Nice little article about the current success of the Quakes academy, with lots of quotes from Leitch about how they are approaching it. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/usynt-callups-a-measure-of-success-at-san-jose-earthquakes-academy
There's a new article today on https://t.co/8awp52zQdU about the big number of recent USYNT callups from @QuakesAcademy that's worth checking out. Includes quotes from Chris Leitch. #Quakes74https://t.co/cdyYNNYBEV— JMoore Quakes (@JmooreQuakes) May 11, 2022
Around the country: American soccer news • U.S. U-17s beat Portugal. Cruz Medina's Panenka was the difference for the USA in its 2-1 win over host Portugal at the UEFA Development Tournament for U-17 men's national teams. Medina was one of three San Jose Earthquakes academy players to start along with Oscar Verhoeven and Fidel Barajas. Micah Burton (Austin FC) scored the other goal for the USA, which also beat Belgium, 3-0, and lost to Italy, 1-0. • U.S. starting XI: Esmanech, Verhoeven, Hall, Hawkins, Harangi, Medina, Wellings, Soto, Gitau, Rudisill, Barajas. • Highlights: U.S. goals
Can we PLEASE sign Cruz Medina already! The Scuffed podcast recently discussed the Generation Adidas tournament and the first name they talked about was Cruz Medina: https://scuffed.simplecast.com/epis...-roundup-with-matt-hartman-and-marcus-chairez
The Quakes are now the third team with their own thread in the Youth National Teams forum, following Dallas and Philly... The San Jose Earthquakes Thread
Congrats to @QuakesAcademy coach Erin Ridley & the U-17s on becoming @ConcacafW champs for a record 5th time! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/2DWvl6afjN— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) May 14, 2022
Extremely comfortable on the ball, especially in tight spaces. Despite his limited size (although for a 15-year old he is physically up to par to his peers) he is not easy to dispossess as he fights through challenges. Based on those clips it is evident that his biggest trait is his dribbling acceleration that makes him "glide" up the field with the ball at his feet. Exciting prospect to say the least. Needs to be signed to a HG contract ASAP!
One thing the video doesn't show much (maybe showed it once), is that, among all the other things, he can hit dime switching passes. I forgot which game - maybe the one against Argentina, where seems like he hit a few long ones and they all appeared to be on target. Also, check out the sequence at 2:07 in the video here from last year against RSL in MLS Next Cup. I believe he was 14 at the time. He gets the clearance, no-look back heel juggle volley to teammate, then return pass and spin move to beat the defender, and then dime long pass to attacker on the wing. Dang!
I love how the way he steals the ball is just like in a video game. He runs up to the guy with the ball, doesn't leave his feet to tackle, just -whoop- it's my ball now and he's off the other direction.
More Cruz Medina - this time against River Plate in GA Cup. Pretty sure I saw him yesterday in the concourse after the game and wanted to tell him that we needed him out there. He didn't look all that short, but thin frame as you can easily see when you watch him play. https://www.reddit.com/r/SJEarthqua..._medina_06_gen_usynt_capped_footage_vs_river/
You probably did. He was at the Earthquakes II game on Friday (but not on the roster). He seems to have a good head on his shoulders. It will be interesting to see what his best position turns out to be.
I think the U17s are in the MLS Next playoffs. Probably when that is over he will be more involved in Q2.
I want to see a Richmond Medina on one side and Bouda Tsakiris on the other... just have a decent defensive midfielder behind them (could Skahan maybe handle that?) and a decent forward in front of them (I guess that means Arfsten or Castro), that would be fun to watch... Edit: Looks like the DM is "Scott"... I don't even know who that is, but after looking at some of the recent Q2 lineups I'm guessing they would line up something like this:
Nathan Scott is the starting 6. He can be dynamic but he makes too many unforced errors for my taste. I wish Tarun Karumanchi was still on the team. Israel Carrillo can also be an effective 6 but he is more destroyer and less build out of the back guy. I like him there. Not flashy but fights for possession.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that he would have to sign a contract with Quakes II in order to play for them. Maybe he doesn't want to sign? Or he's holding out for a senior homegrown contract?
^ Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought academy kids (meaning not signed with either MLS or MNP) could play in MLS Next Pro... Karumanchi went to college right... maybe the Quakes will sign him as a homegrown in a few years