reposition to close down the #10, but regardless he can’t get there in time. Lol no, Arne, he’s not offside at 4:06:49 because you’re sitting three yards behind the rest of the defense. Whiffed, unnecessary, kind of dangerous clearance at 4:07:05. Senseless clearance at 4:09:14 to try to get to Kimbrough in triple coverage when he’s under no pressure and has Danjaji in an acre right in front of him. Miscommunication at 4:15:43 between Arne and his RW. This announcer is hilariously for Argentina and against the US.
Now the U16 2010s. This is the team that got entered into playoff qualifying up a year against 2009s and made it to playoffs before getting walloped by Philly's 2009s. The story so far this offseason has been the addition of ST Davian Kimbrough. He'll be full-time with NTX until their season ends, I imagine, taking the minutes that were going to '07 Chris Salazar (who leaves for Wisconsin). He's a bit of an outlier: FCD has not recruited all that successfully in this age group (depending on how you count certain players) - most of the best prospects have been in the organization since U12 or earlier. Hope there's more fresh blood being injected this offseason (recognizing that you probably don't want to unnecessarily block the very good 2011s). CM Alex Soria is the best non-Kimbrough prospect in the vintage for me. Runs the show when he plays against 2009s, December birthday, lots of YNT time, growing into a solid frame, great mover, technically excellent. I don't think he's quite Flowers or Vejrostek's level (to pick the top kids from the 2009s and 2011s), but firmly in the pro pathway. Next tier is CB Christian Guillen-Lopez (maybe just Guillen now?) and ST Angelo Caiafa. Guillen's a Rolls-Royce defender (sometimes plays as a CM, to give an idea) - two extra inches of height and he'll be about as blue chip as it gets. Caiafa's a Venezuela dual-nat who's, like Soria, super young for the age group - total bully physically even against 2009s and can hit the ball really hard. Watching Brian Brobbey for the Netherlands reminds me of him. Your likely starter with the U19s this season. Last tier of keep-an-eye-on-them kids is three "the flashes are extremely bright" players (FW Theo Hallie - dribbly, explosive attacker that can get bullied out of games - , W Alvin Tabe - tall, skinny FW with super soft feet - , and CB Titus Watson - physically ready-made CB with the skill to carry credibly into midfield) who struggle to really "own" games, CB Patrick Arne, who everyone at FCD at US Soccer treats like he's The Truth but I don't see much from, and CM Johan Padilla, a silky smooth space-finding #6/8 - reminds me of Thiago Alcantara in his best moments but is not particularly "traitsy". Handful of confirmed departures already: FW Xavier Gomez, AM Nathan Ochoa, LB/CM Dariel Orta. Apart from Gomez, more middle-of-the-roster players who had lost playing time. For younger players playing up, 2011s Flowers and Jaimes played full time with this group in the fall before Flowers graduated up. I saw a fair amount of 2011s FW Olowu, FW Lamar, ST/AM Luccin, and LB Pea with them later in the spring.
Flowers pulling a Cavan Sullivan, I guess. Don't love the deal (for basically any party), but if it's what keeps him with FCD then so be it. NEW: Per multiple sources, FC Dallas has signed top 2011 winger prospect Benji Flowers to a pro deal.Additionally per multiple sources, Flowers has a pre-deal to join Chelsea FC at age 18.Flowers is one of the best players in the 2011 age group around the country. Top talent. pic.twitter.com/6hiImH1uAw— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) June 29, 2026
Don’t Understand why they would put a player like him at Cdm ♂️♂️♂️. Hes such a fullback/winger type player. Fast. Explosive. Skillful.
Signing with FCD. Him and Kirkes are two really solid CB adds to the 2011s. Makes me wonder if FCD's planning to play him in midfield or to move Miguel Coriano into midfield (where he plays for Puerto Rico). Recently the youngest goalscorer in UPSL history. Won the ECNL national championship last summer.
Related: FCD's 2009, 2011, and 2013 ECNL squads made it through the group stage of national playoffs this past week. The 2009s and 2013s lost in the R16 and were eliminated; the 2011s beat Solar in PKs in the quarters and are going to the semifinals in a couple of weeks.
......................oh, and three FCD academy products are likely to start the World Cup game on Monday. Just that little thing going on.
3-0 for NTX tonight over bogey team STL2 as they opened the new stadium in Mansfield. Really sloppy first 45-60min in possession (NTX had the last three weeks off) but the game snow-balled after they took the lead. Spent the game in a 433 (in contrast with the 3421 they'd been using the last couple of months - was that just because Pela got injured?). Fully smothered STL2's attack for long stretches. All the defenders (and Charles in midfield) had a hand in that - Slade Starnes coming back from his injury layoff may be huge for this team. First goal was some inelegant but effective combo play down the right between Contreras, Nys, and Newman that led to Contreras hitting a cutback from the endline that deflected back to Swann, who found Louis in the six yard box. Second was a semi-cleared corner falling to Swann and him getting lucky that his first (terrible) shot rebounded back to him alone in front of goal. Third was some very nice hold-up play from Kimbrough to secure the ball and feed Flowers at the top of the box before Flowers dummied it and left it for Louis all alone on the weak side. Thread-eligibles -'05 Newman wasn't supposed to start but Pela picked up an injury in warmups so they threw in Newman at RB. Really solid all-around game. Still don't see much if anything from him in the final third, but he's useful. -'07 Torquato started at LB and had the least to do of the defenders against the ball. His best dribbles ended by taking too many touches at the end - could have made a simple pass and left well enough alone. -'07 Charles started at DM in place of the injured Pela. Awful, extremely bad first half in basically all aspects. Mostly tightened up in the 2H (though I really want him to learn to turn into space rather than play sideways or backwards). Was originally scheduled to start at RCB? -'07 Swann started as one of two #8/10s alongside Nys. Goal and an assist though neither was a particularly great play by him. Busy but uneven game otherwise. -'07 Contreras started at RW, moved to LW when Kimbrough came on, then finished the game at RB. Completely silent first 30min. Reasonably efficient when he got on the ball but just didn't touch the ball much. Involved in the first. -'06 Nick Simmonds had a game to forget. Subbed at half and his replacement got a brace. (at this point) typical inconsistency of quality on the ball. -'10 ST Kimbrough came on for the last 20min or so. Lots of good, strong hold up play to get the ball and do something useful with it. Gets the assist on the third. Bigger/faster at this level than I would have expected. -'07 Marlon Luccin got the final 10min. Made the break that Flowers goofed (see below). Also had a really bad foul in NTX's end. -'11 Benji Flowers came on for the last few minutes. Ended up leading a 4v1 counter-attack a minute or two before the third goal that he wasted via brainfreeze. Notable, then, that he cleared his head and made the aware play on the third itself.
I remember the videos they used to put out about the academy system. A lot of clips in here from them.
0-1 loss on the road for NTX against Colorado this evening. Dominated the first half, got the ball around goal in dangerous spots about 20 times, then either goofed the shot or the decision before the shot and never really tested Campagnolo. Much more up-and-down game in the 2H that Colorado started owning for the last 15min and eventually bundled in a scrum after a corner kick in the 90th. Thread-eligibles -'07 GK Nico Montoya got the start and made the best save of the match: a lightning reaction down to his right to deny De Coteau. Fine with his feet. Solid game (I think - the feed cut out a few times for a few seconds in the 2H, so hard to say definitively). -'08 Jonah Gibson started at RB. NTX did this weird thing where, in the buildout, the fullbacks pinched in as double pivots in midfield while the wingers dropped back as wingbacks. Not conducive to Gibson's skillset. Got swamped defensively in the 2H but he was constantly outnumbered on his side - something went badly wrong with NTX's transition defense. -'09 Liam Vejrostek played the full 90' as a LB. Same situation as described with Gibson above except Vejrostek actually has the chops to do that hybrid role in possession. Relatively small and slow for the level but that only hurt the team twice. Had a large cast on his left arm, which would explain why we haven't seen him for 6 weeks. -'07 Ian Charles started as a DM but often rotated with Slade Starnes so that he was the RCB and in that situation destroyed NTX's offside line about four times (only once actually causing a real problem). Very active game both with and without the ball - thought he was generally good apart from the offside-setting and how freely Rapids broke through NTX's midfield in the 2H, but I don't know how much to put that on Charles. -'07 Jaidyn Contreras started at RW. Extremely active and dangerous in the 1H - unlucky not to get an assist or two. Much quieter in the 2H. -'10 Davian Kimbrough started at ST. Thought he was very good again - his first ~90' for NTX have increased my opinion of him. Really strong and assured under pressure, good movement. Finishing wasn't sharp in this one and once or twice he could be accused of a lack of fluidity in the final 20 yards, but it's the same for the whole team. -'07 Marlon Luccin, '06 Daniel Baran, '09 Sam Sedeh, and '11 Benji Flowers all came on as subs. None made especially positive impressions. '08 Isaiah Kaakoush made his first bench this year after blowing up his knee last season - didn't appear tonight.
Late to a few things. Torquato and Contreras are going with the US U20s to CONCACAF Championships. Wasn't sure what it meant when Contreras didn't get the callup to Honduras but now it's clear. (Shoutout to FCD ECNL player Gino Sasso for making Panama's team too) NTX brings another Brazilian into the team, a 2008 midfielder this time.
Flowers is the youngest player to sign a first team homegrown deal with Dallas. Interesting tidbit: His brother (Aaron Flowers) plays corner for the University of Oregon. Benji Flowers, forward for FC Dallas. pic.twitter.com/pn9DJrkeYV— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) July 23, 2026
What is really funny is that back when I was doing athletic profiling, elite soccer players had similar profiles to football corner backs. So when people would say what if our best athletes played soccer, I would say, we don’t need all of them. Just the corner backs.
Give me undersized defensive backs, point guards, wide receivers, etc. Guys who won’t quote the size to be standouts in the NBA and NFL positionally but who are still awesome athletes. Nate Robinson being my perfect example of this (someone who was offered a scholarship to play cornerback at a high level D1 school and played in the NBA for 11 years as a 5’9 point guard and won the slam dunk contest three times).
Give me Allen Iverson's lateral quickness on the dribble. Listed as 6', actually closer to 5'10", and was the country's top quarterback in high school.
It’s the guys who shine across multiple sports but don’t really have the size needed for football or basketball (though Iverson obviously very good NBA player).
Never seen the club press release a signing to the Academy but they just did with Diego Ros. Probably indicates what Ussoccer97531 has said: he's got a deal lined up this winter to go pro.
No mention of a deal with Chelsea (though one probably does exist - here's Bogert reporting the structure: "...pre-agreed transfer to Chelsea when he turns 18, per sources. Chelsea could pay fee up a fee in region of $10m (!) for Flowers. Initial $3m + around $7m add-ons. Complex deal structure. - Add-ons start right now. If Flowers plays a lot with Dallas and USYNT, Dallas gets money - Add-ons obviously include milestones at Chelsea as well"). Kid just signed a deal for up to seven seasons and he'll be just 21 at the end of the contract. The more editorial article mentions he's gotten invited to MEXYNT camps but turned them down so far.
It’s really big money on the contract too. Up there amongst the biggest contracts ever given out on a homegrown deal.