It has been a while since I last posted, and I will keep this one brief. After having watched the 2nd group game of Chile’s U20 Men’s World Cup tonight, I was still craving an additional football fix when I suddenly stumbled upon a mid-week USL Championship match between Birmingham Legion vs North Carolina FC.

While I only caught the last 20 or so minutes of it, it was extremely gratifying to see four former FC Dallas academy products going against each other in the same game. I don’t recall ever witnessing such phenomenon after our boys left the FC Dallas organization. On the North Carolina FC side, Thomas Roberts and Jaden Servania (both 2001 born and pictured below) played with Johan in the FC Dallas academy and the US National Team setup for several years. The memories (and the places they visited around the world) are countless.

On the Birmingham Legion side, Ronaldo Damus (2000 born) and Erik Centeno (2002 born) both played with Jonathan during his North Texas SC time and his last FC Dallas academy season respectively. Jonathan also had the brief pleasure of playing with Thomas during the summer of 2019 as they conquered the first USL championship. While Johan also played with Ronaldo that same summer on the North Texas SC team, his time was cut short due to his departure to pursue European opportunities with Porto.

What’s even more unique about these four former FC Dallas academy players is that none of them are either native Texans or lived in Texas prior to joining the FC Dallas system. They all moved to the Dallas Fort Worth area to pursue football, and none reside in the area now. Ronaldo Damus is a native of Haiti, Thomas Roberts is from Little Rock Arkansas, Jaden Servania is from Birmingham, Alabama, and Erik Centeno is from California. Football not only takes you to new and unique places, but always has a way to re-unite people.

Not relevant at all but the game ended in a dramatic 1-1 tie with a last-minute assist by none other than right fullback Erik Centeno who was going against Jaden Servania. Fun fact: North Carolina FC’s roster also includes North Texas SC and FC Dallas alumni: Mikey Maldonado and Jacori Hayes.

Edit: Johan made me aware that a fifth FC Dallas Academy product: Kameron Lacey (2001 born) and Florida native is also part of the Birmingham Legion roster but probably out injured now. Likely the reason why he wasn’t part of tonight’s roster.

Our boys are proud of their former teammates who continue to pursue football professionalism, but most importantly continue enjoying “the beautiful game”. Every player’s path is different, and their ephemeral journey is one to enjoy every day…to more football anecdotes…#theGomezway