Tag: Cade Cowell

Cade Cowell could be the next USMNT player in Serie A after reported Bologna offer

Is Cowell the next American heading to Serie A?

Are you even allowed to be on the U.S. men’s national team without a move to Serie A this year?

It feels like you at least deserve a credible rumor connecting you to an Italian club, and Cade Cowell isn’t going to be left out.

The Athletic and ESPN both reported that Bologna is eyeing up the young San Jose Earthquakes winger, whose role with the USMNT seems poised to grow after this summer’s Gold Cup.

The 19-year-old has been subject to European interest for some time now, and per the reports, the Earthquakes have had talks to some degree with multiple clubs. However, a bid from Bologna has gotten far enough that San Jose has a decision to make.

Further reporting from TuttoMercatoWeb claims that Bologna’s offer is roughly €4 million, plus a percentage of a potential future transfer away from the club. The Italian outlet says that the Quakes have set an asking price of €7 million.

Cowell, Bologna may be a good fit

Bologna is said to be on the verge of losing left winger Musa Barrow, who was first choice throughout the 2022-23 season. That’s a development that manager Thiago Motta is apparently fine with, but with Riccardo Orsolini also injured, the need for Cowell or some other winger appears to be fairly urgent.

In San Jose, meanwhile, the club may already be planning for the short-term without arguably the most prominent youth player to come up through their system. Before the MLS transfer deadline, the Quakes acquired forwards Ayo Akinola and Matthew Hoppe on loan.

If Cowell does end up with Bologna or elsewhere in Italy, he’d join a growing list of more established USMNT players making the move to Serie A. Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah have both joined AC Milan this summer, while Tim Weah transferred to Juventus. Weston McKennie seemed to be heading out, only for Juve to make a U-turn, with the midfielder seeming likely to stick around after all.

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Cowell and Slonina star as USA finishes perfect U-20 World Cup group stage

The U.S. defeated Slovakia 2-0 behind goals from two San Jose Earthquakes players

The U.S. completed a perfect group stage at the U-20 World Cup, defeating Slovakia 2-0 on Friday to advance as Group B winners.

The San Jose Earthquakes provided both of the goalscorers for the USA. Cade Cowell opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a superb individual effort, while Niko Tsakiris put the game away with a goal in second-half stoppage time.

Though the U.S. controlled much of the proceedings, Gabriel Slonina was called into action on multiple occasions, and his tremendous sprawling save in the first half kept Slovakia off the board.

Slonina has not conceded a goal in three games so far at the World Cup, all of which have been wins for the U.S. As Group B winners, the U.S. will now face a third-place team on Tuesday in the round of 16.

Cowell gave Slovakia fits all game with his pace and close control, but his finishing let him down on multiple occasions. He did, however, find a telling finish in the 38th minute to give his side the lead after bypassing no fewer than four defenders.

Slonina then prevented Slovakia from scoring against the run of play with an outstanding diving stop.

Slovakia took more control as it pushed for an equalizer late in the game, but Tsakiris put the game away by showing real composure inside the box after a pass from Quinn Sullivan.

After defeating Ecuador, Fiji and Slovakia, the U.S. will get two key reinforcements for the knockout stage: Kevin Paredes and Rokas Pukštas will join up ahead of the last 16 after their club sides agreed to release them if the U.S. advanced past the group stage.

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USYNT makes hard work out of Fiji in second U-20 World Cup win

Better late than never, right?

The U.S. U-20 national team is proving that late is better than never.

The United States notched a second straight U-20 World Cup win, but were held for over an hour by group minnows Fiji before eventually running out 3-0 victors.

Thanks to Jonathan Gómez thundering home a stoppage-time winner, the U.S. opened their group stage slate with a dramatic 1-0 win over Ecuador. It wasn’t quite that late against Fiji, but what seemed to be the least-challenging game in the group turned into a tall task thanks to some wayward finishing and Fiji goalkeeper Aydin Ashaz Mustahib’s saves.

The U.S. peppered his goal with 31 shots, but despite them camping out in and around the Fiji penalty area, the game was still scoreless after 65 minutes.

Mikey Varas’ side kept plugging away though, and Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna produced an opportunistic breakthrough in traffic.

The floodgates were open, but the goal rush didn’t arrive until the game’s final moments, and it took something special. Cade Cowell decided to see if he could match Gómez on the highlight reel, unleashing a vicious, bending shot from 20 yards in the 88th minute.

Underlining this team’s apparent penchant for scoring very late, Caleb Wiley — like Luna, a substitute on the day — popped up nine minutes into second-half stoppage time to tap home a third after Brandan Craig’s free kick bounced off the post.

While the win doesn’t guarantee the U.S. first place in Group B just yet, it does mean they have a place somewhere in the round of 16. The U.S. will face Slovakia in their group finale on May 26, and will claim the top spot with a draw or win.

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The next Balogun? Here are the dual nationals the USMNT will target now

Securing the striker was a huge win, but there’s still plenty of work to do for U.S. Soccer

Folarin Balogun’s commitment was the latest, and perhaps biggest victory in a recent string of major recruitment wins for the U.S. men’s national team.

Ricardo Pepi, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson, Jesús Ferreira and Sergiño Dest all committed in the last few years, and the latter four started against the Netherlands in the World Cup knockout round.

More recently, Alex Zendejas committed to the U.S. over Mexico and Brandon Vazquez said he was all in for the USMNT — though he’s technically still able to represent Mexico for now.

Even after a major win like Balogun, there is still plenty of work to be done at U.S. Soccer. There is a seemingly never-ending supply of promising dual nationals who could help the USMNT, either now or in the future.

Here are a few of the more pressing names that U.S. Soccer will be focused on after securing Balogun. The players are listed alongside the non-American countries for which they are eligible.

The top young USMNT players and prospects in 2023

The stars of today and tomorrow are ready to lead the USMNT to a bright future

The U.S. men’s national team should have a bright future ahead.

With one of the youngest teams at the World Cup, the USMNT got out of its group and qualified for the last 16 in Qatar — a substantial achievement after missing the 2018 tournament entirely.

Now the focus shifts to the main event: the 2026 World Cup on home soil.

Several of the 2022 roster’s best young players should be back and right in their prime in 2026, and they should be joined by a host of younger players just starting to make their way in the game now.

Below are some of the USMNT’s best young players. For the purposes of this list, the player must be born in 2003 or later.

USMNT prospects: Aaronson breaking through in MLS, Fletcher scoring in USL

While Brenden Aaronson is turning heads in the Premier League, his younger brother, Paxten, is breaking through in MLS

U.S. fans are understandably abuzz projecting the 2022 World Cup roster and debating the best hypothetical XI for Qatar. But there are reasons beyond the upcoming World Cup to get excited about the USMNT’s future.

After the World Cup, the U.S. will compete in the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, followed by the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.

The 2022 World Cup is — of course — the most notable tournament, and it’s on deck first. But we can’t help but look ahead to the next generation, so we’ve started a series tracking USMNT prospects to watch.

Here’s our first installment of sporadic check-ins with some of American soccer’s up-and-coming prospects for 2023 and beyond.