Great article about a potential future star. This kid is the definition of late bloomer. http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_1998857.html
Great story what a natural talent he must be going from not even watching soccer on tv to two years later playing in a world cup!!!
I haven't seen Cruz play, and of course it's a nice story. But I wonder if his starting in soccer so late has left him with a skill set that may not be adequate enough for the pro level. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
I guess I should chime in, since I'm the "high school coach" in that story. Still remember that day on campus when I met Danny and "suggested" he give soccer a try, he just had that "look" of a player. Probably one of the best coaching moves I've made in my 15-year career, and it happened in a hallway months before the season started. Danny went on to set the school career goal-scoring record and lead us to a state championship. Sorry to go on a bit, but needless to say, we a very proud of Danny, and he is the type of kid that will be successful in life, even if that doesn't include soccer, though I'm pretty confident it will.
In that story he made it seem like he had really never played soccer before. Had he played at all? I just dont understand how he could be where he is unless he had really good technical skills with alot of time spent on the ball. Did you think he had good technical skills?
great kid...more of a physical player...will slash and run through people...needs work 1v1...individual skills lacking due to late starter....comes with time...takes advantage of open shots...will run all game..pressures the defense and make things happen...personality to make people notice him...worked well for him
That is unbelievable that a kid who started playing soccer his freshman year of high school is on the U17 USMNT going to the WC 3 years later. Wow. I don't even know what to make of that. So he is a forward, huh? I guess you can be a wonderful forward with somewhat limited technical skills if you are blazing fast and ruthlessly aggressive in the box, which I assume this kid must be. He's got to be able to make decent decisions with the ball when not near goal, though, and I'm sure what he brings is extreme hustle defensively and extreme aggression offensively which at this level could unsettle some defenses. I've seen what he looks like and he is a brute, and is built clearly far more muscular and stocky than your normal U17 player. I think of Marvell Wynne as the ultimate athlete with poor technical skills and his major problem is that he is on defense and when he makes a poor decision or has a bad touch it results in breakaways for the other team. If Cruz loses the ball 50% of the time, but turns half chances into goals 25% of the time, then that is a very serviceable forward I'd have to say.
You have to remember his main sports were hockey and football, hence his more stocking frame. I think he is a fast learner and has good coordination. I hope to see him play during the U17 WC (if ESPN picks up matches)
It is true, he had very little if any exposure to soccer before high school. I've said this in another thread, but I'll repeat it again here, Danny is the classic example of the "what if some of our best athletes in this country chose to play soccer" scenario that has been debated here on BS. Danny is a superior athlete, who, like the article references, CHOSE to play soccer over football and hockey (not that those sports didn't help him in the areas of vision, explosiveness, etc...). Technically speaking, he certainly could improve, but, as a striker, he has plenty of technical ability to take players 1 v. 1, and, more importantly, is not shy about doing it over and over again (great striker mentality, though he has no problems combining effectively with his teammates). Danny's X-factor as a player is not just that he is lightning quick, but he brings a bulldog mentality to the striker position (low center of gravity, fights for balls, dishes out punishment, always keeps coming at the defense). Like Ronaldo's Idol stated above, he might lose the ball, but he will always keep coming back with a never say die attitude. Overall, just to clarify, I have not seen much of Danny's U-17 teammates in action, so this is an assessment of Danny, and certainly not a comparison. With our high school starting up this week, this has added a nice buzz around campus. Everyone will be watching. Good luck boys.
I few years ago I was playing pickup (a competitive game of solid men's amateur and college club-level players) at an area college with a football team. One of their players happened to be working out nearby and asked to join in when he was done. He was about 6' 2" and built -- well, built like someone from last year's Ghana or Ivory Coast teams. He was fast, quick and moved exceptionally well. He had probably played some before, but didn't appear to have been extensively coached and clearly would have spent a lot of time playing football anyway to have made it to the college level. He didn't beat anyone on the dribble, and it was obviously only a pickup game, but he made a serious impact. His instincts, anticipation and physical confidence were better than anyone else who was playing, to say nothing of his speed and strength. He kept things simple and let his body do the work. Who knows what a coach might have done if he had 10 years -- heck, maybe even five -- with that guy. Maybe not a national player, but definitely someone you'd want to check out.
If you have superior quickness and balance, you don't need the fancy moves. Still Danny's story strikes me as just short of unbelievable.
Like fish to water some people just have natural abilities for things. I have friends that can play pretty much any instrument well and have had no formal training or instruction. They just have a natural affinity for it and they just don't have to work as hard to already be better than most everyone not professionally trained.
5-8, 170, per USSoccer. http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_1867781.html Those numbers would fit with what others, including his HS coach, have said about him being stocky with a low center of gravity and big, powerful legs.
Cruz was also one of the players who really shined for the U.S. Region IV team at the Nereo Rocco tournament in Italy a few months ago. He scored two goals against Napoli then another one against Juventus. You can read the match reports here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=526833
If you saw the ESPN interview he did before the Pan Am Mexico game or have seen him on the ussoccer.com U-17 video updates he definitely looks like a big guy for a soccer player. In the ESPN interview his neck was so huge you could hardly see his face.
Danny is a well built kid, and has been that way ever since I met him four years ago. I'm sure hockey had a lot to do with developing that explosiveness he possesses, not to mention the aggresive nature in which he plays. 5'8" sounds about right, 170 might be a tad on the light side, though I'm sure with the recent training he's shed a few pounds (and his body fat went from less that 1% to non-existent, oh what we'd all give to be 17 again, huh?).
From back at Christmas when Danny scored a hat trick against a makeshift U17MNT squad composed mostly of trialists: Region IV 90s 3, U17 National Team 91s 2 A lot of people turned up to see Charles Renken play for the U17s, and the just-turned 13-year old from the St. Louis area, who will begin at Bradenton Residency next month, turned in a solid if unspectacular performance in central midfield in his U17 debut. But it was a kid from Arizona named Daniel Cruz who got all the oohs and aahs this evening, attacking with skill on vigor down the right hand flank almost from the opening kickoff and bagging a hat trick to lead his team to a 3-2 win. After Eder Arreola had put the U.S. up 1-0 with an impressive goal from a Dion Acoff setup, Cruz took a pass from Israel Vega, beat a defender and then hit a shot that deflected into the goal to make it 1-1. Cruz then won a ball deep in the U.S. end after a goalkeeper-defender mixup, then finished from a sharp angle to make it 2-1 for the Westerners heading into the break. Playing with his back to the goal in the 2nd half (as he often does for his club team, Alliance 89), Cruz turned his marker well and fired a shot into the back of the net to notch his 3rd goal of the evening. New residency invitee Gale Agbossoumonde pulled one back for the u17s with a deflected drive, but Region IV hung on for the win. Cruz said his teammates should share credit for the success. "A lot of it had to do with my teammates. Every time they let me know if someone was there or if someone was not, so I couldn't do it without them," he said. "We were all real excited and ready to play." He went on to assist both goals in the team's 2-0 win the next day. I still think the wing is his best position. He's like an old-fashioned Scots winger, puts his head down, beats his man and drives in on goal or hits a good cross. He may be lagging technically due to his late arrival to the game, but in that one aspect he appears to be special.
I'm really excited about Cruz for this U-17 WC and as a prospective U.S. men's team player. But does anyone else find themself wondering: "What if this kid had started playing the game at age 7 rather than 14?"
best of luck to him for the future, though i wonder about young kids who dominate their age group because of superior size. Would they be just as dominant against grown men when playing in a world cup?
i don't. athletes build their sport acumen when playing any competitive sport. i'd imagine that cruz picked up some invaluable lessons playing hockey and american football that most soccer players haven't learned.