Texas holds a special place for Seattle Sounders and U.S. men’s national team forward Clint Dempsey.
You can hear it in his voice, a Piney Woods drawl that never faded during six years spent overseas in the English Premier League with Fulham and Tottenham. The Nacogdoches native’s dialect will be more at home this Sunday at BBVA Compass as he faces off against the Houston Dynamo (4 p.m. CT, TICKETS).
“To go to the area that I grew up, learning the game, the state where I developed my skill to make it professionally in the first place—I owe a lot to Texas and any time I can get back it’s always a great feeling.”
Dempsey’s youth soccer story is well documented, learning the game in adult leagues with Hispanic immigrants, then scraping together enough time and money to trek nearly 200 miles to the northwest to play club soccer in Dallas in the hopes of being discovered.
Dempsey was able to break through despite his humble beginnings in East Texas, earning a scholarship to Furman University (where he played with Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark) and being drafted with the 8th pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft by the New England Revolution. But Dempsey is hopeful that the explosion of soccer in Texas, especially at the professional level, will provide a better route for kids like him to pursue their dreams.
“Just giving more opportunities to kids in the area to get seen,” Dempsey said of having two MLS clubs in Texas. “I think there’s a lot of kids that maybe aren’t able to afford to play on club teams that are really good quality and the more places that give players from different demographics the opportunity to try out and to get seen, I think that’s going to allow you to make better selections to get the best players, some of the hungriest players.”
Dynamo captain Brad Davis was with the Dallas Burn in 2004 when they passed on local son Dempsey with the 6th and 7th picks in that year’s draft and has watched him grow into one of the United States’ most accomplished players.
“[He’s] a guy that has really evolved into a complete player. He’s been great for MLS, he’s been one of the most successful Americans in the Premier League,” Davis told HoustonDynamo.com. “Everwhere he’s gone he’s scored goals, he’s been on top of his game and obviously what he’s done for the U.S. He’s a special player and one that we definitely have to watch for.”
Since returning to MLS from England in the middle of the 2013 season, Dempsey has piled up 24 goals and 19 assists and helped guide Seattle to the 2014 Supporters’ Shield. The Sounders remain on the edge of this year’s playoff race after going without Dempsey and strike partner Obafemi Martins for a long stretch during the summer. With both back in the lineup, the Dynamo have their work cut out for them as they try to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
“That’s the thing: it’s not just [Dempsey]. It’s the way him and Oba move together,” said defender
DaMarcus Beasley
, a teammate of Dempsey’s from the national team since 2004. “They’re a great tandem. Their goals speak for themselves.
“It’s a different ballgame when those two are on the field together and playing and scoring and creating for each other … It’s definitely one of the best pairings in this league. If we don’t bring the intensity and the concentration for the 90 minutes then it’s going to be a long day.”
Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle faced off against Dempsey on numerous occaisions while they were both in England, but has confidence in his squad to neutralize the threat “Deuce” brings back to Texas in the Dynamo’s regular season home finale.
“He’s still producing for Seattle, still producing for the national team so we know he’s a very good player and deserves an honest credit for the career he’s had,” Coyle said. “But our focus will be to make sure that we look to nullify that threat.
“Equally as wonderful of a player as he is, we also have players of that caliber and that quality. It’s important that they show their stuff for us on Sunday because we’ve been in terrific form at home.”
