DALLAS, Texas – Championship Sunday at Dallas Cup was a USA against the world affair as three of the four finals featured American clubs going up against international counterparts. And it was the world who came out on top on a thrilling final day.

In the first game of championship Sunday, Santa Monica United took on CF Monterrey Rayados of Mexico. The Mexicans overmatched the kids from California right out of the gate, jumping out to a stunning 5-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, Santa Monica produced a far improved effort with Cameron Stopforth scoring and Kayvon Parsa adding two late in the match, but it wasn’t enough as Monterrey took the U16 Dallas Cup Championship 6-3 over the Americans.

The second match of the day was considerably more competitive as Santa Clara Sporting battled Aalborg BK from Denmark in a battle for the U17 championship.

Just minutes into the game, Danish U17 International Jannik Pohl unleashed a right-footed blast from just outside the box past Sporting goalkeeper Derek Wilcox to give Aalborg an early lead. The Sporting attack led by Javier Ceballos and Daniel Galvan bounced back quickly, however, and tied the game up in the 24th minute. Miguel Castillo played a ball over the top that the Danish defense struggled to handle. The shifty Ceballos ghosted in and capitalized on the miscommunication, getting a toe on the ball and chipping it past Frederik Reimer in goal to tie things up.

Despite being fairly outmatched against the bigger and stronger Aalborg side, Sporting looked to be in solid shape if they could make it into halftime level, but the Danes struck just before the interval. Johan Ejsing found some space on the right side of the box, sending in a low cross to Pohl who easily tapped home for his second goal just before halftime.

After halftime, Aalborg put the game out of reach as substitute Sebastian Andersen looped one from long range past Wilcox to double the advantage to 3-1. Aalborg began to fade as the temperature rose on the sunny afternoon and Sporting nearly set up some late drama. Jonah Snyder crashed one against the crossbar from 25 yards out in the 80th minute, but the ball bounced harmlessly to safety.

Soon after, Pohl struck from close range to complete his hat trick and give Aalborg the U17 Dallas Cup Championship.

With a handful of players that won the Dallas Cup U16 championship back in 2010, the Houston Dynamo brought an experienced group into the U19 championship match against Swedish side IF Brommapojkarna. Both the Dynamo and Bromma were final cuts to make the Gordon Jago Super Group so Sunday’s final was no fluke and the quality of play confirmed that.

A back and forth match saw Houston take the lead in the 37th minute through their much-hyped homegrown signing Bryan Salazar. The explosive winger who had a hat trick in the quarterfinals found some space on the right side, beat three defenders on a slaloming run and blasted a shot by the ‘keeper in a stunning individual effort.

Along with Salazar, the Dynamo’s other big star on the day was their goalkeeper Josh Blair who made two huge saves while defenders Christian Diaz and Chinedu Odenigwe kept the bigger Swedish side off the board to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.

The Dynamo were unable to keep the lead, however, as Bromma’s fast and shifty forward Heradi Rashidi struck twice in the second half to complete the comeback for the Swedes, ensuring no American team would take home a “Boot and Ball” trophy on Dallas Cup Championship Sunday.

In the nightcap, English Premier Academy League Champions Fulham FC completed an undefeated tournament in which they never once trailed, defeating Kashiwa Reysol of Japan 5-1 in a game where Dallas-native Emerson Hyndman started and played 90 minutes in his homecoming.

DALLAS CUP CHAMPIONS

U13: Pateadores

U14: Pateadores

U15: Sunrise Elite

U16: CF Monterrey Rayados

U17: Aalborg BK

U19(non-Super Group): IK Brommapojkarna

U19 Super Group: Fulham FC