Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
Of all the talents in the U.S. Youth National Team system, the brightest of the bunch may be in the Under-17 squad.
For the second time in two months, the U.S. Under-17 National Team took home a tournament title against European opposition. With a 3-0-1 record, the U.S. stormed through the Aegean Cup, defeating France, Norway, and finally hosts Turkey in the final.
The title was in no small part to the scoring ability of the U-17s, as the team finished the tournament with ten goals in four games. Forwards Joe Gallardo (Monterrey), Haji Wright (LA Galaxy), and attacking midfielder Christian Pulisic (PA Classics) pulled the strings of the U.S. attack and proved to be too much for their European opponents. The trio’s performances in Turkey even had U-17 head coach Richie Williams claiming that they could be some of the best in the world at their level.
“At this level, from the teams that we’ve played, they look like they can match up with anybody on the attacking side or even look better than the attacking players and teams we’ve competed against,” Williams told SBI in a phone interview. “We’re real happy for them and you can also see they’re developing in the six months we’ve been together (in residency and U-17 camps).”
Both Wright and Gallardo scored goals in the 2-1 win against Turkey in the final, with Wright and Pulisic each credited with an assist as well. Gallardo finished the tournament with a team-high three goals.
“They’re creating opportunities, they’re aggressive going forward, they go at defenders with speed, they’re good one on one, they’re good in combination play, and then the biggest thing is at any of these levels is when you create the opportunities being able to take those opportunities and score,” Williams said. “Joe, Haji, and Christian have done extremely well and we hope they continue that and continue to even get better and be able to perform down the line with the older national teams.”
After winning the Nike International Friendlies in December with an impressive 4-1 victory against Brazil, the U.S. picked up right from there in their first match of the Aegean Cup against France, who have regularly finished either first or second in the tournament during the last decade.
The U-17s surprised everyone and thanks to an early Gallardo goal and a last-minute penalty kick from Pulisic, were able to knock off France, 2-1. From that point on, Williams says he had a good feeling about how far the squad could go.
“After playing France in the first game and being able to play well and beat them, we felt very confident,” Williams said. “Then we went out against Norway and had another game and then even against Scotland we were able to advance to the final against a really good Turkey team.”
Perhaps even more impressive about this tournament victory is that the U.S. was missing a handful of starters from the fall and last December. Both Joshua Perez and Danny Barbir weren’t able to make the trip while Alejandro Zendejas was injured shortly before the tournament.
Even with the absences, players like Orrin McKinze Gaines and U.S. U-15 midfielder Nicholas Taitague stepped in and the U.S. didn’t miss a beat. The success of the team, according to Williams, shows the growth in depth across the country as soccer continues to develop.
“What we want is a very deep team,” Williams said. “We want to try to develop as many players as we can, give opportunities to as many players as we can to get that experience of playing in the Nike International Friendlies and going to tournaments like in Turkey and playing against very good teams.”
Flores is eligible to play for Dortmund in March when he turns 18
Obviously. I’m trying to find what his situation is that allowed him to be over there that young. Pre-contract and he just “trains” with them?
Yes. Pre-contract and he has limited training with them.
thanks for confirming.
Luca de la Torre looked really good too. hopefully they keep it up. i still don’t know how Haji is gonna be able to play in Europe right now. but it is cool he was on trial at Dortmund.
He could go to Germany at roughly this age. It’s just UK that has really difficult rules because they are trying to limit so many people are trying to go there.
not true for players under 18 with no EU passport. this isn’t a work permit issue, this is a passport/underage issue from what i’ve read. from what i have seen, when he trained with Fulham he had the same issue:
“There may be others as Haji Wright has also been training with the London club, but he does not possess the EU passport, which will complicate matters on his arrival.”
of course, Junior Flores is at Dortmund and he is a ’98. maybe he has a Euro passport? or did his family move for “non-football reasons?” really curious to see what happens with this.
Again, that was Fulham in the UK. He cannot sign a contract until he’s 17, I believe, but he can he can still head to Germany with much greater ease than he can to the UK.
You cannot play in Europe without an EU passport if you are under 18.
“This is mainly because of contract rules in Europe that are designed to protect players under 18. Players under 18 cannot move to a club in Europe unless they have an EU passport. The only other way a player could get to a club in Europe without an EU passport is if the player’s parents get a job in Europe. ”
This has nothing to do with UK v. Germany. This is an EU issue.
Flores isn’t really at Dortmund yet. He’s had some special training stints there, but they’re limited in duration because he’s underage. That will change for him later in the year.
Meanwhile, Paul Tenorio who was reporting on him for the Washington Post has taken overt he soccer beat for Orlando Sentinel and he reports that El Salvador has approached Flores about playing in a friendly next month. Reportedly, he’s “100% committed” to the US.
thank you, that’s interesting.
el Salvador just had half their team banned for life for gambling. they need the players, but do the players need el Salvador?
way to go
but where does this count in the world of youth football?
u-17 and u-20 and u-23 are the biggest awards right along with the olympics?
are these guys part of a youth team or academy or are they playing high school?
youth tournaments like this (and Nike friendlies) don’t amount to much in means of prestige, however, it’s still an accomplishment for these kids. Building confidence against teams they are likely to face in the U17s U20s and U23s is not to be ignored. Overall, great result for U17s but we need to step things up in the U17 WC.
Most of these kids are part of an academy, professional setup or other youth program that are now spending time with the U17s. The U17’s dont play with their clubs nor their high school when they are with the U17 academy team.