U14 Texans among winners in high winds

U14 Texans among winners in high winds
April 2, 2010

FRISCO, TEXAS – Thursday was the windiest day yet here at the Dallas Cup, and the 40 MPH gusts certainly had plenty to do with the result of at least one of the matches, as Marcio Leite’s Dallas Texans Red U14 squad came from behind to beat a talented Aztecs FC squad 2-1 in a quarterfinal match.

With the wind at their back in the 1st half, Aztecs had enough clear opportunities to be leading 5-0 by the break, but could only score via Eduardo Franco’s late-half effort, which he sailed into goal directly from a corner kick.

With the San Diego-area team defending desperately, Texans were struggling to use the wind to their advantage as well, but a huge gust created a situation in the Aztecs area from which Texans’ Aaron Meyer drove a shot home from close range to level the score. Then, just a few minutes from time,  Meyer headed home the winning goal from a set piece by Daniel Ruano to touch off a spirited celebration from the squad.
Leite said the wind requires a change in approach.

elite boys club soccer players in a boys club soccer tournamentU14 Dallas Texans v Aztecs. Photo by Nancy Jenner.
“It’s very disruptive. It’s the people who adjust to the conditions who win. They could have had more than 2-3 goals in the 1st half. When the wind is like this it is very hard to play even when the field is in great shape,” he said. “I told them they have to stay with them, you have to get the high balls you have to get to the rebound, and on the counterattack it’s easier to make good runs, but we were like holding too long and by the time we were connecting the pass we had people offside. We had 3 or 4 breakaways, but they had 15 chances. We felt very fortunate to be down just 1-0.”

Leite added that the close scoreline buoyed his team on for the 2nd half.

“I told them now, in the 2nd half, we have our chance to get free kicks, corner kicks and shots from the outside. It’s very tough to be passing the ball because it rolls too fast, however it’s tough for the defense to clear because the ball keeps coming back,” he said. “It takes away a lot of the beauty of the game, but in soccer we all know you have to know how to play fast, long and adjust the situation.”

Meyer credited Leite’s work in preparing the team.

“We’re just trying to do it the way Marcio’s been training us. He’s showing us how to work like the Brazilians do – to do good work off the ball and keep moving forward and hopefully getting our chances.,” Meyer said. “The 1st half since they had the wind we tried to play very hard defense. Give our defense credit for working so hard, but we were lucky it was only 1-0 at the half.”

Jessy Ambriz, Flavio Borquez, Rigoberto Maciel and Felipe Liborio were impressive for Aztecs, along with goalscorer Franco. Texans goalkeeper xxxxx denied some of the Aztecs scoring efforts, while others were off target and at least one, a backheel from Liborio, was cleared off the line by Dallas defender Luke Edwards. Michael Brezovsky was a workhorse in the back for Texans throughout the siege of the 1st half.

Texans had good efforts on goal from Jared Rice and Ian Sadler, saved by Aztecs goalkeepers Gerardo Lopez (1st half) and Adrian Sanchez (2nd) respectively, but then Meyer broke through and the home team advanced to the semifinals.

Results and Friday Matches
U15 (Thursday)
Eintracht Frankfurt 2, AC Bethesda 0
Chivas 5,  SC del Sol 0
South Florida Elite 0, Chicago Magic 2
Fram Vipers 1, LAFC 2
 
(Semifinals Friday)
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. LAFC
Chivas vs. Chicago Magic

U14 (Thursday)
Lonestar SC 2, West Pines United 0
Pateadores Blue 1, West Coast FC 2
Aztecs FC 1, Dallas Texans Red 2
LAFC 1, Andromeda Red 0
(Semifinals Friday)
Lonestar Red vs. LAFC
West Coast FC vs. Dallas Texans
 
U13 (Thursday)
San Diego Surf vs. LAFC Black
Crewe Alexandra vs. Dallas Texans South
Fullerton Rangers vs. LAFC
FC Dallas vs. Real So Cal White

(Semifinals Friday)
LAFC Black vs. Real SoCal White
Crewe Alexandra vs. LAFC

SuperGroup (Semifinal Pairings; Friday Evening)
Mexico MNT vs. Monterrey
Tottenham vs. Cruzeiro

U19 (Friday)
Toronto FC vs. Chorillo
Shattuck St. Marys vs. Lonestar SC
Houston Dynamo vs. LAFC Black
Solar Academy vs. Andromeda Academy
 
U17 (Friday)
Tigres vs. Lonestar
Monterrey vs. Dallas Texans Red
Andromeda Academy vs. Dallas Texans Academy
Brujas vs. Erin Mills
 
U16 (Friday)
TFC vs.Shattuck St.Marys
Monterrey vs. Aztecs
De Anza Force vs. Santa Clara Sporting
Solar Red vs. Houston Dynamo

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