After last season’s Western Conference final run with a roster featuring a large contingent of young internationals and top-flight academy products, FC Dallas looks like a team positioned to stay atop MLS for years to come. FC Dallas has been incredibly successful in striking the balance between attracting young internationals and developing homegrown talent, and no two players better represent the team’s approach than a pair of 20-year old midfielders with international experience in Homegrown Player Kellyn Acosta and Ecuadorian Carlos Gruezo.
With FC Dallas leading the league in minutes played by Homegrown Players with 965 this season (Dallas led MLS in 2015 with 6,733 total minutes), the club’s model for a successful youth academy continues to set the bar. Acosta is among the group of talented Homegrown Players already making their mark, as the defender/midfielder’s breakthrough season last year earned him a look from Jurgen Klinsmann and a call up to the U.S. Men’s National Team. Already in 2016, Acosta registered his first two career caps for the senior national team while also representing the U.S. U-23s in Olympic qualifiers. The Plano, TX native’s ambitions extend beyond the pitch, however, as Acosta is currently studying to receive his degree in business and sports management.
Complementing Acosta in the midfield is Gruezo, who arrived as an offseason Designated Player signing from Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart. Gruezo is among an electric group of burgeoning South American stars making FC Dallas among the youngest in the league with an average age just over 24 years old. The speedy midfielder was the fourth-youngest player at the 2014 World Cup where he started for his native Ecuador at just 19 years old. Gruezo, whose father played professionally and represented Ecuador at the national level, made history as the first Ecuadorian to score in the Bundesliga last year. With six starts under his belt in MLS, FC Dallas can expect years of dynamic play in addition to Gruezo’s already illustrious career.
Although Acosta and Gruezo may come from two very different backgrounds, they have been able to form a strong central midfield that will only improve and mature with age. Whether scouting players a continent away or in its own backyard, FC Dallas has shown a penchant for recognizing and developing young talent, a skill that gives the Cup contenders an undeniable competitive edge.
Complementing Acosta in the midfield is Gruezo, who arrived as an offseason Designated Player signing from Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart. Gruezo is among an electric group of burgeoning South American stars making FC Dallas among the youngest in the league with an average age just over 24 years old. The speedy midfielder was the fourth-youngest player at the 2014 World Cup where he started for his native Ecuador at just 19 years old. Gruezo, whose father played professionally and represented Ecuador at the national level, made history as the first Ecuadorian to score in the Bundesliga last year. With six starts under his belt in MLS, FC Dallas can expect years of dynamic play in addition to Gruezo’s already illustrious career.
Although Acosta and Gruezo may come from two very different backgrounds, they have been able to form a strong central midfield that will only improve and mature with age. Whether scouting players a continent away or in its own backyard, FC Dallas has shown a penchant for recognizing and developing young talent, a skill that gives the Cup contenders an undeniable competitive edge.
By: Editor
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