Ricardo Villar

Born on Aug. 11, 1979, in São Paulo, Brazil, Villar began his career with the youth ranks of São Paulo FC, the same club FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman worked with as a coach in 1976-77 (FC Dallas defender Jackson is also currently on loan from São Paulo FC). Villar left São Paulo FC in 1996 to play collegiate soccer at Penn State University for current FC Dallas Technical Director Barry Gorman.

From 1997 to 2001 Villar scored 27 goals and added 31 assists for the Nittany Lions. He was a First Team All-Big Ten selection in 1999 after scoring a Penn State record seven game-winning goals. Villar remains 11th all-time in points scored for Penn State in a career.

Villar remained in the U.S. following his college career, playing for the Hampton Roads Mariners and Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the A-League from 2002 to 2004. In two seasons Villar scored eight goals in 49 appearances. He made the jump to Europe in 2004, joining Austrian first division side SV Austria Salzburg for a season before a short stint in Asia with the Chunam Dragons. Villar returned to Germany in 2006, signing with second division FC Kaiserslautern.

Villar enjoyed his most successful run with German second division club Spielvereinigung (SpVgg) Unterhaching from 2006 to 2009, scoring nine goals in 63 appearances. He moved to second division Greek side Rodos FC for the 2009 season, but returned to SpVgg Unterhaching for the 2010 season.