Twoth the Galaxy: @LAGalaxyAcademy players Leo Sepulveda, Uly Llanez and John Hilton at the U16 USYNT Camp getting ready for their tournament in Japan. pic.twitter.com/4LDC2QeQIN— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 7, 2017 (I guess Llanez was in fact the answer to the question on so many minds...) I haven't seen anything from U.S. Soccer yet, but they have sent out U16 releases in the past.
Assuming this is the same tournament, it looks like it's a four-team gathering and the Dutch are also there. 872188673990766592 is not a valid tweet id It would maybe not be crazy to guess that Japan is another of the teams.
Ah -- here we go. Guinea is the other team. We play Japan on the 16th and it would appear our other games will be on the 14th and 18th. http://www.jfa.jp/eng/news/00013782/ Noah Browne, who plays for the club with the best name, is on the Japan roster. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/noah-kenshin-browne-at-yokohama-f-marinos.2042881/
He hasn't been called into the U-17's before, which I find strange. There has to be like 20+ 01's who've been called into some U-17 camp, residency, scrimmage, roster, etc. I don't believe Llanez has either, nor the U-16 captain Sepulveda, and of course Jake Arteaga ('00) has stopped getting call ups to the U-17's, and he's certainly deserving of call ups to the U-17's. I don't want to make this another one of those discussions, but I suspect that has something to do with it. We've heard before from reputable sources that LAG doesn't like releasing players to YNT's. I even find it strange how Hilton is being developed. If you check LAG U-16 rosters, he's sitting on the bench a lot of games recently. Thats okay if we are talking about a non-prospect, but a guy who's hyped up as the best '01 in the country? Strange.
What reputable sources said this? I don't think they wanted their players in Bradenton, which they were correct. And now that's not an issue moving forward.
IIRC, Hilton was not affiliated with a club for a fair amount of time while he was in Europe. Sure, he played futsal, which undoubtedly helped in some areas, but I have to imagine the tactical education he missed must have set him back. It might take some time before he catches up with his peers.
I'm unable to recollect exactly where I saw it, but I remember someone who would know said that LAG and Philly Union don't like releasing their players.
Thats possible, and would explain his lack of playing time, but I thought he was excellent in the one half he played at the GA Cup. He looked like the best player on the field in that half.
Looks like the event is called the International Dream Cup and we play Guinea first. http://www.jfa.jp/eng/match/u16_InternationalDreamCup_2017/schedule_result/ The JFA's web site promises some degree of team info here, but it's not there now. http://www.jfa.jp/eng/match/u16_InternationalDreamCup_2017/team.html Also not sure what this means, but there could be some kind of video, at least for the game against Japan. http://www.jfa.jp/match/u16_InternationalDreamCup_2017/tv.html
Check out @JREskilson's Tweet: Hearing the @LAGalaxyAcademy U18/U16 team beat the U.S. U16 BNT 2-1 today in a friendly at the NTC. @uly_soccer7 with the goal for USA.— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) June 8, 2017 Check out @JREskilson's Tweet: U.S. U16 BNT headed to Japan next. Only in LA briefly to prepare for the trip.— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) June 8, 2017
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...ls-20-players-to-2017-international-dream-cup GOALKEEPERS (2): Michael Collodi (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Nicolas Defreitas-Hansen (Weston FC; SW Ranches, Fla.) DEFENDERS (5): Julian Araujo (Santa Barbara SC; Lompoc, Calif.), Nico Benalcazar (NYCFC; Wilton, Conn.), Luke Hansen (Colorado Rush; Littleton, Colo.), John Hilton (LA Galaxy; Long Beach, Calif.), Leonardo Sepulveda (LA Galaxy; Corona, Calif.) MIDFIELDERS (7): Mario Anaya (San Jose Earthquakes; Livermore, Calif.), Taylor Booth (Real Salt Lake; Eden, Utah), Azriel Gonzalez (Seattle Sounders; Renton, Wash.), Nelson Martinez (DC United; Woodbridge, Va.), Aidan Morris (Weston FC; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Adrian Munoz (FC Dallas; Richardson, Texas), Thomas Roberts (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas) FORWARDS (6): Ulysses Llanez (LA Galaxy; Lynwood, Calif.), Dillon Keane (San Jose Earthquakes; Foster City, Calif.), Giovanni Reyna (NYCFC; Bedford, N.Y.), Bryan Reynolds (FC Dallas; Little Elm, Texas), Jose Rivas (Weston FC; Weston, Fla.), Stefan Stojanovic (Sockers FC; Des Plaines, Ill.) Reyna is the lone '02.
I guess it was because a few '01s were always with the '00s, but the u16s (Reyna inclusive) look pretty damn good.
Looks like a strong roster, although its missing Konrad who seems to be the best player in the '01 year. Also missing a number of other notable players like Vassilev, Palomino, Slonina, Rangel, Duke, Berhalter, Ochoa, Segal, Arriaga. And then Hoffmann seems to be playing for Germany now, although I think he would be a back up to Xuxuh anyway. I like the Roberts addition. I thought he was very good in the GA Cup. I'm surprised that Kristopher Shakes hasn't gotten a chance yet with this age group. He seems very highly rated at Philly Union, already playing for their U-18's, and was part of first team training in preseason. Potential lineup Defreitas-Hansen Xuxuh-Araujo-Sepulveda-? Booth-? Reyna Gonzalez-Reynolds-Llanez I think this year is overall starting to look better, IMO. I think the '97 and '00 years didn't look so good at first, but became really good. '98 was great right away, '02 looking that way. '99 is not looking so great at the youth level. I'm not really sure its going to resurrect itself at this point, but maybe it will at the senior level.
I would say '97 looked good immediately because Palmer-Brown signed pro at age 16, we found out soon about Carter-Vickers (first post in his YA thread is from August 2014) and how good he is, and the loaded RSL U-16 team which was the best in the country at its age level had several promising-looking '97s. And all of this came at a time when we were pretty disappointed in the '93s and '94s, plus in the '96s failing to qualify for the 2013 U-17 WC. I don't think the '01s are as strong and deep-looking as the '97s were at about the same stage, but obviously there is still a lot we don't know about these players.
So, here's something. https://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/united-kingdom-records-in-birth-marriage-death-and-parish-records/and_births-and-baptisms?collection=births+&+baptisms&firstname=giovanni&firstname_variants=true&lastname=reyna&yearofbirth=2002&yearofbirth_offset=0 I was curious about Reyna so I found a British version of ancestry.com, and if this "Giovanni Alejandro Reyna" is him, then he was born in Sunderland (lol). I'm not sure what implications this has for EU passport stuff, but my thinking is that since the UK will still be in the EU by the time he's 16, he might have a way to sign abroad. EDIT: His middle name is Alejandro according to an NYCFC forum, so this has to be him.
Don't think just being born in the UK guarantees citizenship. If he does have it though, no way NYCFC (i.e. his father) let's him go abroad without getting money for him. I wouldn't be shocked if he signs a HG contract this next MLS offseason. And he still doesn't turn 16 y/o until 11/13/18.
Claudio Reyna's mom is Portuguese. I don't know if that helped him or helps Giovanni, but it's something. https://www.socceramerica.com/article/10245/claudio-reyna-on-the-record-it-is-day-to-day.html
First game is tomorrow, against Guinea. Here are updated squadlists for all four teams, though no clubs listed. http://www.jfa.jp/eng/news/00013895/
I seem to have read recently that Pareja likes kids to go to national teams around or after 15. I didn't read it is well as I should have and later thought it was interesting and could explain why FC Dallas players always start showing up later. Maybe LA is similar in that they want their players to not get overwhelmed with conflicted coaching until they think they can handle it.