By Daniel Robertson
Mexican giants CF Monterrey come to Dallas in 2010 joining Chivas Guadalajara and arch-rivals Tigres in what is the strongest group of teams from our southern neighbors in years. Monterrey returns to the Super Group of Dallas Cup XXXI looking to build on the previous two years in which they have posted respectable appearances at the Dallas Cup falling in the semi-finals in 2008 and just missing out on a semi-finals appearance in 2009.
The club from Monterrey in the northern Mexico state of Nuevo Leon looks to be bringing their strongest Dallas Cup Super Group team yet as they bring many of the players who won the U17 Dallas Cup championship last season. That Monterrey U17 side went a perfect 6-0 in the tournament to take home the championship.
The Rayados roster of players they're bringing to the Super Group this season includes a mix of their U19 and U17 teams which sit in 5th and 3rd respectively in their national leagues, though neither team is more than 11 points out of first place. The Mexican Soccer Federation does an excellent job putting all of their sub-20 and sub-17 league stats and from those we can see that Monterrey has one of the stiffest defenses in the country averaging just one goal a game allowed in 26 U20 games.
The Rayados de Monterrey will face stiff tests in their Dallas Cup group, opening up against Costa Rican opposition in LD Alajuelense before facing Premier League giants Chelsea and hometown club FC Dallas Juniors. An upset could be on the cards, however, as this team has bags of Dallas Cup experience and will know exactly what it will take to get to the semi-finals to try to win their first Super Group championship.
Stay tuned to the Dallas Cup Blog for more team previews and other Dallas Cup news as we count down to Dallas Cup XXI coming to the metroplex March 28-April 4
Past Super Group previews
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