Mods, feel free to close or move this if you think it's inappropriate here. I wondered whether there might be some use for a thread covering somewhat off-the-radar former YNT players -- while they're obviously not eligible for youth tournaments any more, their stories may be interesting or instructional in some way. The idea came up while reading about '92 Nick Palodichuk. In this profile, his tone is seemingly not that of somebody 100% determined to go pro when he finishes college. (This upcoming season at Duke will be his senior campaign.) Perhaps he's just kind of ... had enough. Who knows. As his final season at Duke approaches, opportunities lie ahead for Palodichuk. But he doesn't know professional soccer will be among them. "It depends how this season goes and if not (soccer), maybe law school or an MBA," Palodichuk said. "There's always other opportunities. We'll have to see how it plays out." http://www.columbian.com/news/2014/jun/09/palodichuk-playing-for-pro-possibility/ He looked good with the U17s and I watched him play a bit early on at Duke -- during which he looked pretty much like a surefire pro prospect with size, decent physical ability and a mature, clean game that seemed almost effortless. Admittedly, I didn't realize the extent of his injury issues, which basically cancelled out his sophomore year. College bio: http://tr.im/5lcsy
The Heat lost 1-0, but Felix played 90 minutes in a strange one in which it finished 10v10 with Tyler Deric getting ejected. Laredo Heat: Jorge Luis Ortega; Adam Villavicencio, Matthiew Braem (Ejected 40), Francisco Roberto Lara, Genaro Yair Hernandez; Salvador Luna, Jose Angel Hernandez (Rafael Ferreira 70), Juan de Dios Ibarra-Trevino (Miguel Fernandez Jimenez 66); Daniel Gustavo Garza, Felix Garcia, Irving Heriberto Villanueva (Orlando Esteban Bayona 57) http://www.houstondynamo.com/news/2014/06/match-recap-houston-dynamo-1-laredo-heat
Definitely a bit of a Latin feel to Laredo. I'm not familiar with almost all of those players. Could some be eligible for this forum?
Probably, since most PDL teams are fairly well stocked with young players. But in this case, there's no roster on the club or league site and I'm too lazy to look up the rest of the guys. I am guessing that Francisco Lara is the Frank Lara who got some U20 looks under Rongen.
None that I can positively identify. Matthieu Braem is a 94 at Iowa Western CC, but he's French. Genaro Yair Hernandez is a 93 who has played with San Luis U17s in Mexico as well as a Segunda Division club, but I don't think he's American. Jorge Ortega is another 93 who played for Excelsior with Hernandez in Mexico, but I think he's also Mexican. EDIT: Kaique Fernandes, who was an unused substitute, is a 94 from Long Island who somehow found his way to Iowa Western CC as well. Kaique Fernandes is also the name of a DJ in Brazil. Lastly, Laredo's bench goalkeeper is Will Lukowski ('93), another Iowa Western CC veteran who has just transferred to Indiana. Not sure what connection Iowa Western and their coach Jordan Carver have with the Heat.
It was Garcia who got the ball away and shot it after Deric misplayed it with his feet. Deric then stopped the shot by handling it outside the box and was duly sent off. Houston with a surprisingly large number of first-choice players in this one, showing respect for Laredo.
Well, this thread hasn't exactly set the world on fire! Anyway, came across a story that referenced Justin Detter today; that led me here: http://www.justindettersocceracademy.com/
http://meltzsoccer.wix.com/adamjmeltz Ask and you shall receive! I had a hunch that his "hype machine" was still hard at work. The difference now is that few people are paying attention.
Didn't know where to put this, so I'll stash it here in the "catching up" thread: Coach and Teammates Remember Donovan with U-17 MNT http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2014/10/07/16/36/141007-ld-u17-oral-history-michael-lewis … This really doesn't seem that long ago. Now the stars of this first Bradenton crew are retiring!! Beckerman's hair was clearly a work in progress even at this age........................
I remember following that team so closely. I could be wrong, but I swear some of those games were streamed as well.
I remember seeing some of these games, but I can't remember where. In 1999 they probably weren't streamed live...........................? The U17 World Cup games might have been on Fox Sports World? [The precursor to Fox Soccer Channel??]
Pretty much my recollection. Streaming seems unlikely back then, but I did follow it a lot on the internet. Even messaged back and forth with Landon a little back then, when his dad first started getting himself in some online arguments.
By the way, Josh Lambo is a kicker at Texas A&M now. He had a brief interview with the Men in Blazers on their podcast last week. http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...r-liverpool-klinsmann-garber-plus-josh-lambo/
The funniest part of the interview to me is that he's taking Yoga classes at Texas A&M with Brek Shea's mom, Kristin Brekken. So yes, Brek Shea's first name (Brekken) was his mom's last name (or now rather maiden name).
It looks like '92 Victor Garza has turned up somewhere in the German amateur substructure. He was in the NPSL this summer. http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/victor-garza-to-tigres.949299/page-6#post-31395926
Example number 90870987928346 of why playing in the Mexican youth system doesn't necessarily mean anything. The "success rate" of that particular era was quite low. We talked endlessly and breathlessly about the kids at Tigres. Moises Orozco? Daniel Navarro? I think at one point we had five starters on their U20 team, and the only one that's "made it" was the one we stopped caring about..................Uvaldo Luna! Edit: I forgot Ocegueda. He still might "make it."
Daniel Karell @DanielKarell · 20h 20 hours ago RT @chriskamrani: DaMarcus Beasley, Kyle Beckerman and Landon Donovan at Disneyland in Nov. 1999.
http://www.nasl.com/article/uuid/1e...eunites-with-rongen-joins-rowdies#.VJkGVF4BCA Boy, does Rongen love Gale Agbossoumonde.
Has Gale found his level yet? I'm still not sure. He is still getting signed based on what he could potentially do. Not on what he has shown he can do.