It seems that there have been a bunch of youth signing up abroad over the past half year, and then we kind of forget about them because they are not playing with the first team. I thought we could have a thread that at least listed those on youth teams abroad, and a place to focus anything coming in about them. Here are the ones I remember off the top of my head; Jose Gomez, 1860 Munich? Phillip Spiekelberg?sp?, Atletico Madrid Bryan Arguez, Hertha Berlin Johann Smith, Bolton Sebastian Lletget, West Ham Kyle Davies, Southampton Andrew Galliambardo?sp?, Southampton Eric Lichaj, Aston Villa Preston Zimmerman, HSV Sal Zizzo, Hannover Jared Jeffrey, Club Brugge Vincenzo Bernardo, Napoli Gabe Ferrari, Sampdoria Will Packwood, Birmingham City Devann Yao, Lizorno? Guys currently trialing Chris Harris Keido Pour I know there are a lot more. Anybody else have a few?
Here is a sneak peek at the new YA list, coming in February. All the players I have confirmed locations for AND confirmed birth years 1985 or later. There are more where I have the location but not the year, and of course others (like Pour) where they don't have clubs yet. After the Olympic roster is picked this cuts back to, I believe, 1989 and younger. Dallman Matt 1985 SC Wiedenbrueck Germany Feilhaber Benny 1985 Derby County England Gkionis Nick 1985 MEAP Nisou Cyprus Guy Ryan 1985 St. Patrick's Athletic Ireland Hall Tally 1985 Esbjerg fB Denmark Hill Kamani 1985 Wolfsburg Germany Joergens Jared 1985 FC Germania Dattenfeld Germany Johnson Jemal 1985 MK Dons England Joyce Ian 1985 Watford FC England Maroni Matias Ivan 1985 Communicaciones Argentina Purdy Steve 1985 1860 Munich Germany Raus John 1985 LKS Lomza Poland Rodd Chris 1985 Bryne FK Norway Scott Gary 1985 1. FC Eschborn Germany Somma Davide 1985 Olbia Calcio Italy Topolski David 1985 Tur Turk Poland Botero Sebastian 1986 Atletico Huila Colombia Castillo Edgar Eduardo 1986 Santos Laguna Mexico Davies Charlie 1986 Hammarby Sweden Denny Jay 1986 Halesowen Town England Fearrington Jamil 1986 Sandnes Ulf Norway Hardy Aaron 1986 Huddersfield Town England Heider Marc 1986 Werder Bremen Germany Nguyen Lee 1986 PSV Eindhoven Holland Orozco Fiscal Michael 1986 San Luis Mexico Parratt Tom 1986 Hamilton Academical Scotland Pittman Jon-Paul 1986 Crawley Town England Rivera Samaniego Cesar 1986 Union de Curtidores Mexico Rogers Raphael 1986 TSV Forst Germany Salter Sean 1986 SG Fliessem Germany Spector Jonathan 1986 West Ham England Tabe Etchu 1986 Ljungskile SK Sweden Vidal Amaro Marco Antonio 1986 Indios Mexico Westberg Quentin 1986 EC Troyes France Basso Stephen 1987 SV Darmstadt 98 Germany Bradley Michael 1987 SC Heerenveen Holland Cue Steven 1987 Eintracht Frankfurt Germany Djite Bruce 1987 Adelaide United Australia Funicello Giuseppe 1987 Ashford Town (Middlesex) FC England Guadarrama Sonny 1987 Morelia Mexico Hill Keven 1987 SV Weil Germany Hummel Erik 1987 FK Austria Wien Austria Johnson Fabian 1987 TSV 1860 Munich Germany Konopelsky Andrew 1987 LKS Lodz Poland Liston-Clark Brian 1987 St. Ives Town England Martinez Camarillo Luis Carlos 1987 Teo S La Firma Mexico Padilla Cisneros Jesus Andres 1987 Chivas Guadalajara Mexico Quainoo Bernard 1987 HFC Haarlem Netherlands Randolph Darren 1987 Charlton Athletic England Rivera Pineda Uriel Crispin 1987 Santos Laguna Mexico Rossi Giuseppe 1987 Villarreal Spain Smith Johann 1987 Bolton Wanderers England Szetela Danny 1987 Racing Santander Spain Torres Mezzell Jose Francisco 1987 Pachuca Mexico van den Beld Mitchell 1987 FC Utrecht Holland Zizzo Sal 1987 Hannover 96 Germany Benn Adam 1988 Borussia Fulda Germany Borja Carlos 1988 Chivas San Rafael Mexico Castillo Noel 1988 Santos Laguna Mexico Crowther Reece 1988 Queen's Park Rangers England Ferrari Gabriel Enzo 1988 Sampdoria Italy Gordley Eli 1988 Royal Racing FC Montegnee Belgium Hemmer Stefan 1988 VfB St. Leon 1967 Germany Hines Sebastian 1988 Middlesbrough England Johnson Reda 1988 Amiens SCF France Lichaj Eric 1988 Aston Villa FC England Molina William 1988 Tigres UANL Mexico Murphy Nick 1988 VfL Osnabrück Germany Pritchett Damian 1988 VfR Mannheim Germany Skverer Nicholas 1988 NEC Nijmegen Holland Subotic Neven 1988 FSV Mainz Germany Westberg Sam 1988 FC Issy-les-Moulineaux France Wilson Adam 1988 Guiseley AFC England Zimmerman Preston 1988 Hamburger SV Germany Acuna Sanchez Isaac 1989 Club America Mexico Adu Freddy 1989 Benfica Portugal Arguez Bryan 1989 Hertha BSC Berlin Germany Corona Sanchez Ignacio 1989 Jaguares Mexico Davies Kyle 1989 Southhampton England Divsalar Bouche Christopher Fahriborz 1989 Atlas Mexico Fennell Dominique 1989 Stuttgarter Kickers Germany Giallombardo Andrew 1989 Southhampton England Ponce Miguel 1989 Chivas San Rafael Mexico Rodriquez Jimenez Daniel 1989 Durango Mexico Torres Castillo Hector 1989 Club Real Magari Mexico Williams Daniel 1989 SC Freiburg Germany Bernardo Vincenzo 1990 Napoli Italy Cannavina Walter 1990 Correcaminos Mexico Castro Serna Marco Antonio 1990 Santos Laguna Mexico Chandler Timothy 1990 Eintracht Frankfurt Germany Culton Chris 1990 DJK-FC Ziegelhausen Peterstal Germany Darsinos Alexander 1990 AEK Athens Greece Greenberg Michael 1990 Maccabi Petah Tikva Israel Jeffrey Jared 1990 Club Brugge Belgium Loman Mario Alejandro 1990 Indios Mexico Mendoza Covarriubas Luis Angel 1990 Santos Laguna Mexico Mora Hector Enrique 1990 Soles de Ciudad Juarez Mexico Morales Alfredo 1990 Hertha BSC Berlin Germany Ramsey Marcel 1990 Rot-Weiss Ahlen Germany Rogers Scott 1990 Stuttgarter Kickers Germany Yao Devann 1990 Pisa Calcio Italy Gomez Eliezar Isaac 1991 Soles de Ciudad Juarez Mexico Navarro Zermeno Daniel Alejandro 1991 Chivas Mexico Patrick Jordan 1991 Cambridge United England Ruelas Aguilar Gustavo Adrian 1991 Santos Laguna Mexico Zahavi Alexander 1991 Sporting Portugal Techler William 1992 SFC Stern 1800 Germany Leary Drake 1994 RSC Brainois Belgium Salas Victor Hugo 1994 Soles de Ciudad Juarez Mexico
Are Quentin Westberg and Sam Westberg related? Bit of an odd coincidence if we had two YA's named Westberg playing in France. That just may be the case though.
Weren't there a couple of Californians who signed in Germany? Or was it just trials? I thought his name was Jose Gomez, not sure though. Also, whats the deal with Spiekelberg?, still waiting on a visa?
I have about another 80 or so names that probably qualify as YYAs but they are at least one of unsigned, whereabouts unknown or birth year unknown. Some of those I'll be able to sort out by the summer, others not. Of the ones mentioned above, Gomez (Brugge) is apparently not a citizen, Oscar Arguero is with Cottbus but I don't know his YOB and Spiegelberg doesn't seem to in Spain at the moment. Sam is Quentin's little brother.
Love that list. These guys are the future (cue cheezy Witney Houston song). And I for one feel that more and more youth prospects are going to go this route (see Lletget, etc.) as opposed to the MLS route. I also notice a lot more kids in Mexico than in previous lists. Did we decide that this guy: Parratt Tom 1986 Hamilton Academical Scotland wasn't really a YA. Simply a kid who lived in the US for a while.
Thanks for the reminder about Parratt. Yes, there are loads more Mexico-based players. That's largely due to the help of beineke, who tirelessly searches the Mexican federation's web site for American-born players. I don't know how much of it reflects a change or, perhaps equally likely, illustrates how far below the radar these guys have flown historically.
Who's the defender playing down in Mexico that we might be calling up for the U-23s? I love MLS and want it to continue to grow, but I also like seeing that we have that many getting paid to play all over the world. Good stuff.
To be clear, a great many of those guys are not getting paid. Even players in, say, EPL academies basically get little more than a small stipend and their living arrangements taken care of. So, being at an overseas club doesn't mean much more -- technically -- than being with a youth club in the States until they offer you a job.
Gomez is home now and I believe is playing at his local HS, and then will play for a CSL Club, Bayern BU19 team. I know Oscar was home for Christmas, but was just home for a visit. Another player to add to the list is Blake Robinson who just started training at Weder Bremen U17 Academy. I believe he is a 91.
Born in the U.S. (LA). Played so far with Portugal, largely due to his well known evil agent uncle, who has had him switching around clubs and playing for portugal with money for himself his only worry.
He's still listed on the team's roster page. If someone can confirm that he's 100% free, I will remove him.
Only a snippet but Lletget (or rather a 15 yo Californian who I assume is him) was referred to in the West Ham match programme yesterday by Tony Carr the academy director. He's recently been over to give a talk to the national soccer coaches convention in Baltimore. Anyway he says a 15 yo Californian who WH spotted through contacts out there (USA) has done very well and could be in line for a scholarship when 16, which is basically the first real steps to becoming a professional footballer, so fingers crossed that he continues to make the progress he has made to date.
Just out of curiosity, why would you list Fabian? While he does have an American father not sure he considers himself a "YA". He has played on the German youth national teams since he was 17 and is not likely to ever play for the US. Does that make him a YA? Just curious.
If a kid plays on an EPL academy team (u18) and is receiving a weekly stipend and has living arrangements set up and paid for by the club, would he be considered ineligible to play in the NCAA?
We consider anyone who is an American citizen to be a YA, regardless of national team preference. Examples of this are Rossi and Brede Hangeland.
Ok...a bit odd since he does not hold a US Passport, is a "US Citizen" in theory only (by virtue of having an American father) and has no intention of playing for the US. I thought, I guess erroneously, that YA's aborad referred to guys who were actually American who played abroad, hence my confusion. If your criteria above is what is commonly considered a YA, your list should be MUCH, MUCH longer. There are players in Germany who have at least one American parent, who play in leagues all over Germany who would qualify under that interpretation. Just go to the regional leagues' websites and get a data dump of any kid with an American parent....you will find thousands who meet your criteria.