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Pulisic, Barco, McKennie highlight Italian publication’s young player rankings

The future of both the U.S. Men’s National Team and MLS is looking solid, according to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The publication recently ranked the top 100 players in the world born in 1998 or later and American wonderteen Christian Pulisic clocks in at number two, behind only Paris Saint-Germain and France superstar Kylian Mbappe.

Also appearing on the list is Schalke 04 midfielder Weston McKennie at number 30 and New York Red Bulls defender Tyler Adams in 58th.

A high-profile non-American MLS talent also appears on the list. Atlanta United’s recently acquired Argentinian midfielder Ezequiel Barco clocks in at tenth, suggesting Atlanta’s knack for acquiring South American talent isn’t going through a sophomore slump.

Much to the chegrin of American fans, Monterrey midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez, who recently switched his allegiance from the USA to Mexico, appears at number 56 on the list.

Comments

  1. Josh Sargent also is much better than the Jona Gonzalez,Sargent is with berder bremen,
    already signed,and monterrey is less competitive league than bundesliga so the young sargent is in the eye of other premier league teams,don´t dream FRENCH ONE

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  2. That traitor Jhonatan Gonzalez is about number 56,is rigth,and is Lopez obrador follower
    in mexican election,yes french one,besides Pullisic is number one i am mexican,but i said
    LONG LIVE USA WHIT MY HEART

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  3. Pump your brakes people… Jozy was once on a very similar list right after the U-20 WC around the time he made the MLS record move to the Yellow Submarine … he is definitely not top 100 at his current age. These things are quite fluid, no?

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    • Let’s face it, no matter how good the players on this list are, they are 19 and those at the top may not be at the top in 5 years or even on a list somewhere.

      Still it is better to be at the top of the list than not.

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    • Like I said above, “it’s just a fun ranking.” Nobody claims this is an ironclad guarantee of future success. But as Dennis said, better to be at the top of the list than not…

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    • agree that the rankings are fluid and that a player might not live up to the exectations, like Jozy. However, there is an equal chance that they EXCEDE expecations, like other late bloomers like Brian McBride or even arguably Geoff Cameron – players who weren’t considered premier league prospects at age 20, but ended up doing quite well in their mid and late 20-s. I’ll keep my fingers crossed!

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  4. It’s just a fun ranking, but still pretty cool to see our boys being recognized by the international press.

    “Much to the chagrin of American fans, Monterrey midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez, who recently switched his allegiance from the USA to Mexico, appears at number 56 on the list.” Not really, Joe. Unlike the SBI staff, most of us have moved on. It stung for about a week, but we’re over it and have wished the kid luck. That’s international soccer in the 21st century.

    But I can’t wait for Lil Bobby to twist himself into a pretzel and try to argue that Pulisic isn’t the real deal and that Jona Gonzalez is better than him…

    Reply

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