In Spain some years ago, five great players led by Emilio "el buitre" Butragueno emerged from Real madrid's ranks at about the same time. This Spanish fab five was dubbed "La Quinta del buitre" (The Vulture's Gang of Five). The emergence of Gooch in Europe and with the Nats has got me thinking about the great first class of Bradenton's residency program, led by Landon, DaMarcus, Convey (though one year younger than the rest), Onyewu and DJ Countess. They and others were tabbed as future stars after the fourth-place showing (Landon was golden boot, DaMarcus silver) at the U-17 world cup in 1999 in New Zealand. Of those five, only Countess has not become a full Nat within five years. Two have played in the World Cup, one in the Champions League, one in the UEFA Cup. What of the others from that class? I recall Alex Yi? Jordan Cila?
Alex Yi is currently out of contract, was in belgium I think. Jordan Cila went 4 years to duke and is currently a starter for the colorado rapids as a rookie.
Nelson Akwari, Kyle Beckerman, Steve Cronin, Justin Detter, Adolfo Gregorio, and Seth Trembly are all currently pros from that class. Abe Thompson will likely be the last, next year.