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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Coaches Select Final 18 For Sueno MLS '08

March 2, 2008 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas (Sunday, March 2, 2008) - FC Dallas and Major League Soccer today announced the names of the 18 young players who have advanced to the final round of Sueño MLS: The Dream Continues. The 'Final 18' will once again return to Pizza Hut Park for training on Saturday, March 8, and will then face their biggest test when they play a trial game at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, March 15. From this group of aspiring players - who range in age from 16-24 and hail from Argentina, Cuba and the United States, only a select few will be invited to a two-week tryout with FC Dallas beginning on March 17.

Each of the Final 18 first impressed scouts from FC Dallas at the first round of open tryouts held at Pizza Hut Park from March 22-25, which drew nearly 2,000 participants from throughout the United States and several foreign countries. Only 60 players were chosen to compete in the next round and on Saturday, March 1, the 'Final 18' then emerged from that group. A full roster is below.

The FC Dallas coaching staff will hold a training session for the Final 18 at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, March 8 from 2 - 5 p.m. CT. Media and the public are invited to attend. One week later, the players will participate in a trial game at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, March 15.

Built by The Home Depot, Sueño MLS is a six-week long quest to find the best undiscovered young soccer player in the nation. Sueño MLS, kicked off President's Weekend with four days of open tryouts at the Bell Gardens Sport Center, home to Chivas USA's academy and youth teams, in the city of Bell Gardens, Calif. on the weekend beginning on Feb. 22, the stage shifted to Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Tex where four days of identical open tryouts took place under the watchful eyes of the FC Dallas Coaching Staff and its scouts. This past Saturday in both Frisco and Los Angeles, each club's scouts watched as the 60 semifinalists players competed to make the final round.

Sueño MLS returns to Republica Deportiva every Sunday at 10 a.m. CT in what can be termed as a unique "reality show within a show" format. The show will culminate with the announcement of the Sueño MLS winner on Sunday, March 30, just hours before the start of the MLS season on Univision network TeleFutura between FC Dallas and Chivas USA live from Pizza Hut Park at 2 p.m. CT.

Roster of 18 finalists (by alphabetical order of last name):

Name Age Pos. Hometown Notes

Bradlee Baladez 16 M Dallas, TX Houston native admires Cristiano Ronaldo

Jael Barrera 17 M Dallas, TX plays for Latino Americana club team

Rodrigo Barrientos 17 M Dallas, TX older brother taught him how to play soccer

Jaime Benitez 21 D Dallas, TX family has supported his soccer dreams along the way

Gabriel Funes 17 F Arlington, TX born in Argentina, brother also in Final 18

Jose Funes 16 M Arlington, TX born in Argentina, brother also in Final 18

Fernando Garza 18 M Garland, TX FCD Youth player's main focus is soccer

Alex Fischera 23 D Denton, TX born in New Hamshire, learned from his dad

Ezequiel Franco 18 F Buenos Aires, AR has played in Second Div. of Argentina

Raul Herrera 21 GK Richardson, TX plays for Richland College

Jared Lee 21 D Irving, TX started playing soccer at the age of 4

Noel Luna 17 F Ft. Worth, TX LA native has sacrificed vacations for soccer

Robert Maplay 24 D Dallas, TX grew up in refugee camp in the Ivory Coast

Rafael Martinez 16 M Dallas, TX born in New York, moved to Texas for soccer

Francisco Moreno 21 GK Dallas, TX born in Michoacana, Mexico

Yaikel Pérez 23 F Miami, FL ex Cuban nat. team; defected in 2005 Gold Cup

Alexei Reyes 16 F Dallas, TX born in Mexico City, started playing at age 2 Jorge Rodriguez 16 M Dallas, TX born in Monterrey, Mexico

SUEÑO MLS KEY DATES:

March 8 -9 Training for "The Final 18" (both cities)

March 15 "Final 18" Trial Game (both cities)

March 17 - 23 Two-week trial with Chivas USA and FC Dallas

March 30 Announcement of winners on República Deportiva

Check out the FC Dallas Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from March 2, 2008


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