Our Olympic pool in MLS reserve action yesterday and today. The Red Bulls beat the Fire 2-1 NYRB Pro 95 Castano played 29 mins in goal Pro 95s Miazga and Moreno went 90 Academy 95s Basuljevic and Politz went 90 Academy 97 Henry Martin played 20 mins Academy 96 Chris Lema played 13 mins Fire Pro 93 Pineda played only 20 mins (gotta love Frankie Klopas) Chivas beat the Rapids 1-0 Col Pro 94 Serna went 90 at LB Few if any youth players for Chivas Crew beat Dallas 3-1 FCD Pro 93 Zimmerman, Garcia and Top went 90 Academy 95 de la Tejera (citizen?) went 90 Academy 96 Wilfred Williams (citizen?) went 88 mins Academy 95 Sonis went 2 mins and academy 97 Craft went 1 min Crew Academy 95 Blackwell 10 mins Sounders tied Caps 2-2 Sea Academy 95 Henry Wingo 67 mins as starter Academy 95 Cody Crook 68 mins as sub Academy 96 Satoshi Chaffin 23 mins Academy 95 McCormick 13 mins
Williams was just at that camp in Oregon, so I'm confident he's a citizen and US-eligible. http://www.bigdsoccer.com/2013/8/7/...demy-players-invited-to-five-day-camp-at-nike
Fagundez was in camps at this age, too. Williams' DA bio has the strange "nationality = US, citizenship = Liberia," so until we get official confirmation of US citizenship, I can't be 100%.
I'm not 100% sure of his status either, but I'm 99.5% He's been called into a ton of camps since way back in 2009. He's been at U14, U15, and then this recent Portland camp (which I guess was U17/U18). So either he's a citizen or he's close enough that US Soccer is keeping him in the fold. By the way, here's a good article on Williams' background: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/102059/soccer-taking-williams-places He moved to the country when he was 10.........................
It does not appear he was part of the team for the 2011 African U-20 Championship. http://www.cafonline.com/competitio...orpions-name-squad-for-u-20-championship.html http://fr.cafonline.com/userfiles/file/Comp/AYC South Africa/4_Cameroon_Gambia.pdf
In a game jam-packed with US youth internationals and players eligible for this U23 team...............UCLA beat Indiana in overtime 1-0: http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-soccer/stats/2013-2014/game2.html One time "flavor of the year" Andrew Oliver still isn't starting for Indiana........................... Of note for UCLA is that Brian Iloski started the match, along with guys like Earl Edwards, Javon Torre, Nathan Smith, etc.
For those wondering, it looks like Alfred Koroma is officially at SMU now. He's listed on their roster: http://www.smumustangs.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/smu-m-soccer-mtt.html And apparently did well in his first weekend of the season: Sophomore Alfred Koroma was named to The American's first weekly honor roll after his performance against No. 1 IU and No 7 ND #PonyUp He scored his first goal of the season against the #1 team in the nation. Not bad. [SMU by the way, is basically an FCD farm team at this point.]
Eric Miller was named Defensive Player of the Week in the Big East. Creighton has jumped to #2 in the rankings. http://www.gocreighton.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209248720&DB_OEM_ID=1000 Miller won BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors after anchoring the Creighton backline on the opening weekend, helping the Bluejays record a pair of shutout wins over No. 14 Tulsa (2-0) and Cal Poly (3-0). He also scored a rare goal, just the second of his career in Omaha, against Cal Poly on a redirected header from freshman Fabian Herbers.
Brian Sciaretta @BrianSciaretta 56m Congrats to 2013 US U20 WC captain Caleb Stanko for making his SC Freiburg debut, albeit in a friendly, in 4-4 draw vs Zurich. 83rd min sub
I was noting with some interest yesterday that the three youngest members of the 2011 U17 World Cup team have now made their professional first team debuts (Acosta, Arriola, and McBean). Of the rest of that squad, only one has played a pro game. That was Alejandro Guido's one appearance in a Copa MX match. [I had thought that Dillon Serna had with Colorado, but I guess not] What does it mean? I don't know. But those are also three of the kids that may play a role with this particular Olympic squad. Who knows, though. It's a long way off.
Pretty good group and that doesn't include Romaine Gall, Nicholas Gaitain, Russell Canouse and Zachery Pfeffer
Alonso Hernandez, who was eligible but not selected for the 2011 U17 WC, is also getting decent playing time.
Um............................................. @andrew_wiebe4m Source close to the situation tells me Mexico has been "seriously inquiring" about international services of RSL's Luis Gil. #USMNT [No idea on the trustworthiness of the source.] Seems kind of far-fetched to me.
From a quick glance at Gil's twitter: 1. He cheered for Mayweather over Canelo 2. He cheered for USA over Mexico 3. He retweeted this: Sam Bennion @Sam_Bennion10 Sep @luisitogil21 four years from now, you'll be scoring for the usmnt against Mexico. I'm calling it now. Retweeted by Luis Gil Conclusion: I'm not too worried
He's not good enough for their senior team and he's probably captaining the u23s at this point. Where's the incentive?
Mexico is inquiring about Gil? Good for them. Anyone know if Brian Hoyer is starting against the Vikings because of injury, or did Brandon Weeden get benched?
Gotcha. Thanks. I will say that Weeden will have to show marked improvement, or he could be on the bench for non-sprained right thumb reasons.
There's no incentive for Gil. Other than the fact that he'll now probably get called up by the USMNT in October or November We see this all the time. Action: The press finds out that Isaac Brizuela has been contacted by the USSF/USMNT. Reaction: Isaac Brizuela is shortly thereafter named to Mexico's squad for the Gold Cup. Viola. One of the perks of being a dual-national....................
So while we're talking about current college players who are Olympic age-eligible (and were age-eligible for the last U20 cycle), Clemson CB Phanuel Kavita, a 93 from RSL's academy, is off to a very strong start. The Tigers are 6-0-0 and have allowed just one goal (a 0.16 GAA) and 19 shots on-goal. It's obviously not all Kavita, but it's the kind of performance that gets you noticed. http://www.clemsontigers.com/ViewAr...B_OEM_ID=28500&ATCLID=205529057&Q_SEASON=2013
I recognize that name. He's been called up to US youth teams right? A U20 camp or something like that? Whenever I watch an ACC game, I recognize half the names.............but don't know where from BTW...............is Jared Watts an MLS prospect? I saw him the other day and thought he looked pretty good. I'd completely forgotten about him post-Bradenton. [I guess most All-ACC first teamers at this point are MLS prospects............]