WASHINGTON, D.C. - FC Dallas Homegrown Jesús Ferreira trained with his fellow 2023 MLS All-Stars for the first time Monday morning at American University's campus in Washington, D.C. ahead of their match against Arsenal FC on Wednesday, June 19.
"These sessions are amazing," Ferreira said afterwards. "You know it's always some fun but competitive. You get to see the best players all around the league come together. It's easy to play with them, it's easy to combine and to enjoy it and have fun."
Ferreira is FC Dallas' sole representative on this year's All-Star team but he's joined by two former Dallas teammates. Nashville SC's Walker Zimmerman and LAFC's Ryan Hollingshead, both former FCD draft picks, were also named to the roster. Hollingshead, in particular, played alongside Ferreira in Dallas' starting lineup for three seasons.
"It's always good to see him," Ferreira. "(Ryan) is obviously a guy that I was always looking up to, I was going to for advice, and he was always helping me outside and on the field. And to see him here, it's awesome. He's one of the best left back into the league, he's always the one that has the most goals from left back. So it's always fun to see the man and catching up."
Ferreira travelled to the nation's capital for All-Star week just a few days after playing and scoring for the United States Men's National Team in its Gold Cup semifinal defeat to Panama on Wednesday, June 12. With FC Dallas' opening its League Cup campaign this Friday, Ferreira could feature in three separate competitions for three different teams within the space of 10 days.
"It's just about sitting down with yourself reflecting on the (Gold Cup) tournament that we had," Ferreira explained. "It was a good tournament but obviously not the way we wanted it to end. But now we're just switching focus to enjoy the All-Star week. This is about enjoying the moment being present and just enjoying the teammates and getting to know people. I'm glad I'm here for three more days and then I'm ready to get back to helping Dallas again."
Still just 22, Ferreira will be lining up in his second-consecutive MLS All-Star game after playing against the Liga MX All-Stars in last year's edition. This time around, he'll be facing off against English Premier League giants Arsenal who recently finished second under head coach Mikel Arteta. Ferreira and the All-Stars will be led by current D.C. United boss Wayne Rooney, a five-time Premier League champion himself.
"He seems like a coach that's very chill and obviously knows a lot about the players," Ferreira said. "He had a great career so it's easy to connect with us.
"It'll be fun. It'll be good, competitive. Obviously, we're here to try to win. Everybody's locked in on that same page."
Wednesday's match kicks off at Audi Field in Washington D.C. at 7:30PM CT and will be available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
