Soccer notebook: Back from Austin loan, Ema Twumasi scores winning PK for FC Dallas

Unlike many of his FC Dallas teammates, Ema Twumasi had taken part in a playoff shootout prior to Sunday’s win over the Portland Timbers.

As the eighth penalty taker in a shootout that lasted long past the standard five kicks, Twumasi found himself in the exact spot he was last fall, when Austin Bold eventually lost to Phoenix Rising in the USL Championship playoffs. Just like he did then, Twumasi converted.

This time, his ended up being the decisive kick, after Jimmy Maurer’s diving save against Jorge Villafaña.

“I haven’t missed in a game yet,” Twumasi said on Tuesday, as he reflected on the journey that took him from a two-year loan stint with the Bold to an MLS playoff debut.

Bold fans watching the match might have been surprised to see Twumasi at all, considering he finished the 2020 season with the Bold on Oct. 4. Since returning to Dallas, the 23-year-old Ghanaian had appeared as a substitute in four matches, for a total of 35 minutes.

Yet there he was, his name called by FCD coach Luchi González in the 80th minute of a 0-0 playoff game in Portland.

“I did talk to Luchi a lot, even when I was in Austin,” Twumasi said. “He checked up on me a lot. We had conversations going back and forth. He made me know that I was still in the plans. Sometimes people go away and they feel like they are out of the loop. Luchi always made me know and feel like I was in his plans.”

Initially, Twumasi was a direct replacement for designated player Andrés Ricaurte, deployed as an attacking midfielder underneath forward Franco Jara. That changed as soon as Villafaña gave the Timbers a 1-0 lead in the 82nd minute. Twumasi kept dropping deeper into the midfield as Dallas brought on more attackers, including 17-year-old Ricardo Pepi who scored the equalizer in stoppage time.

Twumasi completed 17 of 21 passes and recovered possession five times.

“It’s a position I’ve never played before, but I’ll be honest I really enjoyed playing it,” he said. “I feel like as a soccer player you’ve always got to be ready. That’s what we do. You’ve got to be ready for whatever the team needs. I’m glad I could help.”

Most importantly, he proved that he could be trusted in a big moment by the team that drafted him 11th overall out of Wake Forest in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, as a Generation Adidas talent. A big part of earning that trust was his output for the Bold, where he scored four goals toward the tail end of 2019 and added a goal and four assists this year.

“Austin definitely lifted my career,” he said. “Going to Austin, to be honest I was in a place where I felt like the game wasn’t really being fair to me. I felt like I was giving everything that I had to the game, and the game wasn’t showing me love back. But then I went to Austin, I had people who loved me over there in the coaching staff, Marcelo (Serrano) and (Ryan) Thompson, those guys love me and they want the best for me. They kept pushing me. They identified my weaknesses and made sure I was working on them every single day.”

Focus on development: Austin FC announced a pair of assistant coach hires last week, both of which reinforced the club’s commitment to youth development. Nolan Sheldon arrives from D.C. United, while Rodrigo Rios comes from the Atlanta United academy. Both will work primarily with the first team.

Sheldon, 36, was with D.C. United for 10 years, starting as an assistant coach for the under-16 academy squad, before becoming academy director from 2014 to 2016 and later joining the first-team staff under Ben Olsen for the past four seasons. Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff and assistant Davy Arnaud both played for Olsen in D.C., before Sheldon was promoted to the first team.

Rios, 43, enjoyed a successful playing career in his native country of Chile before moving to Atlanta as a member of the USL’s Silverbacks in 2005. He joined the Atlanta United academy staff in 2016, and was the U-19 coach there for the past three years. That included coaching Wolff’s son Tyler, who is now 17, when he moved from the Columbus Crew academy in 2019 and eventually broke through to the Atlanta United first team earlier this year.

“Nolan and Rodrigo are excellent additions to our first team coaching staff, bringing MLS and international experience, as well as proven abilities to develop youth talent through academy programs and into MLS first teams,” Josh Wolff said in a statement.

H-E-B and Austin FC: On Monday, Austin FC and H-E-B announced a partnership that makes the Texas-based supermarket chain the team’s official grocer, and will include an on-site fan zone called the “H-E-B Plaza” to be located near the northeast entrance of the stadium.

The organizations are also partnering on a “Season of Giving” holiday charity initiative.