Sunday’s Gordon Jago Super Group final will be a showdown between Denmark’s FC Midtjylland and Brazil’s Sao Paulo FC
DALLAS, Texas (Friday, April 7) – The 2023 Dallas Cup Girls’ Invitational presented by Mary Kay concluded today at Toyota Stadium with a quartet of title matches. Champions were crowned in the girls’ 15-Under, 16-Under, 17-Under, and the 19-Under divisions to wrap up the third edition of the Dallas Cup Girls’ Invitational presented by Mary Kay. Following the girls’ finals, the semi-finals of the 19U Gordon Jago Super Group were played at Toyota Stadium, setting the stage for Sunday’s Super Group final between Denmark’s FC Midtjylland and Brazil’s Sao Paulo FC. Next door to Toyota Stadium, the champion of the 12U boys division was also crowned.
2023 Dallas Cup Girls’ Invitational presented by Mary Kay
The first match of the day featured Solar SC ECNL 08G squaring off against the 08G ODP (Olympic Development Program) National Select team for the 15-Under Dallas Cup Girls’ Invitational presented by Mary Kay title. In the 11th minute, Solar’s Jordan Hill scored the first goal of the match. After breaking through the ODP defense, she had a 1-on-1 opportunity against the keeper and confidently slotted the opening goal into the left side of the net. Hill’s goal would be all the local side needed, as the Solar backline and keeper, Evan O’Steen, kept a clean sheet through the final whistle. The match ended 1-0 in favor of Solar SC ECNL 08G, who hoisted the first “Boot & Ball” championship trophy of 2023.
The second match of the day was the Under 16 Girls final between FC Dallas ECNL G07 and the 08G ODP National Select. Holly Storer, who scored a hat-trick in last year’s triumph in the U15 girls final for FC Dallas, had another big day on Friday. On the stroke of halftime, Storer stepped in from the right corner of the box and delivered a strike that flew just inside the left post and into the back on the net. Storer padded the FC Dallas lead with another goal in the 57th minute, making the score, 2-0. Kylie Maxwell got the ODP National Select side on the scoreboard in the 72nd minute, but it was a little too late. The match ended 2-1 in favor of FC Dallas ECNL G08, who was crowned the 16U Dallas Cup Girls Invitational presented by Mary Kay champion.
At noon, the Under 17 girls’ final kicked off from Toyota Stadium with Solar SC ECNL 06G taking on the 06G ODP National Select team. The Solar SC side, who was looking to three-peat at the Dallas Cup Girls’ Invitational, showed their class early and often with a barrage of goals. Emeri Adames entered the game with seven goals in the tournament and she added to the tally in style with a hat-trick at Toyota Stadium (5’, 30’, 67’). Lola Foley (7’), Amalia Villarreal (13’), Micayla Decker (16’), and Ana Cedeno (76’) also put their names on the scoresheet throughout the match, as Solar SC ECNL 06G cruised to a 7-1 win and the 17U Dallas Cup Girls’ Invitational presented by Mary Kay title.
The 19-Under girls’ final between the Australian School Girls and Solar ECNL RL 04G kicked off at 2:30pm and put a cap on the 2023 Dallas Cup Girls’ Invitational presented by Mary Kay. Emma Yolonski scored from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute to put Solar ahead 1-0. With time dwindling down in the match, Solar added a trio of late goals to pad the 1-0 lead. Charlie Codd converted from the penalty spot in the 80th minute and a few minutes later, Emma Yolonski bagged her hat-trick with goals in the 84th and 87th minute making the lead 4-0. The final whistle blew and Solar ECNL RL 04G hoisted the final girls’ “Boot & Ball” trophy of 2023. Emma Yolonski was the recipient of the Toyota MVP award following the match.
2023 Dallas Cup presented by Coca-Cola – 19U Gordon Jago Super Group Semifinals Following the girls’ finals, the first of two 19U Gordon Jago Super Group semifinal matches kicked off at Toyota Stadium between Spain’s Real Madrid and Dallas Cup debutant FC Midtjylland of Denmark. In the 14th minute, Midtjylland’s Pontus Texel headed home the first goal of the match for the Danish side from a well-swung corner kick. Minutes later, Real Madrid’s Babacar Docou answered with a header of his own in the 17th minute to level the semifinal match at 1-1. The match remained tied until the 36th minute when Real Madrid’s David Serrano connected on stunning left-footed strike from outside the box to put Los Blancos up 2-1. In the 57th minute, FC Midtjylland answered back. The ball found Gustav Christensen in the box who scored to the far-post, leveling the game at 2-2. In the 70th minute, Midtjylland was awarded a penalty kick. Christensen stepped up to the spot and converted the penalty to secure his brace and a one goal lead for the Danish side. The match ended 3-2 in favor of the Dallas Cup newcomer, FC Midtjylland, who will look to become the first Danish Super Group champion on Sunday at Toyota Stadium.
Shortly after 7:30pm, the second Gordon Jago Super Group semi-final match between Mexico’s Tigres and Brazil’s Sao Paulo FC kicked off. Less than a minute into the match, Sao Paulo’s Newertton got the Brazilian side on the board, as he caught the Tigres keeper off his line and chipped the ball into the net from outside the box. Unsurprisingly, both teams settled into the match as the match remained 1-0 until the 41st minute when Drumond scored a second goal for Sao Paulo. After the break, Tigres played like a different team. The Mexican side got a jolt from Isaias Galvan who scored in the 48th minute to bring the score to 2-1. In the 78th minute, following some beautiful team play, Tigres’ Diego Ojeda leveled the match with a gorgeous back-heel finish. The game was eventually sent to two ten-minute periods of extra time to determine who would advance to the Super Group final on Sunday. Nearing the end of extra-time, Sao Paulo was awarded a penalty kick. Newertton stepped up to the spot and delivered the winning goal, punching Sao Paulo’s ticket to the Gordon Jago Super Group final on Sunday, as the match ended with a final score of 3-2.
The Gordon Jago Super Group championship will be played at Toyota Stadium on Sunday, April 9 at 4:30pm CT. Tickets are on sale here.
2023 Dallas Cup presented by Coca-Cola – 12U Boys Final
Next door to Toyota Stadium, the champion was also crowned in the Boys 12U division with FC Dallas North Academy taking on SoCal Elite FC at Toyota Soccer Center earlier today. Elvis Pineda scored a pair of goals in the match for FC Dallas. Ben Flowers also scored in the match leading FC Dallas to a 3-1 win and the 12U Dallas Cup boys title.
On Saturday, the 2023 Dallas Cup presented by Coca-Cola Under 13 through Under 16 Boys championships will be played. On Sunday, the action continues with the Under 17 through Under 19 boys’ finals, including the Gordon Jago Super Group final. All games will be streamed live from Toyota Stadium on ESPN3.
Fans and teams alike can learn more about the tournament by visiting www.DallasCup.org or following us on social media @dallascup.