Soccer By Ives

Arsenal has eyes on American teenager Luis Gil

 

                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

You can add the name Luis Gil to the growing list of young American prospects getting looks from top European clubs.

Gil has been training with English power Arsenal FC since May 11th and could wind up joining the club's youth academy. The 15-year-old midfielder is the second youngest player in the U.S. Under-17 residency program and was one of the U.S. Under-17 team's top players in its recent unbeaten run through the CONCACAF Under-17 championships.

A product of the successful Pateadores Soccer Club in California, Gil is regarded as one of the best young midfielders in the U.S. youth national team pool. He tallied a goal and two assists in the U.S. Under-17 team's recent CONCACAF Championship victory against Cuba on April 21st.

Mid-Day Musings (U.S. Under-17s to play in Jersey, Red Bulls notes and more)

 

                                                                           Photo by ISIphotos.com

Good afternoon folks. As I make my way up to Connecticut for some ESPN matters, I wanted to let you all know that I will be appearing on the ESPN podcast, The U.S. Soccer Show, with ESPN.com's Jen Chang, Andrew Hush and David Mosse on Friday so give that a listen.

Here are some items to touch on before I head up I-95:

If you're a U.S. national team fan, or a New York Red Bulls fan, or both, you will have a chance to get a glimpse of the future on Friday when the Red Bulls Under-18 team faces the U.S. Under-17 national team in a friendly on Friday at 8:30pm at Lubetkin Field (campus of New Jersey Institute of Technology) in Newark. The Red Bulls Under-16 team will face a split-squad version of the U.S. Under-17 team at 6:30pm. Among the players expected to play is Red Bulls academy product and U.S. Under-17 striker John Agudelo. Admission to the games is free.

U.S. U-20 and U-18 teams call up squads for upcoming matches

                                                                            Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team is preparing for a busy summer, but the U.S. youth national teams are also busy in the coming weeks.

The U.S. Under-20 and Under-18 national teams both called up squads for upcoming matches. The U-18 team is traveling to Portugal to take on Finland (May 27th), Germany (May 28th) and Portugal (May 30th) in the Lisbon International Tournament while the U-20 team will begin preparations for next fall's Under-20 World Cup with a mini-camp and friendlies against Costa Rica down in Florida on May 25th and 27th.

The U-20 team is loaded with pro players (including five FC Dallas players) as well as some top college prospects, including Wake Forest star Ike Opara. The U-18 team features Maryland goalkeeper Zach McMath, standout defender Gale Agboussamonde and Sporting Lisbon defender Gregory Garza.

Here are the rosters for both teams' upcoming events:

U.S. Under-17s qualify for World Cup after downing Canada

 

                                                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

Jack McInerney scored two goals for the second straight game to help lead the U.S. Under-17 national team to a 4-2 win vs. Canada on Thursday night, a victory that helped the Americans clinch a berth in the Under-17 World Cup in October. Sebastian Letget and Joseph Gyau scored the other goals for the United States.

The U.S. team finishes out group play in the CONCACAF Under-17 championships on Saturday against Honduras.

The Americans remain the only Under-17 program to qualify for every Under-17 World Cup since the event began in 1985.

If you want to watch the match, you can see it in full after the jump:

Full video of USA vs. Cuba Under-17 match

 

                                                         Photo by ISIphotos.com

If you were wishing you could have watched the U.S. Under-17 national team's 5-0 romp over Cuba in the CONCACAF Championships on Tuesday, you are in luck.

The fine folks at CONCACAF have posted full videos of the match, so if you have time to watch the full match, here is the video (and if you just want to see the goals, they come at minutes 31, 34, 40, 48 and 63):

FIRST HALF

The second half is after the jump:

U.S. Under-17s rout Cuba, 5-0

 

Jack McInerney recorded two goals and two assists to help lead the U.S. Under-17 national team to a 5-0 victory over Cuba in their opening match of the CONCACAF Under-17 championships in Tijuana, Mexico. Stefan Jerome scored the opening goal while Luis Gil added a goal and two assists.

The U.S. team continues tournament play on Thursday against Canada, with the goal of moving a step closer to qualifying for the U.S. Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria in October.

U.S. Under-17 roster announced for CONCACAF Championships

If you are wondering who the next generation of American stars are, you just might get a glimpse of them in the upcoming  CONCACAF U.S. Under-17 Championships.

U.S. Under-17 national team manager Wilmer Cabrera named his 20-man roster for the CONCACAF Tournament, set to begin later this month in Tijuana, Mexico.

Joseph Gyau, Stefan Jerome, Carlos Martinez and Sebastian Lleget are just some of the familiar names among the young group that will look to qualify for the Under-17 World Cup, which kicks off in Nigeria in October.

Here is the roster:

GOALKEEPERS- Earl Edwards (Nomads SC; San Diego, Calif.), Spencer Richey (Crossfire Premier; Seattle, Wash.)

DEFENDERS- Zachary Herold (West Pines United FC; Port St. Lucie, Fla.), Perry Kitchen (Chicago Magic AS Monaco; Indianapolis, Ind.), Emilio Orozco (Rampage FC; Oxnard, Calif.), Tyler Polak (Capital Soccer Academy; Lincoln, Neb.), Alex Shinsky (Super Nova FC; York, Pa.), Jared Watts (North Meck SC; Statesville, N.C.), Eriq Zavaleta (FC Pride; Westfield, Ind.)

MIDFIELDERS- Duncanville, Texas), Luis Gil (Pateadores; Garden Grove, Calif.), Sebastian Lleget (Santa Clara SC; South San Francisco, Calif), Carlos Martinez (Wilmington Jr.; San Pedro, Calif.), Nicholas Palodichuk (Washington Premier FC; Battleground, Wash.)

FORWARDS- Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Dustin Corea (East Side United FC; Milwaukee, Ore.), Joseph Gyau (FC DELCO; Silver Spring, Md.), Stefan Jerome (West Pines United FC; Davie, Fla.), Jack McInerney (Cobb SC; Alpharetta, Ga.)

The most glaring absense is star midfielder Charlie Renken, who is sidelined with a knee injury suffered last month during a friendly vs. Uruguay. Renken was working his way back from ACL surgery at the time of the most recent injury.

What do you think of the group? What players are you excited to see? What players are missing that yuo were hoping to see?

Share your thoughts below.

Kyle Davies heading to Real Salt Lake

U.S. Under-20 national team defender Kyle Davies is heading to Real Salt Lake.

The young defender was allocated to RSL after Real Salt Lake won Davies rights in a lottery held by MLS on Thursday afternoon. FC Dallas had the best chance of landing Davies, but RSL won the lottery.

Davies had spent time with English club Southampton before deciding to return to the United States.

What do you think of RSL landing Davies? Did the rich just get richer? Share your thoughts below.

U.S. Under-20s fall in CONCACAF Final

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

With qualification to the Under-20 World Cup already in the bag, and having just come off a thrilling penalty kick victory against Trinidad & Tobago in the semifinals, the U.S. Under-20 national team fielded a mostly-reserve side against Costa Rica in the final and paid dearly for it.

Thomas Rongen and the U-20 U.S. national team fell, 3-0, to Costa Rica on Sunday. Goals from Diego Estrada, Josue Martinez and Allen Guevara crowned Los Ticos as CONCACAF U-20 champions.

The loss denied the U.S. team its first U-20 CONCACAF Championship, but the team accomplished what it set out to do: qualify for the U-20 World Cup in Egypt. The other three World Cup representatives from CONCACAF are Costa Rica, Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago.

The current U.S. Under-20 squad doesn't have the name recognition of past teams, but it impressed throughout the tournament with the likes of Dilly Duka, Brian Perk, Daniel Cruz and Peri Marosevic standing out. With Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu possibilities to represent the United States in September's Under-20 World Cup, the U.S. team could be a force once again.

What did you think of the U.S. team's performance in the tournament? Who do you think was the best U.S. player? Who do you see playing a vital role for the U.S. once the U-20 World Cup rolls around?

Share your thoughts below.

Duka, Cruz help US Under-20s trounce Jamaica

The U.S. Under-20 national team is off to a flying start in the CONCACAF Championships after routing Jamaica, 3-0, on Friday in Tobago.

Houston Dynamo rookie Danny Cruz helped set up the U.S. team's first two goals as Peri Marosevic, Dilly Duka and Billy Schuyler scored for the Americans.

Cruz and Duka worked to set up Marosevic's opener while Duka finished off a Cruz feed in the second half. Schuyler came off the bench to finish a pass from Gale Agbossoumonde.

The U.S. team leads its qualifying group with three points after Honduras and El Salvador tied, 2-2, earlier on Friday.

What do you think of this result? Glad to see Thomas Rongen's boys lay the smackdown? Is Danny Cruz ready to prove he should have gone higher in the MLS Draft? Are you pumped to see two New Jersey boys score?

Share your thoughts below. 

Clarifying the Bernardo story (and more Bernardo answers)

There has been some controversy and confusion regarding comments made by U.S. youth national team forward Vincenzo Bernardo last week, comments attributed to him as part of an interview conducted by Soccer By Ives last week.

Soon after the above comments were released by SBI last Friday, Bernardo came forward on his personal website and stated that his quotes were misrepresented and that playing for the United States is his first choice, now and in the future.

In the interest of clarity and full disclosure, we are running the full statement made by Bernardo to SBI about his national team future, along with the question that triggered the response (You can also find Bernardo's answers to some more SBI questions after the jump):

Bernardo raises doubt over USMNT future

 

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

Vincenzo Bernardo has a decision to make.

Despite comments earlier in his career about wanting to suit up for the U.S., and contrary to some reports, Bernardo has yet to decide if he wants to play for the United States or Italy at the senior level.

In an exclusive interview with SBI, Bernardo revealed that his decision is far from made.

"I wouldn't say that I declared anything really," Bernardo said, referring to comments he made in 2007 on choosing the U.S. over Italy. "I was asked an important question that came when I was very young in my career. However, I do not regret anything I said regarding wanting to represent USA."

Bernardo's latest comments are sure to worry some American fans, who are all too familiar with drawing the short end of the stick when it comes to talented young players with dual citizenship. In 2008 alone, the U.S. lost two talented prospects, Giuseppe Rossi (Italy) and Neven Subotic (Serbia), to European countries.

Rongen names U.S. roster for CONCACAF Under-20 Tournament

                                                        Photo by ISIphotos.com

Peri Marosevic, Brek Shea and Jorge Flores are among the 20 players chosen for the U.S. Under-20 national team's roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying Tournament.

Nine professionals in all made the squad selected by head coach Thomas Rongen, including European-based prospects Jared Jeffrey, Kyle Davies and Bryan Arguez.

New Jersey natives Dilly Duka (Rutgers) and Billy Schuler (North Carolina) also made the squad, which will gather in Bradenton, Florida on Tuesday to begin preparations for the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament in Tobago beginning March 2nd.

Here is the rest of the team:

Rongen calls in 26 to U.S. Under-20 camp

 

                                                            Photo by ISIphotos.net

U.S. Under-20 national team coach Thomas Rongen has called in a group of 26 players for training camp in Bradenton, Florida ahead of CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying. The group will train from now through Feb. 25 in preparation for the qualifying tournament in March.

A total of ten professional players, six from MLS and four from Europe, round out the group. Among them are Brek Shea and Peri Marosevic of FC Dallas, Jared Jeffrey of Club Brugge and Bryan Arguez of Hertha Berlin. University of Maryland standout Casey Townsend is also on the squad.

One player missing from the group is Wake Forest standout defender Ike Opara, who was named on the original roster before having to withdraw due to injury. He was replaced on the roster by Gale Agbossoumonde. Defender Richard Balchan was also forced to withdraw, but was not replaced on the roster.

Here is the full roster for the training camp:

Houston Dynamo signs U.S. Under-20 striker Felix Garcia

 

The Houston Dynamo didn't have a high pick in the 2009 MLS Draft but the Western Conference power still might boast one of the most exciting young players coming into MLS this season.

The Dynamo has completed the signing of U.S. Under-20 star Felix Garcia, acquiring his rights from the PDL Laredo Heat for an undisclosed fee, sources confirmed to SBI on Tuesday night. Houston is set to introduce the 18-year-old striker as its newest signing at a press conference on Thursday. Garcia will join the Dynamo as a member of the MLS Generation adidas program.

(UPDATE- Garcia was acquired by Houston through the MLS Allocation process. The Dynamo completed a trade with Toronto FC to move up from No. 10 to No. 3 in the allocation order, where it was able to land Garcia.)

Daniel Cruz signs Generation adidas deal

 

                           Photo by ISIphotos.com

UNLV and U.S. Under-20 striker Daniel Cruz has become the ninth player to sign a Generation adidas contract, making him available for the 2009 MLS Draft on Jan. 15, sources confirmed to SBI on Tuesday

a sophomore at UNLV, Cruz has emerged as one of the most highly-regarded players in the U.S. Under-20 pool and becomes the youngest player in the Generation adidas class at 19.

Here is an interesting interview Cruz did with USsoccer.com just before the Under-17 World Cup in 2007.

What do you think of Cruz signing with MLS? Where do you see him going in the draft? Think he can make an impact, or is he more a long-term project?

Share your thoughts below.