With the US failing to qualify for the World Cup, it greatly reduces the number of former American college players at Russia 18. Of the 32 teams that did qualify, only one named a former collegiate player to the World Cup roster and that is Costa Rica, which chose ex-Maryland star Rodney Wallace of NYCFC. He joins a distinguished list of former college players to make a World Cup team that isn't the USMNT. For a long time, this was a pretty short list. But it really grew when Trinidad and New Zealand made the WC and each had a bunch of ex-college players on their squad. By my count, 23 ex-college players have made a foreign WC squad, with one of them doing it twice. HONDURAS, 1982 Armando Betancourt, Indiana NIGERIA, 1994 Michael Emenalo, Boston University JAMAICA, 1998 Dean Sewell, Southern New Hampshire Andy Williams, Rhode Island SCOTLAND, 1998 David Weir, Evansville TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 2006 Shaka Hislop, Howard Kelvin Jack, Yavapai JC Avery John, American (via Yavapai JC) Stern John, Mercer JC Brent Sancho, St. John’s (via Essex JC) Evans Wise, Mercer JC HONDURAS, 2010 Roger Espinoza, Ohio State (via Yavapai JC) Ramon Nunez, Southern Methodist NEW ZEALAND, 2010 Andy Barron, William Carey Andy Boyens, New Mexico Tim Brown, Cincinnati Aaron Clapham, Louisville (via St Francis, Pa.) Simon Elliott, Stanford Tony Lochhead, UC Santa Barbara Ryan Nelsen, Stanford (via Greensboro College) BOSNIA, 2014 Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis HONDURAS, 2014 Roger Espinoza, Ohio State (via Yavapai JC) IRAN, 2014 Steve Beitashour, San Diego State COSTA RICA, 2018 Rodney Wallace, Maryland As always, let me know if I missed someone or made any mistakes.
It will be interesting to see how many ex-collegians make the 2022 WC rosters, even if the US qualifies. If you make that assumption - and I realize we no longer should! - and pencil in a potential roster, it's hard to find more than 2-3 former college players on a hypothetical US squad. (Steffen, Trapp, Yedlin and... ?) But unless a country that tends to have a lot of former American college players on its roster like Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand or Trinidad qualifies, we're probably looking at a really low number in four years, even if the US is there.
I will be at the France-USA game this evening in Lyon I will have the joy to see the young and attractive French team and to discover the US Team. A special moment for me with my two sons playing college soccer. Are there former college players in the USMNT that you suggest I specially watch? I do not know whether Gyasi Zardes has been called for this game: he is a former Runner and my Jérémie had the honor to help him during some specific training sessions when Gyasi was recovering from injuries in his hometown during the 2016/2017 season.
Zardes is currently in the second half of a match with the Red Bulls. The Crew lead 1-0 on a header from ... you guessed Gyasi Zardes.
Off the top of my head, Tim Parker played 4 years (I think) at St John's. I remember watching him early in his freshman year and knowing this kid can play. It was against UVA at the Md Sportsplex. Zach Steffan played 1 year at MD. DeAndre Yedlin played 1 (or 2) years at Akron. Eric Lichaj either committed to UNC or had a red-shirt year. Now, Sandon, please correct my errors.
Glad you got to see the game with your boys. That's always special, regardless of their age. Of the players who played in yesterday's game, a small handful played college soccer: GK Zack Steffen played 2 seasons at Maryland; CB Tim Parker played four! seasons at St. John's; captain Wil Trapp played two seasons at Akron, as did second half sub DeAndre Yedlin. Fellow reserve Joe Corona played a season at San Diego State. Hope you enjoyed the game.
Hi Sandon. The kids were watching from Florida. We were together via whatsapp Jérémie plays NPSL with Palm Beach United and Romeo who has now finished his NCAA eligibility is preparing his second MBA year at FIT.
Indeed we had a good time. The ambiance was nice, more familial than for a really competitive game. The crowd came to say a bye bye before the team's trip to Russia. The Olympique Lyonnais stadium is brand new and great. No queuing, easy to navigate, comfortable and nice staff. Before the kickoff we had a very sweet tribute to Francis Smerecky, who recently passed, a national coach who got numerous titles with the French youth teams and to Aimé Jacquet who won the WC in 1998 as the coach. No pressure on Deschamps Obviously the USMNT goal cooled the mood. We were frustrated as the team dominated, but was not sharp enough (heavy legs after the tough preparation) to kill the game. We hope that when they play similar teams (aka the bus in front the goal keeper), they will be smarter and more skillful. However kudos to the young US team who did well what they had (and came) to do. Resolute and smart defense and they did not miss the opportunity to score the first goal. Now let's see whether this will act as a reminding jab, so that they properly handle the supposedly smaller teams. I always remind that football is a highly psychological game of narrow scores,defined by mistakes and played over two halves.... It' why we love it.
Trapp and Yedlin both 2011 and 2012 @ Akron. Confirmed. And boy , were they ever tweeting and IGing together from Europe last week. Seems the two remain good friends.
So after not playing in Costa Rica's first two games, Rodney Wallace was an 81st minute sub for the Ticos today in their 2-2 draw with Switzerland. That is the extent of college soccer's participation in the 2018 World Cup. Here is the updates list of non-American former collegiate players to have made a World Cup team, complete with games and minutes played. HONDURAS, 1982 Armando Betancourt, Indiana 3 games, 3 starts, 270 minutes NIGERIA, 1994 Michael Emenalo, Boston University 3 games, 3 starts, 300 minutes JAMAICA, 1998 Dean Sewell, Southern New Hampshire 0 games played Andy Williams, Rhode Island 1 game, 0 starts, 16 minutes SCOTLAND, 1998 David Weir, Evansville 2 games, 1 start, 121 minutes TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 2006 Shaka Hislop, Howard 2 games, 2 starts, 180 minutes (earned a clean sheet vs. Sweden) Kelvin Jack, Yavapai JC 1 game, 1 start, 90 minutes Avery John, American (via Yavapai JC) 2 games, 2 starts, 121 minutes Stern John, Mercer JC 3 games, 3 starts, 270 minutes Brent Sancho, St. John’s (via Essex JC) 3 games, 3 starts, 270 minutes Evans Wise, Mercer JC 2 games, 0 starts, 54 minutes HONDURAS, 2010 Roger Espinoza, Ohio State (via Yavapai JC) 2 games, 2 starts, 135 minutes Ramon Nunez, Southern Methodist 3 games, 2 starts, 172 minutes NEW ZEALAND, 2010 Andy Barron, William Carey 1 game, 0 starts, 1 minute Andy Boyens, New Mexico 0 games played Tim Brown, Cincinnati 0 games played Aaron Clapham, Louisville (via St Francis, Pa.) 0 games played Simon Elliott, Stanford 3 games, 3 starts, 270 minutes Tony Lochhead, UC Santa Barbara 3 games, 3 starts, 270 minutes Ryan Nelsen, Stanford (via Greensboro College) 3 games, 3 starts, 270 minutes BOSNIA, 2014 Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis 3 games, 1 starts, 144 minutes (goal vs. Argentina) HONDURAS, 2014 Roger Espinoza, Ohio State (via Yavapai JC) 3 games, 3 starts, 225 minutes IRAN, 2014 Steve Beitashour, San Diego State 0 games played COSTA RICA, 2018 Rodney Wallace, Maryland 1 game, 0 starts, 9 minutes
It took me a while to find my password, but isn't Francisco Calvo of Costa Rica also a former collegian?