Everton lose Dallas Cup opener against River Plate

Blues coach calls for response against LA Galaxy on Monday night

EVERTON lost their opening game at the Dallas Cup to defending champions River Plate.

The young Blues went down 3-1 at the Cotton Bowl Stadium on Sunday night in their first group game.

Kieran Dowell, who signed a professional contract with Everton last week, brought Paul Tait’s side level but River Plate scored twice more in the second-half to pick up the win.

Tait was disappointed to lose the game against the Argentinians but is confident his under-19 squad can respond with a victory over LA Galaxy this evening.

“It was a disappointing result but I was delighted with the effort the boys put in because it was a tough game and a very testing one,” Tait said.

“It was great for the development of the players and I think they’ll become better players after it.

“I thought [River Plate] were a really good team, they pressed us well in the first half and we gifted them a goal through an error. But we got in at half-time, we changed it a little bit to become a bit more compact in midfield with a diamond and I thought we looked a real threat in the second half.



“I thought we looked as physically strong as them and mentally we were great, too - but we were playing against very good players and if you make mistakes you get punished.

“At the same time, we created some really good chances ourselves and it was a case of very fine margins on the night.”

The three group winners and the best runner-up will qualify for the semi-finals and Tait remains hopeful they can make the last four.

“We need to get the boys recovered,” he added.

“We will get back to the hotel, eat and then get them to bed.

“Then, we have to go on and beat LA Galaxy, hopefully by a few goals, because our aim is to be the best runner-up and qualify to the latter stages and we still believe we can.

“I think River Plate was always going to be the hardest game on paper and it proved that way. Obviously, we will respect LA Galaxy but we think that we can beat them.”



By Phil Kirkbride / Echo