The U17's will play Portugal, Turkey, and Brazil in Florida- starting with Portugal on the 28th. Bit of a down year/rough showing last year, but this crop of U17's seems to be one of (if not) the most promising in recent memory. Notable guys: (Commentary isn't my opinion- more general consensus or notes others have reported) -Bello- Arguably the top outfield prospect in the entire pool -Scally- Would be the top FB prospect in almost any other class -Gio reyna- Seems a bit polarizing as a prospect, but likely on his way to BVB. -Busio- Got some minutes at SKC this year and looked pretty good in doing so. -Las- Some say is the best keeper prospect we've had since Steffen, or even Timmy. -Yow- One of the standout players with Bello and Scally at a recent tourney in England. -Andre Costa- Former real madrid academy player who seems very technical. -Pepi- Top DA scorer this season by quite a bit, I believe. Anyone else people think should be mentioned?
USSoccer.com shows the following schedule [with my additions]: [Wed] November 28, 2018 6:30 PM ET U-17 MNT vs Portugal [Turkey v Brazil] [Fri] November 30, 2018 6:30 PM ET U-17 MNT vs Turkey [Portugal v Brazil] [Sun] December 2, 2018 5:30 PM ET U-17 MNT vs Brazil [Portugal v Turkey] If there's a convenient way to view these games from afar, please share ...
Since we don't have a roster yet, here's what I hope is a comprehensive listing of this cycle's callups, pre-Nike Friendlies, sorted by most callups. Among the guys with fewer, a few semi-recent additions who have been brought back after their addition to the pool include Arce, Armour, and Robles. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a3vgwj19yp3KgCTIQ9gfBUaOfJ3IMCSigjcnv-hY-6U/edit?usp=sharing
Definitely Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez. I think he's the top outfield '02 right now, so I disagree with you about that, although its pretty close between a number of them. If we are just talking about notables that will definitely be on this team, I think thats about it. Not a particularly great bunch of players.
Sebastian Falsone is a new call up to this age group. Congrats to locals @sebastianfsone & @griffin_yow on their callups to the US U17’s for the 2018 Nike International Friendlies against Portugal, Turkey & Brazil!• Falsone: @vdasoccer captain• Yow: VDA alum, @DCUyouth captain#RepDMV | 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 | #DMVBred pic.twitter.com/vd7G4jNLox— DMV Soccer (@DMVSoccer96) November 24, 2018
I think I mentioned it here a week or so ago, but Masango Akale out of MTA has apparently been called in.
Gilbert Fuentes, who has the passing range of Mendez and Parks and is pretty good at shooting from distance.
Watching the Nike Friendlies in person last year Fuentes impressed the most out of anyone there. He should be back for sure.
Roster: GOALKEEPERS (3): Trace Alphin (North Carolina FC; Raleigh, N.C.; 0/0), Damian Las (Chicago Fire; Norridge, Ill.; 11/0), Chituru Odunze (Vancouver Whitecaps FC/CAN; Calgary, Alberta; 3/0) DEFENDERS (8): Axel Alejandre (FC United; Chicago, Ill.; 12/0), Adam Armour (North Carolina FC; Cary, N.C.; 8/0), Sebastian Falsone (Virginia Development Academy; Warrenton, Va.; 0/0), Jonathan Gomez (FC Dallas; Keller, Texas; 0/0), Tayvon Gray (New York City FC; Bronx, N.Y.; 7/0), Kobe Hernandez (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.; 11/1), Mason Judge (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Tampa, Fla.; 10/0), Joe Scally (New York City FC; Lake Grove, N.Y.; 11/1) MIDFIELDERS (6): Masango Akale (Minnesota Thunder Academy; Minneapolis, Minn.; 0/0), Andre Luiz Costa (Rayo Vallecano/ESP; Madrid, Spain; 0/0), William Reilly (Atlanta United FC; Decatur, Ga.; 2/0), Giovanni Reyna (Unattached; Bedford, N.Y.; 5/1), Adam Saldana (LA Galaxy; Panorama City, Calif.; 14/1), Peter Stroud (West Ham United/ENG; Chester, N.J.; 12/0) FORWARDS (7): Cameron Dunbar (LA Galaxy; Chula Vista, Calif.; 0/0), Ruben Hernandez (Club Leon/MEX; Manteca, Calif.; 0/0), Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Seattle Sounders FC; Kent, Wash.; 12/5), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas; 3/0), Daniel Robles (Seattle Sounders FC; White Center, Wash.; 5/0), Alex Villanueva (Seattle Sounders FC; Maple Valley, Wash.; 0/0), Griffin Yow (D.C. United; Clifton, Va.; 3/2) https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...u17mnt-for-2018-nike-international-friendlies
Great to see Pepi and Gomez, who appear to be the only '03s. Two of the more prominent players in the DA, and we know Mexico wants Pepi -- no wonder, as he has 19 goals in 8 games played. Probably aware of Gomez too. This is the second US callup in a row Pepi has accepted.
I like this guy-Peter Stroud - a lot last time I saw him play (U16's?) - didnt know he had gone to West Ham https://www.whufc.com/teams/academy/squad/peter-stroud Sounds like it is proceeding ok - have you seen him play in the last two months?
Missing 7 key players and this roster still feels really, really strong. These youth cycles the last few years have been truly a sight to see.
Article on Ricardo Pepi, the true #9 on this US roster who is the top scorer in the DA and has been called up by both the US and Mexico. https://www.fcdallas.com/post/2018/11/26/academy-ricardo-pepi-taking-two-nations-storm
Seattle has all these 02s signed but they still have unsigned u17 national team players. I’ve never even heard of Villanueva, but who am I anyways. Unreal depth at that academy.
I haven't been sure about this group since getting blown out at last year's friendlies, but I'm starting to get encouraged. Judging strictly by professional appearances, this team will have loads more experience than previous squads... It's crazy that the previous cycle only had a handful of professional appearances between all of them when they played in the World Cup. That is a stark contrast from this team, which could easily have the majority of its roster having made several first team appearances in at least some level of the new professional pyramid.
Pretty sure Villanueva was at RSL and moved to Seattle this year. He played for the same club as Taylor Booth (and a handful of RSL DA kids) a few years ago. I will be interested to see him play as it will give me a much better read on local leagues in comparison. I thought he was good but never the best player on the club team. Also possible he has improved dramatically.
Are those "key" players? I get the sense that this is the natural evolution of the roster. Aside from Bello and Busio, I don't think anyone not on the roster is a lock for qualifying (if available). The new coach has made some very different call ups than Hackworth did. I see a lot of these changes as good. I'd like to see some others play with this group (Bello, Nyeman, Freeman, Atencio, Cuevas, Wilson, Busio), but I like some of the changes we've been seeing. He's not a bad player. I don't see him as being a high level prospect. I have not seen him play in the last two months. The last time I watched him play was in June. Looked much improved, but that was improved from thinking he was a non-prospect.
Last year it was a 24 man roster the week of that got reduced by four. Nice to see Gomez and Pepi called in. Pepi gets more discussion because he's a striker, but I think Gomez is a better prospect. I don't know if he's good enough to push Bello for a starting spot because Bello's a year older, but I think he's good enough to push him for best overall LB prospect in the system. Pepi belongs here, and seems to have taken Lopez spot. Best lineup. Las Scally-Gray-Judge-Gomez Dunbar-Alejandre-Saldana-Reyna AOC-Pepi
What will be most interesting is a frontline of Ocampo-Chavez and Pepi together. I believe they've played only one stretch of minutes together, in the second half against Brazil in the October tournament, when the US came back to win. In Pepi's substitute appearance, he drew a penalty and Scally converted it for the win.
Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez has a lot of work to do if he really wants to establish himself as the foremost AOC, given competition from the Articles of Confederation and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
He also has a lot of work to become the best American soccer player known by an abbreviation. EPB and CCV are tough competition for that.