FRISCO - In their last on-field session in the opening week of 2017, Oscar Pareja got his first full, competitive look at his new side.
After a week mostly filled with drills and conditioning, the squad broke into a full 11v11 small-sided game on Saturday morning for a brief 30 minute scrimmage. The game was a lop-sided affair with the new and returning pro players taking a 4-0 result over the SuperDraft picks and camp invitees - Maynor Figueroa, Paxton Pomykal, Coy Craft and Carlos Gruezo all tallied for the grey team.
A couple of notable takeaways from the morning:
- All three player that returned from National Team duties early were at work. Tesho Akindele and Kellyn Acosta were full participants in training, but were held out of the small-sided game. Matt Hedges did some training on the side for the second day in a row and should be back to full training soon.
- Javier Morales was very active in his first taste of action with FCD. He sent in the corner that eventually led to Figueroa's goal and played several dangerous balls into the box in just 30 minutes. A good sign for the new No. 10.
- With Hedges not playing and Walker Zimmerman at U.S. National Team camp, Atiba Harris played center back alongside Aaron Guillen for the senior side during the scrimmage and played very well there - something definitely to keep an eye on.
- Meanwhile, at right back, Reggie Cannon showcased why Dallas didn't want to wait any longer to sign the Homegrown. Cannon made several strong tackles and jumped up into the attack with ease and authority.
- Pomykal also looked strong in the short game, scoring a goal and missing on a few other near chances.
You can watch the full scrimmage below: