World Cup winning Brazilian midfielder Denilson is scheduled to be part of the FC Dallas roster when the team comes to Seattle to face the Sounders in the semi-finals of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on September 4th. He will be available to play as soon as FC Dallas receives approval of his work Visa from the MLS office, which could be as soon as this week.

Denilson, whose full name is Denilson de Oliveira, made his international debut for Brazil in 1996 at the age of 19. The Golden Ball winner as the tournament's best player in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup, he played on Brazil's World Cup runner-up side at France '98 and then played a key role in helping Brazil win their record fifth world-title in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan. He has scored nine goals in more than 60 midfield appearances for his country.

It’s unclear how Dallas is going to make room for Denilson, who will be their designated player under the MLS salary cap exemption known informally as the “Beckham” rule. Adrian Serioux, Pablo Ricchetti, Carlos Ruiz and Marcelo Saragoza currently occupy the four senior international spots allowed by Major League Soccer (MLS) on the FC Dallas roster. A move will have to be made before Denilson is allowed to play for the club.

When he does take the field, he will become just the fourth player in MLS history to have won a World Cup. The thirty-year-old midfielder has been in negotiations with FC Dallas through the summer and the deal looked as though it would fall apart when he took time off to wait for other offers. The signing comes just in time for Denilson to figure into the US Open Cup run and FC Dallas’s battle for the top spot in MLS’s Western Conference.

FC Dallas will train in Seattle on September 3rd, in a training session that will be open to the media before the semi-final match on September 4th.

Remaining reserved seating for the match is limited. Additional reserved seats for the match have been available. The Sounders front office suggests that fans wishing to purchase reserved seating do so quickly before the available seats are sold out.

Reserved tickets for the match start at $20 and can be purchased through SeattleSounders.net or by calling 206.622.3415.