Our vaunted FUTSOC ENIGMA – U19 team attended the recently concluded 2018 Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup, performing admirably in one of the toughest groupings this year. Placed in the group with Mexico’s powerful PREPATEC of Monterrey, IKAPA FC of South Africa and HOUSTON DYNAMO FC USSF US Development Academy, the matches were every bit as tough as expected.

Attended by multitudes of fans, college coaches and professional evaluators, we opened with a strong match against the highly respected PREPATEC of Monterrey in a hard fought game, which started with a balanced match in the first half, to a second half mostly controlled by our boys and limited by the outstanding goalkeeper play by our most respected opponent…and ending with the final score of 1::1.

In the second game, FUTSOC met a very inspired and talented IKAPA FC team, joining in from the other side of the world (South Africa). After the first ten minutes of the match – when both teams were sizing each other up, we broke open the match with a blistering 30 meter shot in the 21st minute and followed up with a thrashing of three more goals in the second half, which ultimately gave our side the 4::0 victory and an additional three points to lead the group table after two matches.

In what became the deciding match of the group, we met the highly ranked Houston Dynamos U19 USSF Academy. In a game entirely dominated by our boys, we unfortunately missed on many chances to score, missing on 7 one-on-ones with their goalkeeper, who made many spectacular saves and all afternoon. Two posts and one clear miss later by our boys and with both teams attempting to find the net for the goal which would lead to passage to quarterfinals, the tough opponent found the net in the 93rd minute off a corner kick.

In what turned out to be a formidable event once again, the silver lining resulted when ultimately two players were selected by professional scouts – one to Mansfield FC in the English first division and one to Portland Timbers of the MLS. In addition, and one of our greatest sources of pride every year, we had 17 colleges and universities (University of North Carolina, Wayland Baptist University, Louisiana State University – Eunice, Brookhaven College, St, John’s Univ., Keystone College and Oklahoma City University inquire about nine of our players…a most successful event. We are very proud of our boys and look forward to following their path to the final academic institution of their choice.

Congratulations to our boys for another successful Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup with the elite teams of the world!