U.S. will face: Brazil - 11/28 Turkey - 11/30 Portugal 12/2 All games during the USSDA Winter Showcase in Lakewood Ranch, FL. http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-17-M...nd-Portugal-at-2012-Nike-Intl-Friendlies.aspx
It's always Brazil...Brazil...Brazil... I don't know about Portugal's U-17 group, but I would assume they'll just bring lower-cored (or U-15, U-16) players to the tournament?
We'll be able to compare Portugal and Turkey's roster to their U-17 UEFA qualifying rosters. Portugal is in the playoff round to advance to the UEFA Championships and Turkey has been eliminated.
They will not bring such young players, it may not be the cream of the crop but it will be the same age group as the US.
Moderator feel free to remove if not appropriate for this specific thread. I went to watch our U17 team play against USF this past Friday. Eventhough we were beaten 2-0 I hope this is the team that shows up to the Friendlies. We controlled possession 75 - 25 and was very effective going forward. The team was just very unlucky not to score. USF scored on a PK (questionable hand ball) and a long ball played over the top that we got out muscled on. Flores played as an outside mid with Rubin moving to the point forward and Baird assuming the AM position. A slight adjustment but Flores played much better there than he has been of late.
Any TV for these games? Games have been on FSC the past few years. Checking the guide, none are listed.
This is my prediction hyndman will be central and Flores moved to outside midfielder bc more attacking pace.
It's hard for me to believe Hyndman will start the first game. If flores is pushed to an outside mid, which he played against USF, that means our starting mids will be Swanson, Lima and Baird. That trio seems to be somewhat inconsistent as a unit. Against Argentina they struggled, against USF they played much better and against Canada they struggled. We will need them to step up against Brazil. What will be interesting is how long will Ritchie go with that group given that Hyndman is waiting in the wings.
GOALKEEPERS (2): Paul Christensen (Seattle Sounders Academy; Woodinville, Wash.), Evan Louro (New York Red Bulls Academy; South River, N.J.) DEFENDERS (6): Jordan Cano (FC Dallas Academy; Richardson, Texas), Conor Donovan (NC Alliance; Fuquay Varina, N.C.), Elijah Martin (Cal Odyssey; Fresno, Calif.), Shaquell Moore (Unattached; Powder Springs, Ga.), John Requejo Jr. (Real So Cal; Carpinteria, Calif.), Peter Schropp (Omaha FC; Omaha, Neb.) MIDFIELDERS (7): Mukwelle Akale (Minnesota Thunder Academy; Minneapolis, Minn.), Junior Flores (McLean Youth Soccer; Manassas Park, Va.), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham FC Academy; Canton, Texas), Christopher Lema (New York Red Bulls Academy; Ridgefield, N.J.), Cameron Lindley (Indiana Fire Academy; Carmel, Ind.), Rolando Muñoz (LA Galaxy Academy; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Ben Swanson (Crew Soccer Academy; Grove City, Ohio) FORWARDS (5): Corey Baird (San Diego Surf; Escondido, Calif.), Sebastian Elney (Boca United; Lake Worth, Fla.), Rubio Rubin (Portland Timbers Academy; Beaverton, Ore.), Ahinga Selemani (CSA Wolves; Ann Arbor, Mich.), Alan Winn (Solar Chelsea FC; Garland, Texas) http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-17-M...r-for-2012-Nike-International-Friendlies.aspx Doesn't look like FSC is televising this year, just says to follow on Twitter for updates.
Nice to see Lindley back. With games every two days I hope that Williams rotates through the entire roster.
Kind of interesting how much the demographic make-up of the team has changed from Cabrera's roster a year ago. http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-17-M...te-in-2011-Nike-International-Friendlies.aspx 1. My best guess is that only three of Cabrera's field players were white non-hispanics: Donovan, Baird, and Politz. Williams has taken that number up to seven, retaining Donovan and Baird and adding Schropp, Lindley, Swanson, Hyndman, and Winn. (I want to emphasize that these labels are only a guess, and that some of these players may have ethnic backgrounds that I don't know about. All I'm doing is looking for trends.) 2. Cabrera's entire roster was drawn from either the east or the west coast. Depending who you count, Williams has brought in eight or nine players from other areas. That includes three from Dallas and one each from Nebraska, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota, plus one from south Florida, which is technically east coast but over 500 miles from anywhere Cabrera had picked from.
I'm not sure what the ratings have been or if US Soccer had subsidized this in the past, but FSC has covered all of the US matches at this event for at least the last three seasons. Regardless, it's disappointing, to say the least. Hopefully, there will be a stream...
They may have had to pay for their own coffee and that was a deal breaker. Unless all the work is done for them, or it costs basically nothing, FSC has never been a supporter of US Soccer, MLS, US Cup...u name it. Pay for US content? NO FN way! The Home Of US Soccer! (Snickers)
The next tv contract U.S. Soccer signs (which is up after the WC), USSF needs to include more youth games in the contract. ESPN has ESPNU and plenty of space to fill. Or, USSF sets up some pay streaming service through their website and broadcast youth games, like you see so many EPL teams do with their reserve games. If it was something like $20 a year, many of us would likely pony up.
I don't know............................. The ratings FSC got on the U17 Nike friendlies probably consisted of the 10 people who post on this board regularly. ESPN would get higher ratings re-running a World's Strongest Man competition from 1985 than running one of these games..................... If the USSF streams these matches, then I'm happy.
I said ESPNU (which has shown plenty YWC's), not ESPN. Tomorrow is hurt by midweek EPL action, but looking at FSC's schedule for 2 hours from 5-7 et on Friday, it's: Football Asia, Gambare, (conveniently) U.S. Youth Soccer Show, and an FA Cup preview show. There's generally just been what, one camera at these games? And commentary done from the FSC studios.
It's amazing the difference a coach can make when it comes to so-called "elite" players. I can tell you first hand that the style of play of late has been totally different than Wilmer's style. Not saying it is better or worse but different. Wilmer rotated the same players over and over without giving other players an opportunity to show. An example is during the World cup all other nations went atleast 18 deep on their roster. Wilmer played the same 12 players using a total of 14 that actually got on the field. The sad thing is Nathan Smith (Galaxy Academy Player) was the starter for the entire cycle including qualifications. When it came to the World cup he played 35 min total. As of to date Ritchie has rotated his roster big time with Shaq Moore and Rubio Rubin being the only constant starters. In my opinion, I'm sure Wilmer is a good coach but he has no business developing youth players. Especially after he blamed them for the teams poor showing in the last World Cup.