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U.S. U-18s suffer defeat in first two friendlies of 2016

Omid Namazi U.S. U-18 head coach

The first U.S. Under-18 Menโ€™s National Team camp of 2016 ended in two friendly losses.

The Americans faced off against Montverde Academy and Weston FC on Jan. 20, suffering a 3-1 loss and 1-0 defeat, respectively. FC Golden State defender Harold Hanson was the only U.S. player to score during the first U-18 camp of the year.

“Obviously the goal for this camp was to identify more players at this age group and to expand our player pool,โ€ head coach Omid Namazi said in a release. โ€œI thought these games against strong opposition gave us exactly what we were looking for.”

Namazi, who was announced head coach of the U-18s earlier this month, used the camp to scout and prepare for the team’s international contests during a training camp in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in early March.

What do you think of Namazi’s comments? What are you expecting from the U.S. U-18s in 2016 and beyond?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. The real problem is focusing solely on results-based metrics to judge talent and development. If this was a major tournament we could be critical, but u18 friendlies? Please! Just testing newcomers, there’s hardly a winning intent at all because that’s not the point.

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  2. What is the point of this team anyway? Since there are U-17 and U-20 world cups, what purpose do the U18s and U19s serve? Not trying to be snide (although losing to club teams doesn’t seem great) – I honestly am asking.

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    • So that the best american 18 and 19 year olds who nonetheless aren’t ready to jump a level have a national team to play on.

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  3. Montverde Academy is much more than a school. They do have a high school team, but I am sure the team they played was their elite team. The elite team is a collection of foreigners who are looking to play pro, not usually college. They are one of the best teams I have ever seen play in person. It is not surprising that they beat the u18 USNT. Montverde beats academy teams 6-0 regularly. Now, Weston FC, that loss is a little more surprising.

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    • I assume you are referring to the Soccer Institute at Monteverde Acadmey. It’s never been clear to me that is separate from the high school team because it’s the same coach, same facilities, same school. You know for a fact that it is a completely different team with different players on it than the high school team? If it was I would think it would be a part of the Development Academy like IMG and Shattuck St. Marys are, otherwise who do they play against? And regardless they still are promoting their abilities at college placement, not placement with professional teams. SIMA to me has always sounded like the same thing as IMG and I would still expect a U18 national team to beat IMG Academy

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      • I’m almost sure that SIMA is different than the high school Montverde team. I don’t know much more than that, other than Mike Potempa is the head of it all. SIMA plays at the Disney showcase, and there was a different team playing for Montverde at their high school showcase. I know most of the D1 schools don’t expect to get any of the SIMA players because from what I’ve been told they are looking to go pro. This is my understanding from talking to other coaches and watching the games. My perception could definitely be wrong.

        The SIMA team I saw play would be most D1 schools if not all. They were that good.

        Now, I’m not sure which team the u18s actually played. If it’s SIMA I’m not surprised at all at the result. If it’s any other team at Montverde, then it’s not a good sign.

    • yep shows you right there that the USSDA is not working and perhaps taking youth development backward. Many of the best players choose not to play academy soccer so you have splintered the talent pool even more than it already was.

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  4. Sounds to me like the NATS should just swap jerseys with the club. I think this pretty much says that the current roster needs to be looked at.

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