The U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team couldn’t overcome a late second half goal despite a couple of near misses in the final ten minutes and fell to the St. Louis Scott Gallagher team this afternoon during the second day of the 2004 Nike Friendlies at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Scott Gallagher proved its claim as the best club team in the nation this afternoon, keeping pace with the U.S. before finally notching the game-winner in the second half. This past summer, the same Scott Gallagher team won the USYSA Under-17 National Championship, defeating Florida Weston 2-1 in overtime. Go here for the rest of the story, http://stlsoccer.net/ This Scott Gallager team is loaded with wonderful players on it including TJ Novak who will be a Freshman @ Stanford next Fall, Tim Gabel @ Ohio State, Jack Traynor @ Notre Dame, Tim Walters @ Louisville, along with other standout players such as Zack Bauer, Brandon Barklage, Conor Neusel and Aaron Johnson.
I heard that Gallagher could have scored a few...I also heard that Zach Bauer was excellent and many think he belongs in that national team lineup....anyone seen him play??? Where is he going next year??? ACC??? SLU?????
I think some of these kids want to get away and see the world. Keep in mind these Scott Gallager kids are Top Level Players and want to get full rides or close to it and I'm not sure SLU has much left to offer some of them. SLU has a pretty set line-up and has one Saint Louis area kid Zack Pryzbeck a forward that played on last years National Under 18 Champion Busch squad transferring in from Butler along with another member from that Under 18 Busch team Denaldin Hamzagic who is a tremendously skilled player from Mehlville High School in St. Louis. Hamzagic is arguably the best of the area St. Louis kids coming out this year along with TJ Novak, Zack Bauer, Brandon Barklage and Tim Gabel. SLU will probably pick up a few other top area players before all their recruiting is said and done. Time will tell. I do know that the St. Louis area is loaded with top Division 1 candidates this year with at least 20+ area kids slated to play D-1 next year.
baur is going to boston university. zach przybeck is a midfielder from ladue and he is coming in from st johns not butler
Congrats to Gallagher on this W, but a National team should never never lose to a club team, plain and simple. This result points out the all too obvious flaws with US Soccer and Youth National teams in the USA. Quite often, these national teamers are not the best players in the country...but most certainly, they are some of the most well connected. Could you imagine if a national team in Italy, or Spain, or England, lost to a club team? It doesn't happen, and it shouldn't happen here. You would think that at least a few of those Gallagher guys would get invited to the residency camp, based on this victory. Therein lies the problem...residency. You can't select 30 kids in a country this size, send them to residency camp for 18 months and call it your national team. This country is too big with too many good young players. We could have three or four national teams and still miss plenty of deserving players.
I believe that SG has the best coach in the entire country. SG develops players and has the best available trainers. Winning comes down to how you train. The coaches on the National Team are clueless, and it is a political disaster. It is a shame, and that is why the US will always have a hard time competing with the international powerhouses. When talking about this game it does not surprise me one bit. SG had teams in the past that could of beaten their eqivalent age National Teams. The team w/ Jeff Dimaria, and the team w/ Brad Davis could of given to their age NT. Both of these teams won National Championships. I am glad that none of these kids are going to SLU. They must have watched a couple of games this year and had a light bulb come on. Not really the way they are used to playing. It would take them a long time to get used to that style of play. SG plays beautiful soccer that is entertaining to watch. All I can tell them is enjoy playing beautiful soccer right now, b/c 99% of college soccer is not what they are used to.
First you say that a national team should never lose to a club team, and then you say that there are enough good kids for more than four national teams. So if there are that many players that could possibly be considered for our national team, why is it suprising that an elite club team, which probably has at least a couple of the guys that got left out, would be able to play with a national team? It isn't even like they dominated. The score was 1-0. AC Milan loses games they should win too.
All you have to do is look at the players Gallagher has turned out. Ralston, Noonan, Klein - 3 of the more skilled players in MLS. Can any other club in the U.S. touch that with current pros?
The Sockers out of Chicago have Tim Regan, Mike Magee, and Jonathon Spector currently playing professional. The Chicago Magic has Ned Grabavoy, Denny Clanton, and Bryan Namoff. There are probably more that I'm missing. They're all young players though so they don't have the pedigree that the Scott Gallagher guys have. Give it 5 years though.
Scott Gallagher US National Team Alumni: Current Pool Players: Chris Klein Brian McBride Pat Noonan Steve Ralston Taylor Twellman Brad Davis Retired Players: Mark Santel Matt McKeon Mark Santel Mike Sorber Steve Trittschuh Steve Fuchs Kevin Grimes Greg Makowski Current and Former Scott Gallagher MLS Players: Brad Davis Chris Klein Brian McBride Matt McKeon Pat Noonan Steve Ralston Bobby Rhine Shane Battelle Mike Slivinski Mike Sorber Steve Trittschuh Taylor Twellman Jeff DiMaria Kevin Hudson Todd Yeagley Scott Gallagher players in other Pro Leagues: Matt Caution, Cincinnati Riverhawks (A League); Buffalo Blizzard (MISL) Jeff Davis, Kansas City Attack, St. Louis Steamers (MISL) Brandon Gibbs, St. Louis Steamers (MISL) Todd Hunter, St. Louis Ambush (MISL) Kevin Kalish, St. Louis Ambush, Kansas City Attack (MISL) Eric Kuster, Croatian First Division Mike LaPosha, St. Louis Ambush (MISL) Matt Little, St. Louis Ambush, Buffalo Blizzard (MISL) Jason Mims, Cincinnati Riverhawks (A League) Dan O'Keefe, Kansas City Comets, Detroit Rockers (MISL) Jamie Posnanski, Charleston Battery (A League) Kevin Quigley, St. Louis Steamers (MISL); Nashville Metros (A League) Chris Santel, Colorado Foxes (A League) Wes Shulte, Cincinnati Riverhawks (A League) Joe Vega, Long Island Rough Riders (A League) Harry Weiss, St. Louis Steamers (MISL) Tony Williams, Richmond Kickers (A League) Scott Gallagher Collegiate All-Americans: Name School All-America Seasons Battelle, Shane Saint Louis University 1993-first team Davis, Brad Saint Louis University 2001-second team DiMaria, Jeff Saint Louis University 1999-first team Groark, Tom SIU-Edwardsville 1981-second team Howe, Tom SIU-Edwardsville 1972 Kalish, Kevin Saint Louis University 1998-first team Little, Matt SIU-Edwardsville 1997-first team McBride, Brian Saint Louis University 1993-first team; 1992-second team McKeon, Matt Saint Louis University 1995-first team Noonan, Pat Indiana University 2001-first team; 2000-second team Quigley, Kevin Saint Louis University 1997-first team Rhine, Bobby University of Connecticut 1998-second team Santel, Mark Saint Louis University 1990-first team; 1988-second team Trittschuh, Steve SIU-Edwardsville 1986-first team; 1985-third team
That is quite impressive!! However I wouldn't consider Scott Gallagher the best U-17 club team at present. That nod would have to go to the Casa Mia Bays. I think an excellent club team has a very good chance at beating a National team. The club team probably has been playing together for some time and have better teamwork.
This has been discussed at length in other sites. The question that is always asked, is how many of these players did SG actual develop? SG is great at getting players to transfer over at the 17 and 18 group. In fact, I would argue that approach has won the Championships for them. Do they win with Bauer and Barcklage at the 17 age level? I doubt it. Did those players develop "under the best trainers?" Don't think so. Let's be honest. Brian McBride played 1-2 games with Gallagher. Don't believe everything you pull off their web-site. Another "former" player, Michael Slivinski, can't stand the club and what they stand for. Are they great developers of talent or great gathers??
McBride played 20+ games with SG. Who cares what Mike Slivinski thinks? He played for the club and benefitted from the experience. No of course SG shouldn't get full credit for the development all of these players. That goes without saying. The fact remains that Scott Gallagher does an outstanding job of developing many great young players. Hundreds of them. Let's give credit where credit is due. Scott Gallagher, Busch, Lou Fusz, and many other St. Louis area clubs do a wonderful job of developing young players. Tis a credit to the Saint Louis soccer community as a whole and specifically to the dedication of the individual players involved.
Said elsewhere, but this was a U18 team (Gallagher) vs. a U16 1/2 team (U.S. Nationals). It is hardly surprising that a national caliber club team can beat a group of players who are 1 1/2 years younger than them.
Thats an impressive list that Tom has put together. St. Louis continues to develop talent year in and year out. I don't think any other city has come close to producing the talent and having the great soccer tradition of St. Louis.
That is the usual reply in response to the question. "How many of these players has the great Tommy Howe and SG actually developed?" You will be suprised when the answer is not many.
Now I know you are a Busch Guy. Relax. It's OK. Tommy Howe is an extremely fine coach and was a wonderful player in his day. Why fight against the facts.
Tom, Where and when did this game take place? The three US teams at the Nike tournament only suffered one loss, and that was by the U-15s to Arsenal U-16:
Again, I do believe I said he was a fine coach. And he is. Again, if you went through the trouble to pull that off the SG web-site, go through the trouble and research exactly when they switched to SG. See how many of "the list" played for SG for more than 4 years. Let me know
Do you doubt it happened? December 3rd 2004. BRADENTON, Fla Lineups: USA – 18-Newton, 31-Mariscal, 7-Sarkodie, 30-J. Smith, 3-K. Smith, 16-Besagno, 23-Ampaipitakwong, 20-Farfan, 17-Hall, 21-Igwe, 26-Ababio. Subs: 1-Rueckner, 4-Lichaj, 6-Kirk, 9-Zimmerman, 10-Borja, 11-Soroka, 13-Wagner, 14-Nakazawa, 33-Arvizu. SCG – 3-Gabel, 5-Barulage, 6-Neusel, 9-Hemkens, 10-Traynor, 11-Baur, 13-Fallon, 15-Novak, 18-Hollingsworth, 1-Johnson. Subs: 2-Kemp, 4-Fitzgerald, 7-Brennan, 12-Olwic, 14-Dickson, 16-Dorsey, 17-Sontag. Here are a couple of links to the story Andy, http://www.ussoccer.com/custompage/...bPreview=true&itype=5748&12/3/2004 3:29:10 PM http://stlsoccer.net/
Off the top of me head... Sure. Chris Klein Pat Noonan Steve Ralston I'm not certain about Ralston playing for 4 years. I do know I played against him for at least 2 seasons at the Soccer Park. Taylor Twellman Brad Davis Mark Santel Matt McKeon Mark Santel Mike Sorber Steve Trittschuh Steve Fuchs Kevin Grimes Greg Makowski Bobby Rhine Shane Battelle Mike Slivinski Jeff DiMaria Jeff Davis Todd Hunter Kevin Kalish Mike LaPosha Dan O'Keefe Jamie Posnanski Kevin Quigley Chris Santel Wes Shulte Joe Vega Harry Weiss Tony Williams I'm not sure how long Tony played for SG. Kevin Groark Tom Groark Tom Howe