Despite valiant efforts on behalf of the United States Men’s National Team, the U.S. fell to the Netherlands on Saturday in a 3-1 loss. Out of the World Cup but still in high spirits, the U.S. team will return to foster a group of extraordinary young athletes, with Coach Gregg Berhalter stating, “The American public should be optimistic.”
Progressing so far into the cup is a feat in itself, and it wouldn’t have been possible without contributions from some current and former Dallas players representing the stars and stripes.
Jesus Ferreira
Recently named the 2022 MLS Young Player of the Year winner, 21-year-old Jesus Ferreira is a goal-seeking prodigy. This past season, Ferreria scored 18 goals and six assists during 29 starts, tying the FC Dallas single-season goal record.
Despite the evident potential, Ferreria did not see a single minute of play until he started the match against the Netherlands. At 5-foot-8-inches tall, Ferreria was an interesting choice to attack against Dutch center-back Virgil Van Dijk, who towers over Ferreria at 6 foot 5 inches. Unfortunately, Ferreria did not score any goals nor have any assists in Saturday’s match.
Walker Zimmerman
Zimmerman, a center-back, played for FC Dallas from 2013 to 2017, when he was traded to FC Los Angeles. As expected by analysts, Zimmerman was on the starting roster for the November 21 United States vs. Wales match.
To the dismay of fans, Zimmerman was responsible for the penalty that lead to Wales tying the match 1-1. He didn’t redeem himself until late in the Iran vs. U.S. match, where Zimmerman was able to deflect multiple possible scoring drives to secure a 1-0 win for the states. Despite a television-worthy bicycle kick in the 86th minute against the Netherlands, Zimmerman went home with the rest of the team with a few valuable saves under his belt.
Weston McKennie
West Elm’s 24-year-old midfielder played with FC Dallas’ youth academy from 2009 to 2016 before winning spots on teams in Germany and Italy. McKennie arguably had the largest impact in the World Cup out of all the Dallas natives and started alongside Zimmerman for the first few matches.
In the second match, McKennie preoccupied England for 90 minutes by forcing defenders to play tight against his offensive moves. Against Iran, McKennie facilitated a goal with a textbook pass to Sergiño Dest, who then passed to Christian Pulisic for a score. McKennie took three shots against the Netherlands’ goal but missed all three.
Kellyn Acosta and Shaq Moore
Acosta and Moore both have Dallas roots. Acosta now plays for FC Los Angeles after numerous years with FC Dallas on the junior and senior squads. Moore logged years with the FC Dallas youth academy.
These two didn’t exactly make waves during the World Cup, but they still deserve recognition. After sitting the first game, Moore made his first World Cup debut against England and later joined Zimmerman to help defend against Iran’s push in the second half.
Acosta had one defining moment during the cup; a purposeful penalty on Wales’ Gareth Bale to save the game. When Bale was lining up a shot while U.S. goalie Matt Turner was out of the box, Acosta earned himself a yellow card by fouling Turner. Thus, Acosta helped keep the match to a draw and put another point onto the leaderboard for the United States.
Although the Dallas representatives may not have been the team’s stars, clutch saves from the likes of Acosta and Zimmerman paved the way for some of the more prolific players on the U.S. team to put goals on the board.
With the current lineup of Dallas players being relatively young, it will be a treat to see what the team puts together in the next World Cup.
“I think overall we can be really happy with our performance—the way we adapted, the way that we make teams uncomfortable,” U.S. captain Tyler Adams said about his fellow teammates.
Stats courtesy of ESPN.
