It started (like always) in La Manga where they've played Sweden (March 8), Norway (March 10) and will play France (March 12) U.S. U-18 WNT Roster by Position: GOALKEEPERS (2) : Rosemary Chandler (Concorde Fire; Atlanta, Ga.), Casey Murphy (PDA; Bridgewater, N.J.) DEFENDERS (6) : Anna Bialczak (Maryland United FC; Lutherville, Md.), Madeline Elliston (OMA Elite Girls’ Academy; Omaha, Neb.), Megan Keeth (MVLA; Los Altos Hills, Calif.), Gabrielle Matulich (MVLA; Los Gatos, Calif.), Kaleigh Riehl (BRYC; Fairfax Station, Va.), Niki Romero (UNC; Las Vegas, Nev.) MIDFIELDERS (7) : Carlyn Baldwin (BRYC; Oakton, Va.), Jaye Boissiere (MVLA; Los Altos Hills, Calif.), Katie Cousins (Richmond Kickers; Lynchburg, Va.), Jordan DiBiasi (Colorado Rush; Littleton, Colo.), Annie Kingman (PSV Union FC; Woodside, Calif), Emily Ogle (Internationals SC; Strongsville, Ohio), Jessica Vigna (PDA; Farmingdale, N.J.) FORWARDS (5) : Kayla Cappuzzo (Albertson Fury; Merrick, N.Y.), Imani Dorsey (Freestate United; Elkridge, Md.), Darian Jenkins (UCLA; Riverton, Utah), Amber Munerlyn (UNC; Corona, Calif.), Rebecca Rasmussen (Georgia; Golden, Colo.) The first game against Sweden ended 3-3 after US came back from 3:0 in just over half-hour. Scoring Summary: 1 2 F SWE - Stina Blackstenius (Lotta Okvist) 15th Minute SWE - Stina Blackstenius 55 SWE - Lina Hurtig 63 USA - Rebecca Rasmussen (Amber Munerlyn) 65 USA - Kayla Cappuzzo 76 USA - Imani Dorsey (Kayla Cappuzzo) 86 Highlights and Reaction: They've lost the game against Norway 1:0.
US brought 18 players born in 1996 and 2 players born in 1995 (Munerlyn and Jenkins, who are likely being considered for inclusion on the U20 WWC roster this summer), so not a pure U18 team. Nonetheless, aside from the two 95-born players, I believe that almost every player was making their first international soccer trip and playing in their first game anywhere against an international opponent. On average, their opponents are older and significantly more experienced, especially France. Nonetheless, the 96-born group had to start somewhere/sometime and this was it. Consistent with the goal of getting them experience, everybody on the roster will play significant minutes during the week. Congrats to them all.
I will never make excuses for the US-18 team results. But they have plenty talent at this age group to beat any country. With the Training, Coaching, Competition that is going on in the USA, we shouldn't be losing/tying anyone!!! It is nice to call in many different-styles of players to give them the experience but if the players don't play at the TOP level then don't bring them in. In this age group there are plenty players that aren't on this list that could have helped the US be successful. My suggestion to the Coaching staff is to go back to the players from the past who exhibited the winning ingredients. Team bonding and chemistry were at an all time high and when you have(HAD) that the love between the players grows. They will do anything for each other. Success! Coach, the experiment is over, you know who the players are..... call them in!
Completely disagree with this. U18 is a niche where there are no international consequences. U23 is similar. These are the only age groups where there are any real opportunities to see players who aren't already somebody's favorite. It just might be that some talent might sneak through the politics.
Three from the u18s (96-born) got called into this month's U20 camp: Rasmussen (forward), Baldwin (A-mid), and Riehl (centerback). Congrats to them.
I would judge the trip a success, but that's because winning each game was not (IMO) the true big-picture goal. I'm sure they would have loved to have won all the games, but they were playing-up a year against vastly more experienced teams who were all through to the second round of the UEFA U19 Championship. Expecting multiple victories would have been unrealistic. The big-picture goal (IMO) was to get younger players experience they've never had and evaluate a big part of the 96-pool. Because the games were not televised and the clips are so short, I can't say how they played, but I'd bet there were players that showed well and players that showed less well. From US Soccer's perspective, finding the 96-born players that will be on the roster for the 2016 U20 FIFA WWC is the near-term goal. This trip was just a step in that direction.