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COPA TEJAS KICKS OFF TODAY

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By Miguel Padilla

In a few hours, Copa Tejas first match gets underway with Rio Grande Valley Toros facing the El Paso Locomotive at Southwest University Park. The Copa Tejas is more than a competition, it is a celebration of how much soccer has grown in the United States and Texas.

An exciting new chapter in professional soccer in America begins when RGV and El Paso step onto the pitch as it will the historical first match in Copa Tejas. Early estimates say it will be a near sellout crowd in El Paso, an excellent way to get the Copa Tejas started,

The Copa Tejas twitter page conducted a poll to see who the fans will think will win the match, El Paso are clearly fan favorites but with this being the dawning of a four way rivalry, anything is possible. Expect every single derby to have extra meaning for fans and clubs alike.

Today’s match has a lot of meaning to El Paso fans as we spoke with representatives from 8th Notch supporters group and Seriously Loco Soccer Pod, here’s what they had to say,

“We are absolutely excited to be part of it! It’s been great to see all 4 clubs and their SGs embrace it. We feel very fortunate to be part of the very first match and can’t wait to see how this plays out. Raising the Copa Tejas at the end of the season would really make the city proud and would be a great way to announce our arrival to the league. We can’t wait for Saturday!” – 8th Notch https://twitter.com/8thNotchEP

“The Copa Tejas for El Paso is a chance to connect with the other Texans who support USL clubs but also presents an opportunity to demonstrate what EP brings to the table. Being so far from the rest of Texas we often feel like an afterthought but the Copa gives us an opportunity to showcase our city and introduce it to the rival supporters as a destination for them. They’ll love all the events minus the 90 minutes where Locomotive show them who’s the best in Texas! It’s a great chance to connect with our fellow Texans and for all of us to help build Texas’ pro game as much as possible. ” – Seriously Loco Soccer Pod https://twitter.com/SrslyLocoEPTX

Copa Tejas is Texas newest tradition and we hope it stays for many, many years to come. A tourney will link clubs and fans from the great Lone Star State in the celebration of futbol.

You can catch the Locomotives v Toros on ESPN +

Next match in Copa Tejas is March 30 when Austin Bold faces San Antonio FC at the Circuit of the Americas.

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SAFC 2019 season Preview

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2018 Record: Position 9th (out of the playoffs)

14 Wins 12 Losses 8 Draws

Head Coach: Darren Powell (4th season)

Regular season record: 41 Wins 28 Losses 27 Draws

Playoffs: 1 Win 1 Loss

US Open Cup: 4 Wins 3 Losses

KEY MATCHES:

Phoenix Rising FC (HOME 03.09.19 and AWAY 09.07.19)

Orange County SC (HOME 05.11.19 and AWAY 07.20.19)

Sacramento Republic (HOME 06.01.19 and AWAY 08.03.19)

Austin Bold (AWAY 03.30.19)

KEY DEPARTURES:

GK – Diego Restrepo to Austin Bold; LB – Greg Cochrane (retired); CB – Cyprian Hedrick to Tulsa Roughnecks; RB – Darnell King to Nashville SC; RM – Omar Gordon to OKC Energy

KEY ADDITIONS:

CB – Joshua Yaro from Bethlehem Steel FC; CB – Amer Didic from Swope Park Rangers; MF – Billy Forbes from Phoenix Rising FC; MF – Micheal Lahoud from FC Cincinnati

SYNOPSIS:

San Antonio FC had a large roster turn over in the off season after missing the playoffs, SAFC is looking bolster it’s defensive back line with a complete overhaul, zero returned from last season. Offense looks revamped with Lance Laing and Ever Guzman returning; along with the addition of Billy Forbes and promising youngster Cristian Parano.

OUTLOOK:

Look for San Antonio FC to increase it’s goal total from last year while looking to improve it’s defense. SAFC will make the playoffs with a rebuilt squad and expanded playoff format.

Ever Guzman will look to keeping his goal scoring pace from last season; if he stays healthy all season, Ever will flirt with breaking the 20 goal mark. Watch out for Billy Forbes and Lance Laing to also be in double digits. Look for Jack Barmy to be the center mid feeding in the passes and assists in 4-2-3-1 formation and pair up with Micheal Lahoud or Cristian Parano in a 4-1-4-1 .

“El General” Rafa Castillo and Walter Restrepo will be the elder statesman providing leadership and accountability especially to the youth on the squad. The youngsters will be lead by Ethan Bryant, which can’t be considered a rookie anymore will provide valuable minutes and an injection of speed and fearlessness towards goal late in matches.

The defense looks solid overall with Amer Didic being the anchor, with the ability to be a end to end player. Joshua Yaro impressed in the preseason as the other starting CB. The outside backs will have prove themselves and appear very capable to the challenge. RB Kai Greene and LB Pascal Eboussi have the size and strength to be physical and disrupt any attacker trying to come down the sidelines.

Tactically, the formations you see this year will be similar to last year. Last season, SAFC sat back the majority of games and looked to counter, in 2019 look for SAFC to press high defensively and control possession more. If San Antonio control the midfield with possession and precision passing , they will frustrate opposing XI’s and create more chances for the strikers and wings to get shots on goal.

Predicition:

A few of the teams that finished ahead of SAFC last year lost vital players some to SAFC (Billy and Amer), Phoenix lost Castro to a club in Thailand, Orange County’s Enevoldson went to the Indy Eleven. That, with the addition of a three expansion teams, will improve SAFC’s chances of victory.

This is the year SAFC gets past the 4th round of the US Open Cup and very capable of defeating FC Dallas or Houston Dynamo, especially at home.

With a back line built more like a linebacker corps in American football and some menacing strikers, SAFC will climb the table finishing 3rd in the Western Conference and make a deep playoff run to the Western Conference Final.