Philadelphia Union Academy U16s fall to FC Dallas in final match in Mexico

Jesus Ferreira scored twice in eight minutes in the second half to lead FC Dallas to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union Academy U16 team in their final game in Mexico City on Friday.

The son of former FC Dallas midfielder David Ferreira leveled the score in the 51st minute and then somehow got the rebound back after being denied by Union goalkeeper Kristopher Shakes to score the eventual winner in the 59th minute.

Iverson Brisma finished his own rebound on the opposite end of the field to open the scoring just after halftime in the 36th minute (of a 70 minute match) against the U.S. Soccer Development Academy champions.

Shakes, Benjamin Ofeimu, Rayshuan McGann, Kevin Escobar, Oluwa Ogunwale, Seth Kuhn, Brendan Aaronson, Guei Bla, Issa Rayyan, Chad Letts and Brisma started the match.

Nykolas Sessock (28’), Carter Emack (45’), James Simpson (54’), Liam O’Brien (59’), Jason Aoyama (64’) and John Wagner (69’) came off the bench.

Even with the win, FC Dallas still finished in second place in the MLS group of the LIGA Bancomer MX International Tournament behind LA Galaxy, which is playing Club Tijuana for the tournament championship today.

The Union finished in third place in the MLS group with a 1-5-1 record in tournament play, but have plenty of positives to take away from a competition against some of the best youth clubs in North America.

As preseason tournaments go, the U16s couldn’t have asked for a better way to prep for the season ahead, which begins on the road against D.C. United on September 3.