Keyser Soze: And like that - poof! - they're gone. YNT players who've disappeared

Discussion in 'Youth National Teams' started by Sandon Mibut, Sep 22, 2018.

  1. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    So I was bored and decided to look up the 2018 stats for the players from the last U19/U20 cycle who are still in college to see how they're doing this year. (I'll post them in a day or so in the college YNT thread.)

    In doing so, I found a bunch of YNT players who had been playing college ball who appear to no longer be doing so (despite not having played four seasons) and don't appear to be a pro anywhere. At least no where that google could find.

    All told, I found seven 97/98s who got called into the U19s/20s last cycle who played at least one season of college soccer but aren't doing so now, nor are they pros. They are:

    David Burns, Ronaldo Escudero, Malcolm Jones, Christian Onalfo, Chad Poarch, Elijah Rice and Diego Silva.

    What's messed up about this that six of the seven came thru the academies of MLS teams... that have a USL squad or are USL squads. Would seem the YNT-pool players who don't want to/can't play college soccer would be, ya know, perfect for an MLS reserve side or USL team, particularly if you'd already invested money having them in your academy, but what do I know?

    Here are the seven. Any help anyone has on where these guys are would be appreciated.

    Burns, a 97 D from Sacramento Republic's academy, redshirted as a freshman at Cal and then played last year.

    Escudero, a 97 M from the Galaxy academy, spent last year at Golden West Junior College in California. He's not on their roster this year. A lot of the JuCo kids bounce around, but this one didn't seem to pop up at any other program, 2 or 4 year, when I searched.

    Jones, a 97 D from the Galaxy academy, was in and out of the starting lineup in three seasons at UCLA.

    Onalfo, of course, is Curt's son. He's a 97 D from.... the Galaxy academy. He redshirted at San Diego Stae as a freshman then transferred to Cal State Northridge, where he started early in the season then got sidelined by injury. Onalfo actually played several games for Los Dos before college when his dad was their coach so he actually has USL experience. Maybe he's still recovering from his injuries.

    Poarch, another 97 defender, is from Delaware. He spent his freshman season at High Point, where he played regularly then transferred to Delaware, where he started every game he played. Google tells me he spent some time this summer with Tulsa Athletic in the NPSL.

    Rice is a 98 F from Real Salt Lake's academy, where he led the USSDA in scoring his final year (15/16) of HS before matriculating to Washington. He wasn't the prolific scorer at U-Dub that many expected but he wasn't awful, either.

    Silva, a 07 FB, is also from RSL's academy. An Argentine-American, he spent two seasons at Maryland, where he was really good when he was healthy but was only available for 18 games over two seasons. He went missing before last season. The commonality of his name makes google searches hard, but despite looking for awhile, I found nada.

    Winter, a 97 F from the Union academy, spent the 16 seasons at Palm Beach Atlantic, a D-II program. Not heard from since.
     
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  2. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    If he was really there for 16 seasons, sounds like his priority was either education or postponing adulthood. ;)
     
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  3. kinznk

    kinznk Member

    Feb 11, 2007
    I have tried to find where Jake Morris is playing. He's a 99 who was in camps last spring, played academy last year for the Sounders, had a couple of run outside for S2. I can't find him listed for a college team and there is no mention of him ever signing with S2. His twitter picture looks like a model so perhaps he took a more lucrative career path.
     
  4. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    Check the college USYNT thread.
     
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  5. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    I like this topic a lot. It kind of parallels some of what I found when I started tracking U20s, since one of the things I wondered was how many of the guys ended up getting, at the least, a pro contract.

    The answer is that the vast majority of them do -- to pick at semi-random, I have 71 of 78 from the 2013 cycle. That's fairly representative, especially for the modern era when the pools expanded beyond a few dozen players.

    So when it doesn't happen, something potentially interesting happened, ranging from injury to burnout to early peaking to they just weren't that good to ... who knows.
     
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  6. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Obviously, all of these guys are just hanging out with Felix Garcia somewhere.
     
  7. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    I feel like Rodrigo Hidalgo would be the bartender in that scene.
     
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  8. ratmalph

    ratmalph Member

    Oct 26, 2016
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Abu Winter is playing in D3 at York College of Pa.

    I just saw Chad and his brother Jordan on Sunday. They played for West Chester United in the US Open Cup local qualifier.
     
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  9. Runhard

    Runhard Member+

    Barcelona
    United States
    Jul 5, 2018

    When you say a pro contract, I assume you are including USL and NASL contracts? It would be interesting to see what percentage of these players from the U20 National team make it pro in Europe or even a regular starter for a MLS team and making more than 200K a year.

    Another study is does the all out buy in of being a pro during their youth years hamper their ability to get a college degree (less focus in academics) How many of the U20 WC squad graduated from college with a degree? Just a few thoughts..
     
  10. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    I count any pro outdoor contract, including the U.S. lower divisions.

    What are you interested in learning from this? Are you just curious?
     
  11. Runhard

    Runhard Member+

    Barcelona
    United States
    Jul 5, 2018
    Yes mainly curious as to whether or not its in the best interest of these kids to focus on the dream of being a pro or be realistic and get grades, and don't throw away a college scholarship worth several hundred thousand dollars to chase a dream when you will most likely end up in the NASL or USL.

    Of course the kid may not be interested in or have the aptitude for college and chasing the dream is the best for him. Just curious mainly as I see a lot of kids in similar boats, ( not necessarily U20 National team but 4 year college scholarship kids) and talk to a lot of their parents and its always something that is discussed.

    Also shows just how incredibly hard it is to make it in soccer. The pool you are looking at is the very best in the US at age 20. If the best these players achieve is lower division, NASL or USL then it just goes to show how much speculation there is when we talk about kids that are 14-17 in the forums.
     
  12. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    Not sure what studying this would tell us that we don't already know, unless perhaps your primary interest is college soccer.

    It seems pretty straightforward to observe that it's hard to make it into pro sports, projecting the futures of mid-teen athletes is hard, and college scholarships are valuable. (They are probably so valuable that they induce many promising players not to pursue professional opportunities because they don't want to close the door on a free or subsidized education.)

    There is probably a version of this that would be interesting, however. Is there a specific question you have that a numerical answer would help you understand?
     
  13. Runhard

    Runhard Member+

    Barcelona
    United States
    Jul 5, 2018
    No, just general interest. I would like to know of the U20 WC roster from the last cycle:

    1. How many went straight pro? of those, how many are in the MLS first team or in Europe?

    2. How many went to college? Of those, how many graduated college?
     
  14. CreightonMCFCjoey

    Jan 30, 2007
    Omaha, NE
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Morris is balling at Tyler JC in Texas the elite JC in the country. Do not be surprised if he appears with a big time NCAA roster in a year or two
     
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  15. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    Gotcha. Well, I don't track collegians, but you can approximate an answer to your first question by looking here:

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lfMvt087D65kHEJtitNuODh4dPgpKCQTi6Ae9VJ2c0g/edit?usp=sharing

    On the 2017 tab, the column "ProDC" tracks players who turned pro before the end of the U20 cycle. It's not perfect, but maybe useful to you.

    In this case, I currently have 54 out of 87 for last cycle. Most but not all of the rest went to college.
     
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  16. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
  17. Pl@ymaker

    Pl@ymaker Member+

    Feb 8, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What happened to Joe Gallardo?
     
  18. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    #18 Clint Eastwood, Sep 28, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2018
    My favorite disappearing players all come from the years of massive Bradenton hype. Andrew Oliver.......................he went from "the next Landon Donovan" to a bench player at Indiana to falling off the face of the Earth in no time.

    Lest we forget, he was the Golden Boot winner at the 2011 U17 CONCACAF Championships. Based on that performance, he was offered a chance to trial/train at Liverpool.

    The 2011 U17 CONCACAF and World Cup rosters are depressing reading. And probably the best "where are they now" squad. Mobi Fehr. Alfred Koroma. Mario Rodriguez, Stevie Rodriguez, Nico Melo, Tarik Salkicic, etc. etc.

    The two players that ended up with senior USMNT caps on that squad were the two youngest members. Kellyn Acosta and Paul Arriola.
     
  19. Pl@ymaker

    Pl@ymaker Member+

    Feb 8, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Alejandro Guido received a callup this year but didn't play because he was injured.
     
  20. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Double-whammy, probably:
    • He broke his leg — many don't come back from that the same
    • He was born in January 1, so he was literally as old as one could possibly be for his U17 cycle. As we know, YNT rosters are tilted toward birth months earlier in the year; the younger players in a cycle disproportionately emerge as the best professionals, while the January birthday players are disproportionately busts.
     
  21. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    He's never been the same after that injury..................birthday or not.

    This happens. In the 2011 U17 cycle we were talking about above it happened to Pelosi and Serna. I think both were on track for the USMNT prior to their injuries.

    Pelosi's soccer career is probably over. I don't think he's been on a club since being released by the Quakes prior to this MLS season. I really thought he had a chance of being special.
     
  22. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Remember Alex Zahavi? Hope he doesn't switch to Israel...

    And what about our kid at Bayern Munich from before Julian Green... Fabian Hurzeler / Huerzeler?

    Who was that really short Mexican American kid with the U-20s, Daniel Cuevas?
     
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  23. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Hürzeler is a player / co-manager in the Regionalliga right now.

    Cuevas played in the NPSL as recently as 2017 and seems to be doing private training lessons in his hometown Sacramento.

    https://letskickit.com/portfolio/daniel-cuevas/
     
  24. ratmalph

    ratmalph Member

    Oct 26, 2016
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    He trialed with Bethlehem Steel in February. That’s the last I’ve seen or heard of him.
     
  25. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Damn that sucks if he's not good enough to sign for a USL team, he looked so promising before his injury....
     

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