Clube Atletico Paranaense (U-20) 4, FC Dallas 2

by PegNews wire

FC Dallas today was defeated by the Clube Atletico Paranaense Under-20 team by the score of 4-2 in the team’s final preseason game played at the CAP training center in Curitiba, Brazil. Trialists Gaspar Paez and Alvaro Sanchez provided the Dallas goals.

FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman used this morning’s game as an opportunity to rest several starters from the previous two matches and evaluate the five players currently on trial. Of the five, Paez, Sanchez, and Jonathan Artura were inserted into the starting lineup.

With both sides trading possession for much of the first half, Atletico Paranaense finally broke through in the 44th minute. Forward Patrick was first to a ball on the right side of the field and quickly found Wilian inside the box. Wilian then turned and fired a right-footed shot past league pool goalkeeper Bryant Rueckner to take a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.

Dallas would even the score three minutes into the second half. Defensive midfielder Bruno Guarda and Artura applied pressure to CAP’s Fransergio as he held the ball in the middle of the field. Artura toe-poked the ball loose and took it up the field before finding Paez making a run toward goal on the left side. The Argentine forward took a couple of touches before finishing to the far post.

But a defensive lapse in the 55th minute led to a second CAP goal. Atletico Paranaense’s Thiago stole the ball from Drew Moor in the Dallas defensive third, dribbled toward goal from the left side of the area, and put the Brazilian side ahead 2-1 with a low right-footed finish.

Fifteen minutes later, Dallas fought back to even the score for a second time. Artura earned an FCD free kick when a CAP defender took him down two yards outside of the box. Costa Rican trialist Sanchez lined up for the direct kick just to the right of the arc, and curled the ball with a left-footed strike over the wall and into the top right corner of the goal.

However, Leo Nunes would put the CAP U-20 team up for good in the 76th minute. The second-half substitute finished inside the box off a cross sent in by midfielder Raul, who had won a loose ball on the right side of the field.

The two would combine for the game’s final goal three minutes later when Nunes used his head to redirect a Raul free kick to make the score 4-2.

At 3-4-2 in preseason play, FCD has concluded its training in Curitiba and will return to Dallas early Saturday morning. The team will play its final preseason game next Saturday, March 14 (7:30 p.m. CT) at Pizza Hut Park against Brazilian partner Clube Atletico Paranaense in the second leg of the USA-Brazil Challenge. Atletico Paranaense leads the aggregate goal series 4-3.

Source: FC Dallas Communications