Dallas talent factory confident World Cup will deliver development dividend

DALLAS, July 12 : When Mauricio Pochettino named the U.S. squad for the World Cup, no club played a greater role in developing the players who would represent the tournament co-hosts than FC Dallas.

In Weston McKennie, Chris Richards, Ricardo Pepi and Alejandro Zendejas, the Frisco-based outfit produced a quartet that underlined the organisation's reputation as the leading talent factory in Major League Soccer.

"We're a big believer in domestic talent," FC Dallas president Dan Hunt tells Reuters. "And we want to try to help not only FC Dallas win, but the national teams win.

"Because without a strong national team, I really think it hurts the domestic league too. So we stay true to who we are."

All four players featured during the U.S.' run to the last 16 but it is Dallas' status as the venue that hosted the largest number of World Cup matches across the tournament's 16 venues that points to the potential of an even brighter future.

Dallas Stadium will host its ninth and last World Cup match on Tuesday when France face Spain in the tournament's first semi-final, bringing an end to more than four weeks of festivities.

"We're so thankful that we had nine games and we've had unbelievable matches here," says Hunt, who also served as co-chair of the North Texas World Cup organising committee.

"I mean, that England-Croatia game. Japan twice was amazing here. Argentina twice. Even having Cristiano Ronaldo's last World Cup game. I mean, these are just amazing things."

The Hunt family have been integral to the sport, both in the region and nationally, since Dan's father Lamar founded the Dallas Tornado in 1967.

A year later the team were one of the original members of the North American Soccer League, continuing in that competition until