Funny story... the day Mexico was training at PHP this kid was invited to train with Mexico.... Here's the funny part. Tobias knew about him form the kids club coach at Everton. Tlo told me about him, I told Sean McGee and Hitch. I believe they told Clarke. I am fairly certain that FCD had zero knowledge about it before that. So props to Tobias for helping out FCD in a round about way. He would never take credit for it himself of course so I am giving it here.
The key word there being current rules. A lot of noise coming out of MLS HQ indicates that won't be the case for long.
Hey 3rd, why was he invited to train with Mexico? Is he a Mexican citizen and not US? He's been playing with USODP and getting great reviews as per Top Drawer. Do you know or can your find out his citizenship status? We are getting to a point that all our ODP players have to know they need to work their way to US citizenship. We can't be developing them for other countries national teams.
I should have written it down. IIRC, and I am doing this from poor memory... he was born here, but his parents are Mexican citizens. So I think he is an American who could become eligible to play for Mexico. I believe his father wants him to play for Mexico is the story I heard. I will ask TLo again. please don't quote me on any of that as I got it all third hand.
Why not? This country needs to develop as many outstanding players as possible to help bring attention to our sport and excite our country about it. If this kid becomes the next Ronaldinho, I for one don't care one cent if he plays for the U.S. or if he plays for Mexico. And a true fan of soccer shouldn't either.
Ummmm....I consider myself a "true" fan of soccer and I would be HIGHLY pissed if a kid that was developed by the USSF programs ended up playing for our biggest rival. Like CRAZY pissed. Any "true" fan of US Soccer should feel the same way. I've got to admit, Rocket, sometimes the things you post boggle my mind.
So I saw this kid after the game in the club area. A couple of the Burn office staff and a coach from Everton (the local club) could not stop praising this kid's skills. Apparently he did train with Mexico and in front of Campos and the national team seniors he was just putting on a show that shocked everyone. Campos wants Chivas (mexico, not usa) to come get him and take him back, but the father wants him to stay in the US and finish his education. But Chivas can probably solve any financial worries for his family for some time to come. So we will see what happens. Word is also that he will be playing for Dallas Texans in the Dallas Cup next week. Paraphrase what I have heard about him: "Ronaldino type/level skill, has a bit of an effort issue, not a ball hog, and has creative skill to burn." THis from people who normally poo-poo hype on kids.
Interesting that the same guy who spotted Adu spotted him too. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=335551
So why has he spent 10 days in front of U.S. national coaches, at the '92 national camp in August and then at the Interregional event in November (in Texas, no less), and has not yet been named to one of the two 18-person national '92 teams that have been formed? That's 36 '92s who are on the U.S. national list ahead of him. I've seen some of those kids and while they ain't bad, they won't in the least remind you of Ronaldinho. And please don't tell me it's because the U.S. national coaches are bad. That might be true. But nobody is that bad -- even a clown like me can tell in 5 minutes the difference between the typical national-level '92 and a future Ronaldinho type who has the Mexican national staffers drooling. What I'm saying is, something doesn't make sense here.
FYP. Even when I think I'm used to it, it's amazing how quickly things can get overblown in this place...
I'm normally skeptical too but I've heard from two reputable sources that this kid is standout good, not just "looks like he could be a future pro" but rather "we only see a 14 year old who is this good every few years or so."
Glad you brought that up. I failed to mention that the Everton coach claimed that he <i>was</i> playing for the US team in that age group. This came up when I inquired about if he would play for the US or Mexico. Clearly even if he has, he can still choose to play for Mex.
Not according to the written reports of the Thanksgiving Interregional and the January Mexican tour. Not saying the Everton coach misspoke, but I know several '92 Regional players who attended the 100-player strong national camp, and inevitably the proud buzz around their team is that "we have a national team player." Although no, you don't ... you have a Regional player who was invited to a very large & preliminary national camp. Either that, or the Everton guy knew exactly what he was talking about and Leyva has been at some other '92 National event that I'm unaware of.