The Super Group Semis is what I call peak Super Group. Teams have had a day off to get a little fresh and, in theory, you get the more elite teams of that year. Damn did we get a couple of good ones this year.
Game One – Sao Paulo 4 vs Fulham 0
I won’t to deep into this one as it’s not why anyone is reading 3rd Degree. But I do have two talking points.
1. #7 Ryan Dos Santos is a bad man. He had a hat trick and his “assist” led to the PK. He generally causes Fulham fits crashing forward out of midfield as a “free-8.” What a player.
2. Sao Paulo played a nice block of two lines (4-4-2). They didn’t let Fulham have anything at all, completely stymieing the English representatives.
Sao Paulo is gonna be a tough matchup for FCD.
Game Two – FC Dallas 2 vs Botafogo 1
FC Dallas used the same “striker-less” formation as their last game. So I will just repost that with the drawing I did to try and show the activity of #40 Ishmael Nieves. You can read my explanation in the write-up from their win over LDA on Wednesday if you want to know more.
In the 2nd half, #39 Gael Medrano replaced #10 Dylan Lacy. Medrano is a more typical 9 and goal poacher. Then #46 Isaac Romero replaced #3 Adrian Anguiano. Ramero played CM and Nieves shifted to LB.
1-0 FCD. Dallas works a short corner and #22 Cristian Gallo heads in the goal.
1-1 Botafogo. The Brazilians hit a corner with an overshot cross that gets sent back into the mix where Sub #18 Lucas Cavalcanti heads in the goal.
How odd, the FCD U17s have a player named Lucas Cavalcante. Small world I guess.
*checks notes*
Holy crap, he even wears #18!
2-1 FCD. The game-winner comes on a decisive forward carry with pace by #33 Daniel Baran. Baren gets around the defender near the end line and crosses back to the waiting #39 Gael Medrano who has sniffed out a clean spot in the box for the quality finish.
Other FC Dallas Results at the Dallas Cup
Girls Championships
ECNL 05/06 fell to the Australian School Girls 2-1 as ASG became the first foreign team to win a ladies’ Championship.
The ECNL 07 side won their 3rd-straight Dallas Cup 8-0 over Eintracht Frankfurt. This team is ridiculously good. They were unscored upon for the entire tournament with an astounding 42 goals scored.
Solar SC ECNL 08 won the 2024 Dallas Cup U16 title 5-0 over FC Dallas ECNL 08. Solar 08 went unscored upon for the entire tournament.
ECNL 09 won the U15 Championship with a 4-1 victory over Solar SC RL Angelone. Solar RL was the first team to score on the FCDY ECNL 09 side in this tournament.
Boys – A Bit of Everything
Gokay2012 knocked off an excellent FC Dallas Academy U12 side 2-1 to win the 2024 Dallas Cup U12 title.
The U13 Academy won 2 games, 6-2 over Tableview FC and 1-0 over Academia O 2011 Select.
==> U13 Final: FC Dallas U13 vs AIFC Toronto, Saturday, 9 am in Toyota Stadium.
The U14 Academy fell in the Quarter-Final Friday morning to Solar SC Academy 10 by a 1-0 scoreline.
==> U14 Final: Solar SC 10 vs Eintracht Frankfurt, Saturday, 11 am in Toyota Stadium.
No FC Dallas U15s teams made it out of the group stage.
==> U15 Final: Solar SC 09 vs VfB Stuttgart, 1 pm Saturday in Toyota Stadium.
ECNL Red 08 won two games on Friday, 3-1 over Solar SC 08 and 3-0 over Cross City SC 08 Elite.
==> U16 Final: FCDY ECNL Red 08 vs BVB ECNL B08, Saturday, 3 pm in Toyota Stadium.
ECNL 07 White lost 2-0 to La Roca SC.
ECNL 07 Red lost 3-0 to Tigres U17
==> U17 Semis are at Moneygram at 11 am.
ECNL White 06/05 knocked off Miami Breakers 2006 Black 1-0 to advance.
==> U18 Semi: ECNL White 06/05 vs Dallas Texans 07 ECNL, Saturday, 1 pm Moneygram 6.
ECNL Red 06/05 fell to El Paso Locomotive 1-0.
==> U19 Semis are both at Moneygram at 1 pm.
Shout out to Dallas Hornets MLS Next U19 Coach by Jeff Cassar who faces that same El Paso Loco side on Moneygram 1.