FRISCO, Texas — Here's what you need to know from Day 3 of the 2015 Generation adidas Cup:
Eight teams remain in the hunt for two trophies
Four teams in both the Champions Division and the Premier Division advanced to the semifinals, all of which will be played at Toyota Stadium on Thursday and will be broadcast live on MLSsoccer.com:
- April 2, 2 pm ET: New York Red Bulls vs. LA Galaxy
- April 2, 4 pm ET: Sagan Tosu vs. Independiente Medellín
- April 2, 6 pm ET: River Plate vs. Palmeiras
- April 2, 8 pm ET: FC Dallas vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
FC Dallas, MLS torchbearer
If an MLS team is going to reclaim the Generation adidas Cup title (Stoke City won on penalty kicks last year), it's going to have to be FC Dallas.
The home team wrapped up group play with a come-from-behind, 3-1 win over Pumas to become the only MLS team to advance to the tournament's semifinals. Goals from Giovanni Montesdeoca, Toshiki Yasuda and Benji Granillo, the latter two coming in the game's final 11 minutes, gave Dallas a 3-0 record and the Group B title. FC Dallas personnel in attendance included club president Dan Hunt, technical director Fernando Clavijo and center back Matt Hedges.
Dallas will play Eintracht Frankfurt (3-0, outscored opponents 5-0) in the nightcap of Thursday's four semifinal games, kicking off at 7 pm local time (8 pm ET, watch on MLSsoccer.com) at Toyota Stadium and should have plenty of support. River Plate (3-0, outscored opponents 8-0) and Palmeiras (2-1) meet in the other semifinals. Runners-up in 2009 and 2011, Dallas lost in last year's semifinals to Real Salt Lake and placed third, but this year's group is more dynamic in the final third.
Premier Division yields marquee matchups
While the Premier Division features MLS teams that did not qualify for the Champions Division, it has not lacked for quality. The New York Red Bulls, LA Galaxy and Chivas USA all impressed, and the Red Bulls and Galaxy will square off in the first semifinal on Thursday at Toyota Stadium, kicking off at 2 pm ET.
The Premier Division title will be decided between the winner of that semifinal and either Sagan Tosu or Independiente Medellín. Both went 3-0 in group play, although Sagan Tosu needed a late goal for a dramatic 1-0 win over Chivas USA on Wednesday, while Independiente Medellín outscored their group-stage opponents, 8-2.
Crazy finishes
Both the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake produced wild finishes at the same end of the Toyota Soccer Center's Field 7, albeit in very different circumstances.
LA needed only a tie against Orlando City to advance to the semifinals, so with the game tied 1-1 late, Orlando were pushing forward for the upset. The Galaxy struck for the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with Kyle Holcomb scoring his third goal of the tournament, to take the full three points.
Real Salt Lake's win was even more improable. Athletic Bilbao jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 and were looking to run away with the game to amass better goal differential in an attempt to reach the semifinals. Instead, Real Salt Lake roared back with three goals in the final five minutes (including a fortuitous bounce that gave goalkeeper Conor Orton a goal), culminating with a Josh Drack winner in the second minute of stoppage time. With the win, RSL -- last year's runners-up -- finished second in the group on goal differential.
- STANDINGS: Champions Division | Premier Division
Who's down for a pick-up game?
We are not aware of any MLS owners flying in to see Generation adidas Cup games, as Real Salt Lake's Dell Loy Hansen did last year, but familiar MLS faces have been on display all week.
In addition to all the Dallas personnel, former MLS players including (but hardly limited to) Carlos Bocanegra, Chris Gbandi, Chris Henderson, Chris Leitch, Gonzalo Segares, Jamie Smith, Pete Vagenas, Dave van den Bergh, Craig Waibel, Richie Williams and Steve Wondolowski have all been in Frisco this week, working in a wide variety of capacities, from technical directors to college assistants to MLS academy coaches to US Soccer talent evaluators.
