Yanks on Foreign YNTs (1997 and later)

Where would he fit in to the US pool if he were eligible? I don't see him ahead of Leyva or Saldana.

 

Danny Acosta watched Tim Ream and Daniel Lovitz play left back for the US, decided to keep his options open

 

Yeah, I kinda gave up on Letayf a while ago.
I've heard the same regarding his timeline to citizenship.
So if he's picked to this U17 WC squad then he's out. But I also doubt that he'll have citizenship for the subsequent U20 cycle. If his development goes as we want, then he'd be in contention for their U20 CONCACAF team as well. Out of our hands to a large degree.

Carrera is a different case. Opinions on him seem to vary wildly. More than any player of recent vintage it seems. We'll see. At this age group I'd still like for kids to remain in our pool if at all possible. If Carrera's citizenship is imminent, then he'd only be provisionally cap-tied to Mexico if he plays in the World Cup.

If there's one thing I know, its that kids with FCD are scouted routinely by Mexico. The list of Mexican callups from FCD over the past decade is astonishing. Going way back to Ruben Luna, Bryan Leyva, and company.

FC Dallas academy central midfielders. If there's one group within the US youth pool that you can even contemplate putting money on developing, it would be them.

 

Do you have an opinion on Letayf's long term potential and current standing in our U17 player pool?

 

@ussoccer97531 I tried to pose this question to you above, but you always ignore my questions!!

 

I really haven't seen him so much to have a super definitive opinion. I can give you the consensus of what I've heard from FCD folks mixed with my opinion. He's one of those midfielders that does all of the little things that don't show up in the box score. He's a silky-smooth defensive midfielder that has really good vision. He controls the tempo of games. He clogs the opposition passing lanes thru great positioning. He can throw in an aggressive tackle, but most of the time doesn't need to.

He's been on the radar for a long time. Way back to when he was with U14s for me. I think if he was at another club he'd have been more aggressively advanced thru age groups. FC Dallas just has so many good central midfielders that players like Letayf sorta have to wait their turn. I mean, the FCD first team has been starting three U20 central midfielders as it is.

If he was US-eligible, would he be on our U17 World Cup team over the likes of Saldana? All I can say is maybe. He'd have gotten callups and an opportunity to make that team. I feel pretty comfortable in saying that. Letayf at this age is superior to what I saw from Edwin Cerrillo at the same age.

 

Confirmation?

@USCIS #newUScitizen @jackiezarzar @Nico_carrera02 @pelusafcd13 @AnaCarrera4806 the Carrera Family! pic.twitter.com/n6AKUCh5gS

— Juan Carrera (@PapaTeamCarrera) June 28, 2019

 

I like this tweet from Nico's father Juan.
A twitter poster ranked the clubs represented at the Mexico U17 camp.
They left out FCD, who Nico pointed out had two. More than Club America or Pumas or Tijuana or Tigres or (insert other clubs here). Only three Mexican clubs had more than 2.

🐂 @FCDallas 2 https://t.co/KIwL0qG09C

— Juan Carrera (@PapaTeamCarrera) June 28, 2019

 

Felicidades @Nico_carrera02 por tu llamado a @miseleccionmx Sub17. Mas que merecido un gran jugador y gran persona. Un gran ejemplo de perseverancia ... a seguir trabajando tan como hasta ahora que no hay límite #crack #futbol @FCDallas pic.twitter.com/heWZWJg3L7

— Carlos Nava ESPN (@TapaNava) June 30, 2019

 

#crack?

 

Crack just means something like "star player" in Spanish soccer slang. Not to be confused with craic, which means fun in Ireland.

 

Yes. If I understand correctly, this roster is for a friendly camp to filter players for a mid-July Japan tournament. Barring an additional injury, Letayf should make the Japan tournament roster and the Mexican U-17 WC team roster. I think it was the same injury that @ussoccer97531 refers to that sidelined him from GA cup. I watched some of those GA games and Letayf was dearly missed by FC Dallas. His presence appears to offset a lot of the deficiencies of his club's backline (Carrera included) as well as their goalkeeper.

His quickness is questionable and don't know how that compares to Leyva's or Saldana's. On the offensive side, he has scored on the games I've watched in clutch moments (DC United, Solar). He seems to have a solid mid-distance passing range but Leyva's is superior. Unfortunately he is only eligible to play for Mexico for now.

 

I heard he might have another injury. Hamstring.

 

Here's one we missed. '99 CB Andreas Ueland, incoming to the University of Virginia from Bryne FK, is Norwegian-American according to his YouTube video. According to UVa he's represented Norway YNT up to U20 level. We never had a YA thread for him.
https://virginiasports.com/news/2019/7/1/mens-soccer-virginia-announces-2019-recruiting-class.aspx

 

Carrera made the final Mexico U17 roster for the Japan trip. Letayf didn't, so perhaps injury issues again. Texas-born Necaxa player Cesar Mata made it and Texas-born Santos player Santiago Munoz didn't.

 

#U17 | We are on our way to 🇯🇵 for the Niigata Tournament!! ✈️⚽️

This is the squad called up by HC Marco Antonio Ruiz for this new challenge!! 💪🏼🇲🇽#PasiónyOrgullo | #FMFporNuestroFútbol pic.twitter.com/LZAABNrPMV

— Mexican National Team (@miseleccionmxEN) July 7, 2019

 

On the broadcast of the FC Dallas U-19 game, the announcer mentioned that Nathan Toledo has been called into Argentine YNT’s in the past. Can anyone find record of this? All I can find is his player page on the FC Dallas website that mentions it, but it doesn’t say at what level or when.

Here’s news of Goggel being called up to the German U-17’s.

Sechs Nationalspieler unterwegs
Jordan Meyer, Maximilian Göggel und David Hummel nehmen mit der deutschen U17-Nationalmannschaft ab Montag am Algarve-Cup in Portugal teil. Dort trifft das Team von Trainer Michael Feichtenbeiner auf Portugal, Spanien und die Niederlande. pic.twitter.com/68KFoXX902

— VfB Nachwuchs (@jungundwild) February 3, 2019

 

According to his instagram, he has a Brazilian nationality. I think the FC Dallas website is wrong. He participated with the U16 BNT in a tournament in Argentina. Maybe they confused the tournament with the Argentine YNT(that's what I think happened).

 

That's something I would remember. I don't think its accurate...…………………….

 

Nico Defreitas-Hansen has decided he will represent Denmark going forward:

Although it was tough being so far from home, Hansen said the decision was “a no-brainer.” His father is from Denmark, and his mother, Vanessa, is from Brazil, so they understood and supported his passion for soccer.

“When I first got there, I loved it so much,” Hansen said. “The way they treat the game, the culture around it, it’s what I wanted. It makes you respect and appreciate the game so much.”

Hansen recently decided, after much debate, to play for Denmark rather than the United States, partly because it will be easier being based in Europe.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mls/article232422347.html

 

Most players don’t declare who they are playing for before being cap-tied. Could this be some type of way to try to leverage his way into YNT call ups for any of the countries he’s eligible for?

 

It's gotta be that. Born and raised in the US, had a fair number of USYNT caps, and very unlikely he would turn down a US call-up especially when Denmark won't come calling.