The "Sueño MLS" and FC Dallas: How Rogelio Funes Mori missed the chance to be an MLS star at 18

If only Rogelio Funes Mori had a crystal ball and could see the future, he could have saved himself a lot of time and spent a longer in the limelight. The 30-year-old Monterrey striker is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Liga MX club and one of the shining lights of the American League today, but it could all have started earlier. Rogelio Funes Mori got his first chance at MLS football at the age of 17 with FC Dallas but he missed it. 

Rogelio Funes Mori, and his equally popular twin brother Ramiro Funes Mori, both moved to Arlington, Texas with their parents after a financial crisis in their home city of Mendoza in Argentina. Their love for football made them continue learning the sports and in 2008, Rogelio got the chance of a lifetime to make it to the professional level in the MLS. Rogelio Funes Mori defeated thousands of other boys to win the 2008 edition of the then-popular but defunct "Sueno MLS" title. The soccer reality TV show allowed winners to sign their first professional contract with an MLS franchise. 

Rogelio Funes Mori had always been an exceptional striker and this shone through in the "Sueno MLS" as he edged 2000 other boys to sign his professional contract with FC Dallas. Along with his twin brother, Ramiro Funes Mori, he started his sojourn in the MLS at the age of 18. However, the deal did not work out with FC Dallas. 

Some say it was because the club reneged on the deal while others say the players' documentation prevented FC Dallas from offering them the full deal. In any case, both Funes Mori brothers left the club in 2009. Rogelio Funes Mori had a short trial with Chelsea in England but that didn't work out either. Rogelio Funes Mori and Ramiro Funes Mori then went back to their home country, Argentina, signed for River Plate and that was where their careers took off. 

One can only imagine what might have been if Rogelio Funes Mori's "Sueno MLS" deal with FC Dallas worked out. He might have become a star early on in the MLS rather than now at Liga MX and perhaps even represented the United States at the international level rather than the Mexican national team.