I'm pretty sure if you listen to Sepp's speeches all over the world, his total number of places he allocates to each region in a 32 team tournament would add up to close to 40.
Sam Strong (Central Defender)
A member of the Cal South ODP program, Strong earned all-tournament team praise after helping the 96 squad capture its regional championship in 2011 and the 95 squad to the same crown in 2012. Twice named captain of his ODP sides, Strong is a member of the Real So Cal Academy club.
"Sam is a young player we feel has some exceptional qualities for a central defender. He can win footraces with his speed – even against the fastest and quickest of forwards," Holocher said. "He's also very physically strong and tough and plays with a never-say-die mentality. Sam is a bit of an old-school defender in this respect and that is a true compliment to him. He competes and wants to win at everything he does. He's playing under some excellent coaches with Real So Cal Academy and our goal is to continue to develop his complete game so he can lead and excel in all phases."
Titans Bastard said:I've never heard of Sam Strong, who is a kid who will be playing his freshman year at UCSB this fall. There must be a coach out there that recommended him to Herzog, because USSF staff almost never uncover completely unknown players. The amateurs called up at the U20 and U23 levels are almost always players with a U17 or U18 history and/or have risen to prominence at a big NCAA program.
USA: 1-Cody Cropper; 20-Oscar Sorto (3-Boyd Okwuonu, 68), 5-Walker Zimmerman (6-Christian Dean, 46), 4-Shane O’Neill, 7-Dillon Serna (2-Juan Pablo Ocegueda, 81); 14-Fatai Alashe, 13-Alejandro Guido (17-Jose Villareal, 24; 16-Daniel Metzger, 40), 8-Benji Joya, 10-Luis Gil (capt.); 9-Jordan Morris, 18-Mario Rodriguez (11-Alonso Hernandez, 72)
Subs Not Used: 12-Jon Kempin, 15-Alfred Koroma Shams, 19-Sam Strong
Head coach: Andreas Herzog
So, a question: Why Morris, who wasn’t even on a list of the top 100 American soccer players as of July 2014?
Part of the answer is fortuitous circumstance. Before the World Cup, the Americans trained at Stanford and played the Cardinal during a closed-door scrimmage. Morris impressed Klinsmann with his ability to read the game and his one-on-one skill.
The second part is that Klinsmann and tactician-in-chief Berti Vogts are obsessed with speed. (See: Yedlin, DeAndre.) And Morris, who says he ran a 4.5-second 40 the last time he was clocked, has impressive pace. Against both Mexican teams, he shuttled down either flank, outrunning defenders to long balls over the top. While Klinsmann wants the U.S. team to play a possession game, that’s been slow progress and the team’s defenders still resort to long clearances when pressed. Having a speedster at the tip of the formation doubles as both a release valve against opposing pressure and a key to unlock opposing back lines. You don’t have to squint to picture Morris streaking through two center backs to get on the end of a chip from Michael Bradley. He still needs to adjust to the speed of thought in the international game, and Morris says he’s working on it, but he possesses the straight-up point-to-point burst to succeed.
The third part is philosophical. Klinsmann won’t get fired for bringing Morris into camp and giving the kid a shot. While doing so might anger a few more-experienced players who think they deserve a chance, it’s not like Klinsmann chose Morris over Lionel Messi. If the 20-year-old from Stanford fails miserably, it would be easy enough to put it in the “good job, good effort” category and move on. If he happens to make a smart run, get a lucky bounce, find the ball at his feet, and finish sweetly, well, then someone who’s too young to win the Budweiser Man of the Match scores the opener against Mexico and Klinsmann looks like a genius. The coach wins because he can’t lose.
bosox4283 said:Why didn't Junior Flores make the roster? I would have assumed he would have easily secured a place on the roster given that he's at Dortmund.
bosox4283 said:Thanks, Titans Bastard, for your response, and, really, for all that you write. It's awesome -- I really eat it up. I suppose that, as a American fan of the sport, I'm always excited when American players land at spots like Dortmund and Atletico (especially Atletico). But, as you write, the name on the kit does not tell the full story.
I took a look at Boxi Yomba's Twitter -- it seems, too, that he may have struggled to adapt to life in Spain. It makes sense -- he's just a kid -- but I read his Twitter hoping to see more positive news, but it wasn't that inspiring nor that exciting.
sachmoney said:I think that adding Zelalem to the team is a no brainer, but he hasn't really been pushing into the first team at Arsenal. He's obviously still young. Following the youth/reserve teams is a lot tougher now that Young Guns is dead, but I heard he hasn't looked that great for the reserves. I'm happy to have a hopefully future Arsenal player coming through the USMNT system though.
Titans Bastard said:The U-20s played their first tuneup match last night, beating Australia 2-1. Goals from Sonora and Tall. Zelalem made his US debut off the bench.
Titans Bastard said:USA up 1-0 early on a Bradford Jamieson IV goal, put in off the rebound when Cameron Carter-Vickers' header went off the crossbar.
soxfan121 said:
Second assist went to Rupert Glaucus-Worthington VI.
dirtynine said:Staying up until 5 to watch the U-20s. Much respect, TB!
Looked good with the ball at his feet.BoredViewer said:It's New Zealand and all - but for those that couldn't stay up to watch... it's nice to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVX2tP1jWwY