A balompie ride to the top - João Lucas de Souza Cardoso (Johnny) at Real Betis

I'm a little annoyed that Cardoso only has 3 caps. Are they even looking at him? It's too late for him this WC cycle.

 

Is he better than Acosta? For me, that is the fundamental question.

 

I think the evidence available says no, he is not. I think I've seen him about 12-15 teams with club, short Nats minutes, and US U-23 minutes.

However, he is 20, clearly has good physical tools, ball skills at an Acosta-ish level (other than dead ball striking, which I've not seen him do), and seems likely to improve as he gains experience. He hasn't stood out as better than the incumbents yet - didn't outplay Yueill with the U-23s, for instance, though he was only 19 and Jackson was clearly given the keys to that team, a big advantage.

 

Obrigado. He's not been involved in WC qualifying for Qatar. He is someone to look at for WC 2026.

 

He's a guy who really benefits from the U.S. U-23 team qualifying for the Olympics. He is eligible for Paris.

That being said, it's not a slam dunk he makes the team given that the roster is only 18 players (including 2 keepers). He'll be competing with Tanner Tessmann, Aidan Morris, Leon Flach, Dan Edelman, Taylor Booth etc.

 

Ah yes, Dabo Swinney's grandson has had quite a wild ride with Venezia. Unfortunately, the former FC Dallas man might be stuck in Serie B for a while. Serie B is below MLS standards. Meanwhile, Brazil Serie A is roughly at the same level as the Eredivisie and better than MLS. Taylor Booth is starting at Utrecht. There is stiff competition for Mr. Cardoso.

 

It’s never quite as easy as saying Player A is in League A and is better then Player B who is in League B. There is always degree of overlap.

 

Absolutely true. It's always about the individual player and what he brings to the table. However, what is easy to say is that playing against higher level competition makes one a better player, and you're going to get more of that in the top leagues.

Also, there was no intended sarcasm in my original post. Cardoso will really have stiff competition.

 

I don’t particularly like Acosta but I still would bring him over Johnny. I like Johnny but he’s only 20 and has significant language gap issues plus KA at least brings some FK ability. That said, I won’t be surprised at all if Johnny gets > 30 caps for us. He’s 20 and starting to come into his own on a good team in a good league.

 

Johny Cardoso vs Juventude (2 Goals) pic.twitter.com/ThdAaOnqyU

— Jack Stephen 🇺🇸🇮🇳 (@USMNTZ) August 30, 2022

 

Looking really good. Bossing the midfield physically and connecting in a way that dispirited his marks by the end of his game.

These kinds of monster athletes are unusual for us. Both Johnny and Scally are these types of players…similar to Croatian and Brazilian big athletic guys.

 

Guy is a great athlete for a soccer player and has excellent field vision and an intuitive sense for the game. I think that he looks like a typical top table team Italian 6 and wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up over there. He is a standout athlete whenever you watch him and he has tons of tools…a complete player with a gritty edge.

 

Still not impressed. He played okay, against a team that's currently last in the league. His shooting is poor.

I think that Booth is better than him. Johnny doesn't look that special.

 

I keep seeing all touch videos in which he looks very positive and involved. I hope that the next, post-Qatar iteration of USMNT includes a serious look at him. We ought to have, and IMO could benefit from, more of a Latin Am influence/philosophy. We are too Northern European. Amazing cultures is always good. Heterogeneity>homogeneity.