CHULA VISTA, California - The U.S. U15 Boys National Team, players born in 2004, lost a pair of games on Wednesday during the midway point of the August camp in Southern California. The Youth National Team started the day with a 1-3 loss to FC Golden State (02/03) Development Academy squad. The group wrapped up the outing with a 0-3 loss to San Diego Surf (02/03) Development Academy squad.
Typically, this recap would go on to mention the standouts from the games and bring some optimism to the outlook of upcoming prospects. However, Wednesday was far from a typical Youth National Team game.
The games lacked the normal competitive edge of a National Team event. There was not much pressure on the ball for the Youth squad. The vocal energy was nonexistent throughout either game. The only time the players really talked was a debate over who was going to take a penalty kick. It felt like a tryout between random players rather than a scrimmage.
It was a strange atmosphere compared to previous camps from the U.S. Youth National Teams over the past decade. Some of the issues on the day can be attributed to a major turnover in the roster from the previous event in Croatia for the 2004 age group.
The new faces, who hoped to impress, stepped into a tough situation with a divided squad and little cohesion or identity. The purpose of these early camps is often talent identification over everything. However, it’s hard to know how much can be gleaned from an international quality standpoint from the games on Wednesday given how little the Youth National Team showed and the lack of competitiveness in either fixture.
The Academy teams played attractive soccer. They tried to knock the ball and build out from the back. It looked easy against the weak pressure for the National Team. FC Golden State destroyed the left side of the field and took advantage of the massive gap between the right back and the right center back. They also had all of the time they wanted to make a forward pass from the center of the field.
San Diego Surf broke pressure with two passes and ran down the center of the field for a number of easy chances in the first half of the win over the Youth National Team. Granted, these are players two years older than the competition - both might be in contention for playoffs spots in the competitive West Conference. However, previous Youth National Team groups have managed to be competitive in these games and show well regardless of the result. Wednesday was not a good showing. It’s difficult to report the action in any other way.
So where does the Youth National Team program go from here?
The Federation
recently lifted the hiring freeze so there will be some new minds heading into influential positions in the coming months. The hope being that the new coaches bring a new life to the teams and perhaps a look at some new players. The lone goal of the games came thanks to the play of the only non-Development Academy player on the roster, Jonathan Santillan (Boca OC).
The 2004 age group holds some significance as the birth year for the 2021 U17 World Cup squad so there is an added pressure to seek out the best players early. The reality check from the early events should help the evaluation process for the coaches and the scouting network. Wednesday’s disappointment could be a long-term blessing.