By THOMAS FLOYD
Homegrown players may largely be seen as long-term investments for MLS clubs, but two of them took center stage Saturday during FC Dallas' penalty kicks win over the Houston Dynamo in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic final.
A pair of 19-year-old academy products accounted for the goals during the Texas rivals' 1-1 draw in Orlando. Striker Ruben Luna opening the scoring in the 15th minute for Dallas before Houston midfielder Francisco Navas Cobo knotted the match with a spectacular 88th-minute strike into the upper left corner.
Dallas' Brek Shea went the full 90 minutes at center back and converted the winning penalty for his side, which went 5-for-5 in the tiebreaker. Goalkeeper Chris Seitz came up with the only save of the shootout when he denied Houston's opening kick from midfielder Lovel Palmer.
Dallas exacted revenge from the two teams' first meeting of the preseason, a chippy 4-0 Houston win that saw Dallas left back Jair Benitez spit at Dynamo midfielder Geoff Cameron.
TORONTO FALLS TO ORLANDO
Starting six trialists, Toronto FC dropped a 1-0 result to third-tier Orlando City in the Disney Classic's third-place match.
Orlando player-coach Ian Fuller found the game's lone goal in the 76th minute, just four minutes after he entered the contest.
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What do you think of the results? Do you see Luna and Navas Cobo breaking out in 2011? Should Dallas return Shea to the left flank or give him more time at center back? Should Toronto have fared better in Orlando?
Share your thoughts below.
Navas Cobo scored a sick goal; truly amazing…disagree w/ the comment above; Shea can’t defend to save his life, made so many erros and you can clearly see that center back is not his position…entertaining games, Toronto’s new boys did not impress…Orlando City were deserved winners in that one…1,700 in Orlando enjoyed the games; beautiful weather…maybe Disney can expand the tourney next year to include more teams, hopefully some international ones as well. Florida is hungry for professional soccer.
Houston’s academy products looked better in this game than last. Navas Cobo and Soto saw a lot of the ball. Dixon looks fast, but wasn’t involved that much. Will Bruin was also very active. He looked dangerous with the ball, both creating chances for himself or setting up teammates. He caused Shea problems, even making Shea foul him for a yellow as Bruin slipped past. On the other side of that battle, Shea was good on the ball (as you would expect) and surprisingly well-positioned as a CB. Sad for Dynamo fans that he may have a good season at CB, but good for USMNT fans.
That’s former Revolution player Ian Fuller, right? Oy, Toronto…