FC Dallas saw their Leagues Cup run come to an end on Sunday evening at the hands of Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
Lineups
FC Dallas — Maarten Paes; Geovane Jesus (Ema Twumasi – 77’), Sebastien Ibeagha, Nkosi Tafari, Marco Farfan; Sebastian Lletget (Paxton Pomykal – 69’), Facundo Quignon, Bernard Kamungo (Eugene Ansah – 59’), Alan Velasco (Tsiki Ntsabeleng – 77’); Jáder Obrian (Paul Arriola – 59’), Jesús Ferreira.
Substitutes not used — Jimmy Maurer, Antonio Carrera, José Martinez, Amet Korça, Sam Junqua, Dante Sealy, Jesús Jiménez.
Inter Miami CF — Drake Callender; DeAndre Yedlin (Robbie Robinson – 75’) , Sergii Kryvtsov, Kamal Miller, Jordi Alba; Dixon Arroyo, Sergio Busquets, Diego Gómez (Benjamin Cremaschi – 64’); Lionel Messi, Josef Martínez (Leonardo Campana – 75’), Robert Taylor.
Substitutes not used — Carlos dos Santos, Cole Jensen, David Ruiz, Noah Allen, Edison Azcona, Harvey Neville, Ryan Sailor, Victor Ulloa.
Scoring Summary:
MIA: Lionel Messi (Jordi Alba) – 6’
DAL: Facundo Quignon (Marco Farfan) – 37’
DAL: Bernard Kamungo (Jesús Ferreira) – 45’
DAL: Alan Velasco – 63’
MIA: Benjamin Cremaschi (Jordi Alba) – 65’
DAL: Robert Taylor (own goal) – 68’
MIA: Marco Farfan (own goal) – 80’
MIA: Lionel Messi – 85’
Misconduct Summary:
DAL: Nkosi Tafari (caution) – 16’
MIA: Sergio Busquets (caution) – 74’
Weather: Sunny, 105ºF
Attendance: 19,096
Stats
FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Nico Estévez
On the current state of FC Dallas…
“I think that FC Dallas is growing in the right direction and we have to be proud about how we do things. The club has moved from a direction of majority young players to a roster that is a mix between young players and other players that has that experience. We feel confident about what we want to do in this club.”
On defender Nkosi Tafari rising to the occasion tonight…
“When I arrived here, he wasn’t a starting player. Last year he started participating more in the rotation, and this year he’s started in a lot more games. He’s a young player that is growing in the right direction, and he did a very good job. He had a couple 1v1’s against Messi, and he solved it very well.”
Forward Bernard Kamungo
On having his brother, Imani, see him score a goal tonight…
“I don’t even know how to explain it. I’ve never scored in front of him so that was literally my first time. I almost cried because it’s a lot. Then I turned to him and told him that was for you because he did a lot for me to get to where I am right now. I’m just so happy that he got to see me score.”
On the loss…
“We think as a team that we could have done better, each player as well. This is a disappointment for the whole team.” “We think that we could have done better as a team and as individuals. This is a disappointment for the whole team.”
Forward Alan Velasco
On facing Messi for the first time….
“I accomplished one of my biggest dreams today. It was such a surreal experience that after many years of watching him play, I finally got to share the field with him. I am happy for that experience but also upset because of the score. We were up two goals and lost focus which made us lose a game we should have won.”
On the team's performance tonight….
“The team fought till the end. It is not easy playing the best player in the world, but tonight FC Dallas showed what they are capable of and how the team has been growing over the last couple of years.”
