FRISCO -- It took a Colombian coach to give a Mexican kid the chance to live the American dream.

FC Dallas homegrown Victor Ulloa's career has flourished since the return of Oscar Pareja as head coach in 2014. Ulloa started 26 games as a midfielder that season and set a record for minutes by a homegrown player with 2,365 as FC Dallas reached the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

Ulloa then started all 33 games and played 2,915 minutes on the 2015 team that won the West and reached the MLS conference finals. He has started 16 games this season for the Western Conference leaders and has scored what FCD insiders consider the two most important goals of the season.

Ulloa scored in the 82nd minute of a July game against second-place Colorado, giving FCD a 1-1 tie on the road and denying the Rapids a three-point night. Then he scored his second goal of the season in extra time of an August game against the Los Angeles Galaxy, giving FCD a 2-1 victory in the semifinal round of the Open Cup.

"Victor is a good example of the young players that have been grown up here," said Pareja, a former captain of the Colombia Medellin team. "They just need an opportunity. He's embraced it."

Opportunity was something Ulloa didn't think he'd ever receive from his adopted hometown team. He was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, but moved to the Dallas area when he was 4. He grew up playing soccer in the FC Dallas Academy, serving as captain of the U-18 team coached by Pareja in 2009, then signed a three-year, homegrown, entry-level contract with FC Dallas in 2010.

But coach Schellas Hyndman preferred older players, and Ulloa's guardian angel Pareja left in 2011 to become the head coach of the Rapids. The average age of Hyndman's starting lineup was 27.5 years, so there was no room for a teenager like Ulloa. He thus became a fixture on the FCD reserve team but an invisible member of the parent club, appearing in only one MLS game in his first three seasons.

His dream of playing for his hometown team was becoming a mirage.

At the conclusion of his contract, Ulloa left for Mexico to try to hook on with a second-division club. He needed to find a coach who would let him play. Ulloa was training with Veracruz when he found out Pareja had been hired by FC Dallas to replace Hyndman. That same day, he phoned Pareja.

"I got emotional," Ulloa, 24, said. "He told he was coming back to Dallas, and he wanted me there. He didn't promise me a contract. He didn't promise me a roster spot. All he said was, 'Come win your spot. That's all I can offer you.' That's all I needed to hear. I knew I could win a spot on his team. I'm so grateful for everything he's done for me and my career."

But Ulloa wasn't the same player in 2014 that Pareja recalled from their days together on the U-18 team in 2009. That young player had swagger. The player who returned to FC Dallas in 2015 did not.

"He wasn't ready at all," Pareja said. "He was physically behind. His body wasn't developed the way we wanted for what we were asking to do. His confidence was very low, as was his self-esteem. But since I knew him from the past, he was a project I wanted. I knew his talent and his capacity.

"It took a little while to reconstruct him mentally and physically. But confidence is the key. When you know that someone trusts you, someone believes in you, that's important. I had the same experience myself [in Colombia]. You just need someone to give you the opportunity."

One of the reasons the Hunt family hired Pareja was his background, commitment and confidence in the FC Dallas Academy. Pareja worked with youngsters and wasn't afraid to play them. The average age of his FCD starting lineup is 25.1 years. Ulloa became one of the first beneficiaries. He suited up for the third game of the 2014 season against Chivas USA but did not play. He started the fourth game and played a stout 87 minutes in a 2-1 victory over Portland.

Ulloa has been in the lineup ever since. That comes as no surprise to Pareja.

"His willingness to work and his commitment to the game always gave me hope that it would get better for him," Pareja said. "After that Portland game, I never had any more doubts about him playing. I saw a professional player. I saw a player who could help me win. He gets things done on the field. He does the small things that allow me to trust him."

All dreams start with opportunity.

"Dallas is my home," Ulloa said. "I grew up here. I've been here all my life. It's a special place for me. I wanted to prove myself. People had the wrong picture of me. They never really had an opportunity to see me play and judge me. I'm so happy I made that decision [to return to FCD].

"There's nothing better than playing in front of my family and these fans in my hometown."

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis.

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