Dallas Cup XXIX Preview
Published 3/11/2008 8:35:58 AM by Shane Barrow from soccermogul
Dallas Cup promises to be as good as ever this year as the 39th edition kicks off Sunday afternoon in Texas. Last year's champion Sao Paolo FC of Brazil returns to defend their Super Group title Liverpool, Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt and the usual strong Mexican sides arrive to try to wrestle it away.
Super Group --
The favorites have to be Sao Paolo who rolled to the championship last year. Liverpool and Benfica are the other top seeds in the 3 brackets. Bracket C has to be the group of death as it sports Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany and Mexican power CD Guadalajara. Group minnows Whitecaps FC of Canada round out the group. In Group A, Sao Paolo should have an easy time with Andromeda and Leicester of England. Their main challenge will come from CF Monterrey who will try to pull the upset. CF Monterrey has to be the favorite to grab the wildcard for the semifinals though. Group B is very competetive with Liverpool as top seeds. However, a strong Tigres side looms along with an unknown side from Bosnia in FK Slavija. Ryutusu of Japan is the fourth seed and should be pesky but Japanese sides have never had any success at Dallas Cup.
Under 19 boys --
This is typically the weakest bracket in Dallas Cup from year to year. Many of the top teams are done travelling and looking to State Cups, Regionals and college. There are a couple of very attractive foreign teams here however. Cambuur Leeuwarden from Holland and Beijing Sangao from China are represented along with Royal Navy and Knowsley Youth from England who play every year and rarely ever get out of group play. Expect Solar 90 and Dallas Texans 90 to make solid pushes for the championship this year. Also, dont count out Houston Dynamo and IMG Academy who met in the U19 final last year.
Under 17 boys --
In my opinion, outside of the Super Group, the U17s are by far the most competetive of all ages year in and year out at Dallas Cup. College recruiting and scouting is going full steam and top teams are travelling. This year looks to be no different. Very strong foreign sides are all through the brackets with Tigres and CF Monterrey from Mexico, Guangzhou of China, Brujas Escazu of Costa Rica and the Old Wuffrunians of England on hand. The strong soccer of the west coast is also represented with #1 nationally ranked Real So Cal leading the pack. Also from California are #12 San Diego Surf, OSC Rage, #32 FC Barcelona and DeAnza Force. Don't count out the Dallas sides either as #4 Andromeda, #13 Dallas Texans and #38 Ayses are in the mix. Other top sides on hand are #23 Houstonians, #17 Fort Wayne Fever Academy and #12 Sockers FC. Make sure to check out the U17s as they are immensely entertaining!
Under 16 boys --
Another very talented bracket as many nationally ranked teams are coming to Dallas Cup. The top 3 of the top 4 ranked teams in the nation are playing as #1 Lonestar, #2 Sereno and #4 FC Barcelona look for the championship. Also #6 Dallas Texans and #7 Solar SC represent Dallas. #10 Santa Clara Sporting Green make it 6 of the top 10 teams in the national rankings playing. WOW! The only letdown is the lack of strong Mexican sides.
Under 15 boys--
This age shows a very strong foreign group of teams with CF Monterrey, Tigres, Club Leon, University de Monterrey, San Nicholas and Tec de Monterrey all from Mexico. Throw in FC Groningen of Holland, FESA of El Salvador, SKHY of Trinidad, the Bermuda U14 National Team and Ajax Gunners of Canada and almost half the entire bracket is foreign. American teams expected to challenge are #7 New York Red Bulls, #4 Sockers FC and #5 Solar Red.
Under 14 boys --
The Mexican teams are out in force at this age with 7 teams in the 32 team tourney. Top national sides from #2 ranked NJSA Gunners, #3 Dallas Texans, #4 Chicago Wind Nationals and #6 Santa Clara Sporting. Fifth ranked Solar has been struggling all spring so it will be interesting to see if they can turn it around. Should be a very competetive group for sure 5 of the top 6 teams in the nation and the 7 Mexican sides.
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