Tim Weah, son of Liberia President and former FIFA Player of the Year winner George Weah, headlines a stacked USMNT U-20 World Cup roster, which was announced by U.S. Soccer on Friday morning.
In great news for Jamaica, the 2019 Gold Cup and fans attending the USMNT’s upcoming friendly against the Reggae Boyz at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., 21-year-old Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey is reportedly finally set to make his international debut for the side after years of disputes between the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), the player and his representative, step-father Craig Butler.
The growth of soccer in the United States has been incredible over the past decade. Not only have we seen growth domestically within Major League Soccer, but just walking down the street you can pick out multiple different soccer jerseys being casually worn. It has become one of the most popular sports in the country.
Let me just preface this by saying I usually don’t give any shits about the British royal family — or any royal family, for that matter. Maybe it’s my true American patriotism shining through, shunning any and all royal titles like a proud founding father; I couldn’t care less about royal weddings and princes and princesses.
But this royal baby is different.
Watch a couple minutes of Concacaf U-17 Championship highlights and one thing is clear: There is a lot of talent in the youth ranks at some of North America and Central America.
This isn’t that surprising to anyone who follows MLS these days. Two of the biggest stars in the field are Mexico’s Efrain Alvarez and the United States’ Gianluca Busio, two 16-year-olds who are already making waves in MLS.
Richard Ledezma, an 18-year-old Phoenix native, scored his first goal since joining PSV Eindhoven on Saturday, netting in a 1-1 draw for the U-19s against NAC Breda.
Ledezma, a dual national who has represented the USMNT at youth levels but remains eligible to represent Mexico, moved to the Netherlands in December.
It’s raining sideways in Herzogenaurach on Monday evening with the temperature hovering in the low 40s. With a colossal match against Augsburg — one place above Schalke in the desperate battle to avoid the Bundesliga relegation playoff — looming the following Sunday, you could forgive Weston McKennie for being in a foul mood after traveling over 400 kilometers from Gelsenkirchen to arrive at adidas headquarters in Herzo for an evening of interviews.
Giovanni Reyna scored on a 24-yard free kick to cap a rally from two goals down as the U-17 USMNT beat Canada 3-2 to open the Concacaf U-17 Championship on Thursday in Bradenton, Florida.
Reyna, the son of former USMNT captain and current NYCFC director of operations Claudio Reyna, had a goal and an assist for the U.S. youth team as it began its quest to qualify for the U-17 World Cup to be played in Brazil later this year.
(Update April 19: Read U.S. Soccer's response at the bottom of our original story.)
The last time the USMNT played a meaningful match, it was that horrific loss to Trinidad and Tobago in October of 2017, keeping the Americans out of the 2018 World Cup. After the 2019 Gold Cup draw, the U.S. will be seeing the Soca Warriors once again in their next competitive match.
The U.S. was drawn against Trinidad and Tobago, Panama and Guyana in Group D of the 2019 Gold Cup draw on Wednesday, setting the stage for Concacaf’s biennial championship.