Dallas Cup XXXII

On Sunday, Dallas Cup kicked off in Frisco, Texas. I am in town covering the event for Goal.com, so make sure to check there for all my game reports, features, and interviews. I am going to use the blog for more general thoughts about the competition and some teams.

FC Dallas Academy (both U-16 and U-18) were very impressive on the day. Beyond the result over Barcelona, it was the quality of their play. They are good in tight spaces, and they have good athleticism all over the field to beat teams on the break.

• For the U-16 team, there was never a doubt about the result. Perhaps Barrio Mexico was jet-lagged or nervous? But from the opening kick-off, the local side took the game to the team from Costa Rica. FC Dallas' midfielders love to possess the ball and they show for it constantly. Something that some players do well, but rarely see so many players do it well at this age. Offensively, I think they have better fluidity than the U-18 team, but they often send too many players forward and are left spread out far too often. Barrio Mexico had a few chances on the break against them, but Dallas' superior athleticism shut down many chances. I had high expectations for forward Bobby Edet, but I was a bit disappointed. He is fast - there is no denying that - but he doesn't seem to be on the same page technically as most of his teammates.
• The U-18 side was stronger and faster than Barca's Juvenil B side. Jonathan Top played really well up front. I have had bad luck with Top in the past as he seems to always pick up an injury when I go to scout him, but today I was pleasantly surprised. Good touch and a good instinct in the attacking third. I have some interviews with some of the members of the U-18 team, so I should have them on Goal.com sometime in the coming days. Basically, they want to win Super Group is the over theme. That might be easier said than done as Arsenal looked really good in the nightcap.

Vancouver Whitecaps U-18 academy had probably the most surprising result of the day. Daniel Robertson of BigDSoccer and TopDrawerSoccer said that there has only been one Brazilian team that has entered the tournament and not won it. So a victory over Corinthians for the Canada academy was a massive result. The first goal of the game (the only one I caught) was a bit awkward as a corner was driven into the box, but then the wind caught hold of it and pushed it into the net. The corner kick taker, Ben Fisk, went on to pick up two other goals on his way to a hat trick. I thought defensive midfielder Kevin Cobby played well. Tigres v Vancouver should be a good one tomorrow.

I think I will do a more general run down of the results tomorrow instead of gamers for every game. Also, I should have a feature on one U.S. team up on Goal.com later this week or next week.

U.S. Youth Soccer News From January

Americans Josh Gatt and Sean Cunningham both join Molde FK of Norway. Both were products of Derby Country Wolves and played on the SuperElite Summer tour. SuperElite technical director Jon Spencer said that next summer’s tour will be mostly ‘93s and it doesn’t look like any college players will make the trip.

U.S. Youth National Team News:

U.S. U17s go 1-0-1 in CONCACAF Championship warm-up

Kelyn Rowe impresses at U20 camp 

Hurzeler makes debut with U20s

US to host 2012 Olympic Qualifiers

Yanks Abroad:

Former Dallas Texan Conor Doyle says he is undecided about international future

Former Irvine Striker Bobby Wood makes his 1860 Munich debut

Former Derby County Wolf Soony Saad leaves Michigan, goes on trial in Europe

St John’s Erik Opsahl signs with Reading on the last day of the transfer period

MLS news:

American U20 striker Omar Salgado is the first pick in 2011 MLS SuperDraft 

Training center invites eight Revolution players

Greg Vanney leaves RSL-AZ to join Robin Fraser at Chivas USA; Mike Munoz replaces him. 

Home grown contracts everywhere:

Jack McBean signs home grown contract with LA Galaxy

Jonathan Top signs home grown contract with FC Dallas

Matt Kassel and Sacir Hot sign home grown contracts with Red Bull New York

Josue Soto and Alex Dixon sign home grown contracts with Houston Dynamo

College:

Akron’s Darlington Nagbe wins the MAC Hermann Trophy

MLSsoccer’s Travis Clark looks at the role of college soccer  

College Cup Final Press Conference Akron Quotes

About what it means to win a title for the Ohio region:

Zarek Valentin:

“Being there a year, it really means a lot more than anyone could ever imagine. A lot of the school puts a lot of emphasis on our soccer team, which we appreciate greatly. Just seeing the support. It would mean the world to some people. Since a lot of people traveled out to California to support us., it would mean more than anyone could ever even imagine.”

Perry Kitchen:

“Just to reiterate what Zarek was saying, it would mean a lot. In Northeast Ohio, we don’t have many too many great teams; I guess you could call it. So for us to win, it would be amazing. The community would go nuts. We know they are behind us. It would be an amazing feeling.”

About the amount of fans:

Zarek:

“It is amazing. I think we possibly have the best group of fans in the country. They travel with us to Penn State, to Michigan. They were in North Carolina. They are everywhere. They even teamed up with the UCSB fans as well, which means a lot they are coming out to support us too. The fact that they have the commitment to come with us wherever we go and be loud and take pride in our team means a lot. We really feed off that energy in the game, which is good. The more they are in the game, the more we are into the game as well.

Kitchen:

“Like Zarek said, it is great they come out and follow us. We have talked about it all through out the year. Coach Porter is always telling them, ‘if they do their part, we will do our part on the field.’ That is how it is going now, and we know they will continue to support us.”

About facing Aaron Horton:

Porter:

“He is a good player. But yeah, we have seen players that are like him. We have faced the best strikers in the country this year. It is like anything, you have to be aware every single moment. If you lose a moment and fall asleep, you can get punished. At this stage, there are players in these games on these teams who will punish you if you make mistakes.”

 

Akron Quotes From College Cup Press Conference

Caleb Porter, Akron Head Coach

“It is never easy. Our journey really began on December 14^th. We were one kick away. The players returning all vowed to get back. It is really a credit to them and how hard they worked.”

“We learned lessons and are battled tested. I think you are going to see their best this weekend as we try to take care of business this weekend."

“My goal is to take that foundation and elevate it even further. My vision was to build a program to a level where we were realistically competing for a national championship each and every year."

"Everything that I did in building the program the philosophies that I put in place had that vision in mind. There are a lot of ingredients that go into building a program that is capable of winning a national championship: there is recruiting, there is getting the culture right, there is style of play, a scheduling philosophy. 

"It has been rewarding to see over the last two years us get to the point where we are a realistic contender. Like I said, at the end of last year, as memorable as 2009 was, we talked about it being the standard."

"Our standards are not going to change. We are going to continue to compete to win national championships."

"There is always a progression. And if you look at the teams that have won national championships, it doesn’t come out of the blue. Typically the program is knocking on the door for several years."

"Last year, we certainly knocked on the door. Hopefully, this year we kick the door down and get it done. It has been rewarding to see us get to the point where we are a realistic contender and we are not just this one hit wonder that gets to the championship and makes a run every once in a while.”

“This year has not been easy. And you won’t necessary see our trials reflected in the record. We have only lost one game and a couple ties."

"We have been challenged. We have played from behind in a several games. We have had to grind out results more than we did in 2009. We have made mistakes." 

"Part of that is we lost some key players. We lost three pros. We felt very good about the fact that we were returning a good core. So we had some continuity, we had a lot of experience coming into the year."

"We have 8 of 11 of our starters played in the national championship last year. But when you lose three guys, it is going to take some time to evolve into the team you want to be. For us, it took all year."

"The thing about this year that stands out to me is because of those challenges, I think we are a stronger team: we are grounded, and because we have made some mistakes, and because it hasn’t been easy. I think we are probably more prepared coming into the college cup.”

Anthony Ampaipitakwong, senior midfielder

About having the lead at half:

During halftime, coach talks to us. It is just we go into the second half like we go into the first half. We want to start the half strong like every game. And we want to input our style into the game.

Not try to get focused on if we have a lead let’s keep this lead, or if we are down lets push. We just play the style we have been playing all year. We try to play the dominant style of soccer that coach has implemented into all of us. That is the mindset we go into every half.

Porter on the form of the two teams following their first meeting:

“I know we are better. We have had some wins. We have won seven in a row. We had a loss. That is something that needed to happen. We had gone 40 games without truly losing. That gives you a lot of confidence. That gives you a lot of belief. But I think when you start to win that much, you maybe slip. You start to lose your edge and start to feel bulletproof. In this sport, you got to show up. And you got to perform. No matter who you are playing against. If you don’t do that, you have a chance to lose. I think looking back, that is the best thing that happened.”

Development Academy Finals!

U-15/16
Group 1
Group A Winner - Chicago Fire Academy (10-4-3) GF: 19 GA: 9 (12-5-9) GF: 29 GA: 18
Group B Winner - De Anza Force (8-3-1) GF: 22 GA: 18; (16-8-3) GF: 43 GA: 36
Group C Winner - D.C. United Academy (9-2-1) GF: 22 GA: 12; (17-8-5) GF: 51 GA: 36
Group D Winner - Sockers FC (8-2-7) GF: 26 GA: 16; (13-2-10) GF: 38 GA: 18

Group 2
Group E Winner - CASL Chelsea FC Academy (12-1-1) GF: 34 GA: 5; (20-1-7) GF: 57 GA: 12
Group F Winner - Internationals (7-1-2) GF: 15 GA: 8 (11-3-8) GF: 32 GA: 16
Group G Winner - Baltimore Bays Chelsea (8-2-2) GF: 18 GA: 7; (24-3-3) GF: 64 GA: 17
Group H Winner - Cal Odyssey (10-1-1) GF: 32 GA: 11 (17-7-3) GF: 59 GA: 30

Leading Scorers:
Chicago Fire- Victor Pineda (7)
De Anza Force- Hector Herrera (7) & Alfred Edmonds (7)
D.C. United- Cody Albrecht (9)
Sockers FC- Khaliq McKenzie (15)

CASL- Monbo Bokar (20)
Internationals- Nicholas Parianos (12)
Balt Bays- Michael Gamble (23)
Cal Odyssey- Villyan Bijev (18)


Group 1
Group A Winner - Derby County Wolves (6-1-3) GF: 23 GA: 13; (14-3-5) GF: 57 GA: 23
Group B Winner - Crossfire Premier (5-2-5) GF: 23 GA: 17; (13-6-8) GF: 50 GA: 41
Group C Winner - FC Dallas (11-2-3) GF: 33 GA: 16; (17-5-3) GF: 53 GA: 28
Group D Winner - CASL Chelsea FC Academy (8-2-4) GF: 23 GA: 7; (15-4-10) GF: 46 GA: 20

Group 2
Group E Winner - Real So Cal (12-3-1) GF: 48 GA: 13; (21-3-5) GF: 77 GA: 23 (Most goals)
Group F Winner - Concorde Fire (12-2-2) GF: 46 GA: 19; (20-6-4) GF: 75 GA: 36
Group G Winner - Vardar (4-4-2) GF: 23 GA: 20; (12-6-4) GF: 54 GA: 31
Group H Winner - Baltimore Bays Chelsea (7-1-4) GF: 26 GA: 12; (20-4-6) GF: 75 GA: 29

Leading Scorers:
Derby County Wolves- Soony Saad (27)- Michigan
Crossfire Premier- Liam Kelly (25)-
FC Dallas-  Ruben Luna (25)- SMU
CASL Chelsea FC- Charles Root (15)- South Carolina

Real So Cal- Edwin Rivas (18)
Concorde- Carlos McCrary (22)- UNC
Vardar- Peter Jacobsen (17)
Baltimore Bays- Peter Caringi (14)- UMBC & Mamadou Kansaye (14)- NC State