Dallas Trinity FC began their tenure at the historic Cotton Bowl falling to FC Barcelona Femeni in a showpiece friendly.
A 6-0 scoreline saw the back-to-back UEFA Champions League winners coast home with an impressive display in and out of possession.
“We’re trying to build on little things that can help us in our season,” Dallas Trinity FC midfielder Amber Brooks said. “I’m proud of everyone’s effort. Obviously, the second half team did a bit better than the first half, so proud of them and what they were able to put together.”
The Lineup
On this week’s podcast, we discussed the four Solar SC players named in Dallas Trinity FC’s allocation of five amateur players. Sealy Strawn and Kamdyn Fuller both started as only four players kept the start from the 1-1 draw in Tampa.
Racing Louisville loanee Madison White got the start in goal.
Jenna Winebrenner kept the start in center defense, partnered by Maya Gordon. Maja Henriksson started on the left, while Julia Dorsey looked to carry on her strong play from game one on the right side of defense.
Amber Brooks once again anchored the defense sitting behind Haley Berg and Kamdyn Fuller.
The attack saw two retained from the road draw, with Allie Thornton heading up Chioma Ubogagu and Sealey Strawn.
Hannah Davidson replaced Maya Gordon in the 29th minute after the DTFC defender came off worse winning a challenge. Chris Petrucelli confirmed Gordon sustained a knee injury that would require a scan. The DTFC defender was on crutches after the game.
With three goalkeepers on the roster, Evan O’Steen came on after the half-hour mark.
Halftime brought about a line change so here’s the second half XI:
A quick note, that’s Hannah Davison at center back and Hailie Davidson at right back. Their last names are a letter apart.
On to GK number three in the 59th minute. Sam Estrada replaced Evan O’Steen for the final Dallas change.
On the Barcelona side, Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati made their first starts of the 2024/25 preseason. FC Barcelona put out a start lineup made up of players with 457 combined senior national team caps. Five of them appeared in the UEFA Champions League final, and one was even the highest-rated player in FIFA 23. That’s a list of achievements that should show anyone not familiar with the Spanish women’s soccer scene that they weren’t playing around.
Goals
2′ DTFC 0-1 FCB: With less than two minutes on the clock the Catalans struck first through Claudia Pina. Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas combined down the Barcelona right, with the latter putting a cross on the edge of the six-yard box. An attempted clearance by Julia Dorsey was closed down by Esmee Brugts, with Pina on hand to smash home the loose ball.
12′ DTFC 0-2 FCB: Another goal came in the 12th minute with the back-to-back Champions League winners in control. Madi White tipped an outstanding effort by Putellas away for a corner. A short corner routine saw Bonmati whip a cross to the back post where Emilia Szymczak beat Amber Brooks to the header.
16′ DTFC 3-0 FCB: A run down the left wing by Pina is played into Putellas. A couple of quick passes with “Kika” Nazareth resulted in the ball coming out to Patricia Guijarro just beyond the D. The 52-cap Spanish international lashed a shot that White couldn’t get enough contact on to keep out.
31′ DTFC 4-0 FCB: DTFC tried to play compact in possession at the back and got caught out. Kika robbed the ball off the feet of Brooks on the edge of the box and finished low into the far corner.
45’+1 DTFC 5-0 FCB: After seeing one ruled out, Barcelona got their fifth and Pina’s second of the night. Highly rated prospect Vicky Lopez – scorer of that disallowed goal – played a low cross from the visitors’ right side. Kika dummied the ball with Pina crashing the back post.
55′ DTFC 0-6 FCB: Pina got her hat-trick. A stunning ball out of the midfield by Putellas found Fridolina Rolfö in space on the Barca left. The Swede squared for Pina to slide the ball home in the box.
Thoughts & Observations
Perspective is everything. These are Barcelona’s pre-season results before this game:
Beat Hoffenheim 5-1
Beat Montpellier 5-0
Beat AC Milan 2-0
Beat Bay FC 5-2
Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati account for the last three Ballon d’Or trophies. They each played 21 minutes combined in games against far more established teams, and both played an hour against Dallas Trinity. Chris Petrucelli had a nice line in the postgame mixed zone, “You can’t control how good the other team is.” They’re the best club team in the world at the end of the day.
Identity
Dallas got sucked into playing FC Barcelona at the game their club made famous. A lot of compact passing in the first half showed a level of understandable naivety from a team playing only their second-ever game. After a huddle, they started playing long and down the left with balls for Chioma Ubogagu and Allie Thornton to run onto. It was a positive adaptation that forced Gemma into a few 30-yard dashes with the defense left for dead.
Amber Brooks mentioned that playing out of the back is part of this team’s identity. It’s completely understandable why they would try the slow build, especially with only 25% of the possession share.
The tactical adaptation in this young team was a positive sign, and Hannah Davison expanded on that, explaining where Coach Petrucelli’s halftime adjustments could be seen.
“I think we got on the ball a lot more in the second half to step up, press them, get pressure early, and get their heads down because they’re Barca. You’ve got to make them uncomfortable, and they’re gonna open you up. I think we did a good job doing that in the second half.”
Off the Pitch
DTFC announced the attendance as 5,387. That number appeared to be the actual butts in seats rather than a fluff number like we normally see in sports.
Given that the third party organizing this game did minimal advertising, and it was on a weeknight when high school football has just started back up, I’d call that a success. Sure, the majority of the people there were in Barca colors, but I witnessed fans in red and blue calling out Trinity players’ names which is an encouraging sign of retaining their interest.
I wouldn’t envy anyone putting on their first event to have to deal with a third-party promoter at a venue they have no control over, which is under construction. Talking to a Fair Park staffer, a change with construction confused matters earlier in the day regarding parking and access. I’m sure the club will assess the good and the bad ahead of the USL Super League on Saturday.
Next Up
Dallas Trinity FC has a short week, taking on DC Power on Saturday at 7 pm. DC is on a bye week with an 0-1-1 record in league play.
The game, back at the Cotton Bowl, will be streamed on Peacock.
Are the games going to be peacock only or will they be on somewhere else?
peacock is it as far as I know.