US wins first game 3-0. U-18 Men Top PSG, 3-0, in Exhibition; Set for Croix Tournament PARIS (Wednesday, June 4, 2003) - The Under-18 Men’s National Team, in France to participate in the Croix International Tournament this weekend, topped Paris Saint-Germain in an exhibition match at PSG's training facility on Tuesday as Arturo Alvarez scored twice in the final ten minutes, after Chad Barrett had tallied the first goal of the match in the 54th minute. On the opening goal, Danny Vasquez sent a cross from the right side just outside the 18 yard box to Barrett, who sent a bouncing header to the right side into the goal. On Alvarez's first goal, in the 81st minute, Sergio Flores passed from top of the 18 to Alverez on the left side. He dribbled toward the endline eluding one defender and shot low, slotting the ball inside the far post. Alvarez finished the scoring in the 89th minute with an unassisted effort, collecting a deflection near the top left of the 18 yard box, taking a few uncontested steps towards goal and shooting near post, scoring as the ball bounced off goalkeeper and into the net. The U.S. U-18s travel to Lens to play another exhibition against RC Lens on Thursday (June 5) before starting the tournament against RE Mouscron on Saturday (June 7). The following day, the team will play its second game of the tournament against Villareal CF. All placement games will be played on June 9. - U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team Game Report - Participants: U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team vs. Paris Saint-Germain (85/86s) Competition: Friendly Location: Training Facility; Saint-Germain, France Date: 6:00pm, June 3, 2003 Weather: Warm/Humid; 75 degrees Scoring Summary: 1st 2nd Final United States 0 3 3 Paris Saint-Germain 0 0 0 USA – Chad Barrett (Danny Vasquez) 54th minute USA – Arturo Alvarez (Sergio Flores) 81st USA – Arturo Alvarez 89th Lineups: USA – 1-Brad Guzan (18-Andrew Kartunen, 46), 23-Jed Zayner (7-Arturo Alvarez, 75), 15-Patrick Phelan, 4-Paul Johnson (13-Greg Dalby, 46), 20-Hunter Freeman, 16-Patrick Ianni (5-Mike Videira, 46), 7-Arturo Alvarez (2-Isaac Collings, 46), 6-Chad Barrett (16-Patrick Ianni, 64), 9-Danny Vasquez (10-Karbassiyoon, 60), 10-Danny Karbassiyoon (11-Sergio Flores, 46), 22-Marc Burch (17-Nate Norman, 46)
It just sounds like this team has some real talent on it! I wish they had more pro opportunities here. At some point, the talent level in this country should reach a point where MLS can invest P40 money in players like these without being scared that they won't pan out.
I'm not real familiar with this team (besides the "big names" that everybody knows) but I think I read a while ago that Ianni was considering a move to Brazil before ultimately deciding to go to college.
PSG Game Looks like everyone played except Will Hall. I know he got 20 stitches above his eye in a state cup game on Sat. Hes a tough #!*$#* so I bet he plays. Some others missing from the roster had proms and grads some of em went anyway but some stayed home. Like Wanderer said this team has real talent and should do good no matter what.
Very surprising that Frank Yallop let Alvarez go on this trip as the Quakes have about a million injuries. Good to see he's make it worthwhile.
As many here know, I'm not a propoent of Genlovatch using 84s. But, if they are gonna play, and play well, they ought to be considered for looks by Thomas Rongen. In this case, I think Rongen needs to give Karbassiyoon and Gunzan looks. I also think we all need to learn how to spenn Karbassiyoon 'cause this kid sounds like he has a bright future. I know the 20s, and even more so, the 23s, are deep at forward (Magee got another MLS goal yesterday and Knox Cameron is tearing it up in the PDL... and they are 3 and 4 on the forward pecking order for the 20s) but a kid that Arsenal wants and who is playing well for the 18s should get a look. As for Guzan, Cronin is the consensus No. 1 in goal but the back-up slot is up for grabs and Guzan is a great athlete and if he is playing well for the 18s, TR should look at him. That said, I still don't like the idea of using the 84s on the U18 team. These players have a youth-specific national team and it's called the U20 team. The U18 team was designed SPECIFICALLY for the odd year kids, in this case the 85s, who are hurt with the three year gab between the U17s and 20s. They already get screwed by the FIFA calendar, why is US Soccer exacerbating this by giving away U18 spots to overage kids? I mean, while it's nice to see these kids doing well for the 18s, it's coming at the expense of call-ups for the likes of Ramon Nunez (Southern Methodist bound), Adam Christman (Virginia recruit), Jason Landers (rising Sr.), Craig Capano (Chicago Fire), Ian Etherington (Notre Dame bound) and Kamani Hill (rising Sr.) and Josh Villalobos (already at Furman). Finally, getting off that rant, it sounds like Danny Vasquez, if he doesn't go pro, is going to be one of the most highly-recruited players for the fall of 2004. Among the 18s who are still in HS, he, Hill, Greg Phelan and Landers, if they don't go pro, are the top prospects.
Burn insiders rave on Nunez since he practices with the team sometimes. They say he doesn't look out of his depth at all. I think they're using overage players on this team because they'll be playing at the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland sometime. It's an U19 tourney.
He has a scholarship to SMU. I think that's worth about 80K over four years. I have no idea if any of these U18 players have even been offered P40 deals though. Me, I'd take the P40 money and run, and then be making 75-100K about 5 or 6 years from now with the opportunity to make a lot more. If it doesn't work out just live with mom and dad and go to a state school. Not everyone sees it that way though, and again, we don't know how many of these kids got P40 deals. We're reaching a funny point in our history. A LOT more youth players have pro potential than ever before, but without much tradition, players are still unsure if they want to take the plunge and go for it. I don't think we'll have that problem in the future.
Yeah, I knew he did. I was just speculating as to why, if he was so highly touted, he wasn't offered a P40 deal before.
Nunez graduated a year early to be able to start college this fall. It's presuming a lot but I'm guessing... *His parents want him to get some college in before he turns pro so he graduated early so he could start college ASAP and then will be able to turn pro that much earlier after he placates his folks with a couple years of school. If you read the reports at 3rdDegree.com, this kid trains with the Burn all the time so obviously Jeffries and Swift know about him. And obviously US Soccer does, too. Combine the fact that the Burn keep asking him to comeback with the reports that he shows well in training and I suspect the P40 issues aren't that there isn't interest but rather that mon and dad wanted their bambino to go to college. Or, maybe he just likes school. I'm just blowing smoke out of my ass at this point.
They've been really picky about offering guys P40 deals lately IMHO. Look at how these kids are doing against French reserve teams though. And they also did well against Dutch teams. All they need is the right environment. The biggest disconnect in US soccer is from ages 17-20, and it shows up in our mediocre U20 teams.
We need an U20 amateur residency for the non-pros IMHO. There seems to be like 5-8 guys each cycle with lots of potential slipping through with substandard training.
I see the soccer benefits but I don't see how this would work. I know there's talk about going to one specific college like the one in Carson but I don't see that working out. I mean, are these kids gonna all go to one college? Would they play college ball? It just seems like there are a bunch of logistical hurdles that will keep it from getting done. I'd much rather see those resources dedicated towards A) paying the P40 kids more and B) having youth and reserve teams at the MLS level. I think those will help more, and be a better use of our resources, than another round of residency will. Now, for the U18 team, I'd like to see a form of residency and I think we'll be seeing that next year because the 87s, who are currently is residency in Bradenton as part of the U17 team, will stay in residency to finish school but as of September they'll basically be the U18 team. Hopefully that somehow morphs into something more substantial and permanent for the 18s, at least the ones that aren't in college.
Sure, and then those 5-10 guys would just turn pro. It'd be nice if they could do this before the next U20 cycle. Then we'll really have a good chance of winning. It would have been really interesting if Klaas, Cochrane, Marshall et al would have had a full season of playing/training in MLS before the U20 WC.
How about elaborating on the Brigham Young University soccer model. From their web site: "BYU soccer is at the forefront of player development. In February 2003, BYU became the first University to purchase a franchise in the United Soccer Leagues (see www.uslsoccer.com). This purchase allowed BYU to bypass the NCAA to provide the greatest opportunity for player development in the United States. We are now competing in the Premier Development League (D4) Southwest Division." A large part of the problem of college play is the poor quality of opponents. There is no reason why University teams need to function in the context of the NCAA. Let soccer lead the way with pro or semipro players functioning within a college context. Oh, sorry. I forgot. That already happens for football and basketball. Soccer would just be admitting a reality.
Arsenal youngster on the mark for US http://www.planetfootball.com/artic...=8&title=Arsenal+youngster+on+the+mark+for+US"/>