If you say so. There are many US players playing abroad in top clubs (how about the 16-yr old kid that just played a game with the Arsenal senior team? He doesn't yet have a US passport but rumors are that could be happening). 2022 is 8 years away. I'm sure there are many players set for that squad that are not yet on many radars.
The two matches in Cape town involving Zimbabwe-Nigeria, Ghana-Libya; aren't "friendly matches". Not sure what site you got that off of. They are a second African Cup of Nations type tournament(African Nations Championship to be exact)tournament but for domestic players.
It's January 2014 not December 2014. You might not see any young US player currently playing in the US or abroad(which I will get to in a second) that will be in their prime in 2022 but there are. The number is growing more and more each year and each cycle. To name a few in the US/MLS academies that will be in their prime around that time and are known by agents and European teams that are currently trying to sign them to their academies/U-18/U-21 teams Cody Cropper- Southampton(Yet another US Goalkeeper in the pipeline) Luis Gil- Real Salt Lake(Teams in the major European leagues are after him and he has a chance depending on how he plays in friendly matches from this weekend up to May, to make the US WC team) Joe Gyau- Hoffenheim(Playing in their reserve/II team. He will need to move onto another Bundesliga team or a team elsewhere but he is a player that other European teams want for a good reason). There are a bunch more in the Mexican league but let me get to the one's with star potential. Those are the even younger ones. Emerson Hyndman - Fulham. Kyle Scott- Chelsea Marc Pelosi- Liverpool Rubio Rubin- FC Utrecht Jorge Flores- Borussia Dortmund Ethan Horvath- Molde( Yet another quality young US goalkeeper in the pipeline). Those are some that great things are expected from over the next few years. (Problem for me is I don't see many quality young US defenders in the pipeline. There are 1 or 2 that seem ok and that are about to sign with European Academies or will do so in the next year but other than that, the rest of the young ones are in MLS and are just ok imo). Regardless, my point is that the talent in the US will be there in 2022 in a greater number than it has been in past WC cycles.
I'd put it more at 5-10%. There's still a chance but it is such a small chance and it would require him and his family going through more hoops than they might feel is necessary as opposed to him just choosing to play for Germany(or Ethiopia).
My bad, actually got it off of FIFA's site. So the US match Saturday is the only relevant international friendly in February then....
I don't know much about him but Juventus just offered $1 million for a 16 year old defender from Kansas City. http://soccer.si.com/2014/01/24/sporting-kansas-city-erik-palmer-brown-juventus-bid/
I appreciate you taking the time to name those players, I'll surely keep an eye on them. Well, it's only natural for US national team to have better players 8 years from now because football is becoming more popular than ever and the youth standards have been improving, but there is no way that they will be title contenders for the 2022 World Cup, like Leroy claims. The U-20 national team finished with a draw and 2 losses in this year's WC, while the U-17 team didn't even qualify. Those aren't very encouraging results coming from the players that should be in their prime in 2022.
I completely agree with you. There's still a lot more work for the US to do and all this declaration of being title contenders by this WC year or that WC year that the US has done in the past and that England have done as well is stupid. I detest it. There are steps and levels. It won't happen overnight. Like you said as well, the US youth teams will also have to show immense improvement and tbh I think they will The U-17 setup especially is looking like a much better class than in the past two cycles. We will see how the US youth teams do in the next U-20 and U-17 WC's and the qualification process for those tournaments. Those will be very important for sure.
USA will win the next 25 World Cups starting in 2026, so eat **** and enjoy it the rest of the World.
I think it will take a tremendously long time before the US is competing for world cup championships. The reason is due to the popularity of the NFL, MLB and the NBA. Almost ALL good athletes growing up choose to play either football, baseball or basketball. The leftovers play the other sports, among them soccer. In my high school, it was literally the kids who were too weak to play the big 3 sports that played soccer. Unlike those who played the big 3 sports, the soccer guys were not cool and certainly didn't get any pull with the ladies. They were considered the weaklings who couldn't play anything else. My guess is that this plays out in most high schools across the country. Could you imagine guys like Reggie Bush, Chris Paul, Mike Trout and Wes Welker choosing to play soccer? lol nope.
Don't forget what Klinsmann has been doing in recruiting foreign nationals. Aron Jóhannsson is one of the more highly-touted American prospects and grew up in Iceland. The Germans and Mexicans he's working to recruit have also grown up with the game.
I used to buy that, but not anymore. If you're telling me Messi was gonna play running back, if that was available to him, I doubt it. When the USA lines up, I already think they're the most athletic team most of the time. It's about skills. remember early 2000s nba? All of them could jump through the roof. They could jump from the free throw, but they couldn't shoot the ball.
The USA, despite having 300+ million people, really is more like a 5 million person country when it comes to soccer since most kids don't even think about playing it in high school. Football, baseball, basketball is the focus. Messi would have been a leadoff hitter or a point guard, lol
US relying on a player from Germany? That is so wrong, but whatever its the kid's decision on who he wants to play for.
Can someone show me the place where I definitively declared that the US will be a title contender in 2022? Reading comprehension does not seem to be a strong point for some of you. Making a push towards being a title contender does not equal "we're going to win in 2022" like you guys have made it out. Not to mention, I actually said "I don't know when it's going to happen..."
