The FC Dallas U-18 Academy is down in Guadalajara this week playing in the prestigious Copa Chivas against some of the best teams from Mexico and around the world. FC Dallas has been placed in a group with Chivas Guadalajara and Atlas from Liga MX as well as Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan and Atletico Paranaese from Brazil and matches are 70 minutes long.
The FCD travel roster is a mix of U-18 and U-16 players with many of them having experience from last year's tournament. Here is the full roster:
Santiago Agudelo, Joel Avilez, Ryan Barlow, Reggie Cannon, Eric Davies, Irvin Domingues, Charlie Furrer, Matt Karasinski, Alejandro Martinez, Weston McKinnie, Giovanni Montesdeoca, Eddie Munjoma, Phillip Ponder, Christian Ramirez, Oscar Romero, Jose Livano Salas, Martin Salas, Devin Vega
FCD U-18s draw first match vs Urawa Red Diamonds
In the first match, the U-18s took on Urawa Red Diamonds of the J. League playing to an exciting 2-2 draw. Santiago Agudelo opened the scoring for FC Dallas with a close-range effort in the 21st minute.
FCD would take a 2-0 lead into halftime as Eric Davies scored off a corner kick to double the lead.
The Japanese side finally broke through in the 62nd minute as Mizuki Arai scored his first goal and then in the 68th minute Urawa was awarded a penalty kick that they scored to tie the match.
FC Dallas lineup: 22 Charlie Furrer, 2 Eric Davies, 3 Phillip Ponder, 4 Ryan Barlow, 12 Óscar Romero, 44 Devin Vega, 13 Irving Dominguez, 15 José Salas, 21 Martín Salas, 30 Santiago Agudelo, 9 Christian Ramírez.
FCD U-18s play to a scoreless draw with Liga MX's Atlas
The second match saw FCD take on at Atlas side that won their first two matches and FCD played them to a 0-0 draw in a rainy Guadalajara.
Giovanni Montesdeoca had the best chance of the match for FCD in the first half and the valuable point keeps FCD alive in their quest to make the quarterfinals.
FC Dallas lineup: 22 Charlie Furrer, 2 Eric Davies, 3 Phillip Ponder, 4 Ryan Barlow, 12 Óscar Romero, 33Reggie Cannon, 17 Alejandro Martínez, 15 José Salas, 21 Martín Salas, 23 Joel Avilez, 42 Giovani Montesdeoca.
Standings
Through two matches, FCD sits in fourth with 2 points with Atletico Paranaense and Chivas Guadalajara a point ahead of them.
The top two teams from each group plus the two highest ranked third place teams will make the quarterfinals.
FC Dallas plays Chivas Guadalajara at noon on Monday in a match that will be streamed live (WATCH HERE). A win for FCD would put them in with a great chance at advancing to the quarterfinals.
