Heck, there were *3* young US raised players on the bench of teams in top 5 leagues ready to make a debut yesterday. 2 of them did debut. Obviously, the last day of the season brings out debuts, but still pretty noteworthy.
Thread Bump! He is in the Canada squad for June. https://www.canadasoccer.com/news/c...al-matches-including-concacaf-nations-league/
Luca Koleosho 🇨🇦🇺🇸 has NOT committed to Canada. He will be in their camp, but won’t be cap tied, at least that’s the plan. He will experience the CanMNT camp, that’s all. Maybe get minutes in the friendlyHe can still end up with the USMNT, however… for now… advantage Canada.— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) May 25, 2022
RE: Luca Koleosho playing for Canada. When I interviewed him in November, I actually asked him about playing for Canada. It seemed like such a distant thought to him I didn’t even include it in my article. Canada must have worked very hard on this “recruitment” #DualNationalPanic https://t.co/9OejeMXCUV— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) May 25, 2022 when I spoke to Luca in November, he was hardly even thinking about playing for Canada. I asked him and it was a distant thought
When the tactical manager interviewed him a couple of weeks ago. He asked him point-blank "You are leaning toward US and not Canada?" And the kid's facial expression was of surprise, like, how does he know?
He’s in the first team camp: 🔵⚪️🔵🧤Joan García🧤Ángel Fortuño🛡️Omar El Hilali🛡️Rubén Sánchez🛡️Simo💡Gori🚀Jofre Carreras🚀Luca WarrickLos 8 jugadores del filial citados para hacer la pretemporada con el primer equipo del Espanyol #RCDE pic.twitter.com/LEmrtYb2Q2— RDT💙🇪🇦 (@Raulismo___) July 5, 2022 And here’s local source that says the same and includes a profile about him, but doesn’t say anything particularly of note apart from how there’s high hopes for him. Absolutely a guy to keep a very close eye on. Really, really like what I’ve seen of him. Example - look at this fantastic run and following goal starting sequence around 1:44:30 (he's #11): Can also find some more matches scattered around YouTube too. Extremely smooth and instinctive athlete, great prospect.
On the bench for a 1st team friendly: 📋 𝐉𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨́!▶️ Aquest és l'11 de Diego Martínez#EspanyolMontpellierEM pic.twitter.com/3i8df0JAEb— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) July 16, 2022 ⌚️ 71' | 1-0 🔁 @RCDEspanyol 🔺 Pol Lozano i Luka Warrick🔻 Rubén Sánchez i Vini Souza#EspanyolMontpellierEM pic.twitter.com/nWIYYtQCSL— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) July 16, 2022
Preseason with the 1st team: Luca Koleosho 🇺🇸🇨🇦 is currently in preseason with the senior team of Espanhol. He played in their preseason friendly vs Montpellier 🇫🇷They will make a final decision early August in regards to if he will be with the B team or stay with the main squad for this season.— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) July 21, 2022
Started in friendly: 📋 𝐉𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨́!▶️ Aquest és l'11 de Diego Martínez#EspanyolBalonaEM pic.twitter.com/1uHoqOQgSZ— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) July 28, 2022
Off the bench in a friendly: 📋 𝐉𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨́!▶️ Aquest és l'11 de Diego Martínez#RCDE | #NapoliEspanyolEM— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) August 6, 2022 🔁 @RCDEspanyol🔺 Keidi, Luca🔻 Darder, Nico#NapoliEspanyolEM— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) August 6, 2022
In the squad for tomorrow's league opener: 📋 Aquests són els 𝟐𝟏 jugadors convocats per al #CeltaEspanyol! #RCDE pic.twitter.com/AerxK5O23U— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) August 12, 2022
On the bench for the season opener. The game is underway on ESPN+. 📋 𝐉𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨́!▶️ Aquest és l'11 de Diego Martínez#RCDE | #CeltaEspanyol pic.twitter.com/4Wz45qFGYe— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) August 13, 2022
Funny day of debuts in this one: ESPN+ commentator insisted that this was his debut, even talking about how he made the roster but didn't play in the final game of last season. Points for being half right. He didn't do a ton, got stuffed trying to beat people off the dribble a couple of times. The debut I wanted, Luca, did not happen. However, our old Barca friend Mingueza made his Celta Vigo debut and conceded a stoppage time penalty to let Espanyol equalize. Welcome aboard, buddy.
Came on in the 77th minute with Espanyol losing 0-2 and both teams down to 10 men. No more scoring after that. Nice La Liga minutes for a kid who hasn't yet turned 18!
Canada better keep their maple syrup hands off him. Not easy to grab minutes as a 17 yr old in La Liga. What little I’ve seen…,, this kid is loaded with talent.
I know we have a lot of players in top leagues, and he’s not in the picture for the World Cup, but I’m surprised there’s not more discussion about him on here. He’s a 17 year old getting regular sub minutes for a solid team in La Liga. It’s no guarantee he becomes a star, but he’s in a pretty similar place to where Musah was two years ago, and now Musah is one of our best players.
Recent Koleosho Anecdote: I live in barcelona - home of Espanyol - and directly after this match I saw two guys wearing Espanyol jerseys at a street festival. Die-hard fans....They had just come from this match. I asked them about Luca and how he played - I had seen on Google that he played. They insisted he hadnt played in the match and that they knew him but he was a player in the youth team. I showed them the google report that he actually played but they wondered if Google was wrong lol So....I guess he has a ways to go before making an impression on the supporters, still.....(they don't even know he is playing for the a-team, apparently)...(although one said he knew him and that he is good...and that all good players at espanyol get sold to bigger teams eventually...and that will probably happen to him too)
American winger '04 Luca Warrick Koleosho debuted for Espanyol B recently. He has been scoring fairly regularly for their U19s. He has been with USYNTs before but also contacted by Canada. https://t.co/McbFtDArgr— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) March 27, 2022 His shirt says Luca Warrick. Seems that's how he's known at Espanyol.
Just given the circumstances Canada will definitely have an opportunity to get him in the fold if they offer him a World Cup spot. That's just not on the table with the US right now.