Tag: USYNT

U.S. youth star Figueroa, 17, signs first pro contract with Liverpool

The teenager is one of the most promising strikers in Liverpool’s academy

U.S. youth international Keyrol Figueroa has signed his first professional contract with Liverpool, the Premier League club has announced.

Figueroa joined Liverpool at the U-14 level, and has marked himself as one of the club’s most promising forward prospects with his displays in its academy.

The 17-year-old is the son of former Premier League defender Maynor Figueroa, who is the all-time leader in caps for Honduras with 181.

But the ex-Wigan defender’s son opted to represent the United States at the international level, a choice he explained last year during the Concacaf U-17 Championship.

“I was questioning which team I was going to represent,” he said. “But what made me pick the U.S. is the fact that all my family are spread across the U.S. I think every little person represents me. So I thought the U.S. was a perfect choice.”

Figueroa was born in Honduras but moved to England at a young age when his father transferred to Wigan.

Figueroa has missed a good portion of the current season due to injury and international duty, but recently returned with a goal for Liverpool’s U-18 side.

Overall, the striker has three goals and two assists in nine appearances for the U-18 side this season, as he looks to move up to the U-21 side for next season.

Figueroa appeared in all four games for the U.S. at the U-17 World Cup in November, scoring once as his side was knocked out by Germany in the round of 16.

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Mitrovic named U.S. U-23 men’s head coach ahead of 2024 Olympics

U.S. Soccer has its men’s coach for the Paris Olympics

U.S. Soccer has promoted two youth national team head coaches on the men’s side of the program.

Marko Mitrović was on Wednesday named the Under-23 head coach, with the 45-year-old taking charge ahead of the team’s preparations for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Additionally, Michael Nsien has been named the new head coach for the Under-19 men’s national team.

The first camp of Mitrović’s tenure will be held during the October international window.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have Marko and Michael continue to be an important part of our men’s program as both of these teams serve as crucial steps in the National Team pathway,” said U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker in a press release. “During his time with the Under-19s, Marko was instrumental in guiding our rising talents.

“We’re looking forward to him now leading our Under-23 men’s youth national team as this age group provides these players with an incredible opportunity to continue their development by facing elite opposition on the world stage and competing for an Olympic world title. We’re also confident that Michael is ready to lead our U-19 age group, a critical level for our young players aiming to take the next step in their careers for club and country.”

Mitrović to lead U.S. men’s Olympic team in 2024

Mitrović joined U.S. Soccer in April 2022, taking charge of the U-19 team. He also worked as an assistant coach for the senior team under interim head coaches Anthony Hudson and B.J. Callaghan.

“It’s been an honor working for U.S. Soccer and I’m tremendously proud of the opportunity to lead the USA at the Olympics,” said Mitrović. “I’ve gotten to see first-hand the high-potential players rising through our development system and I’m excited for them to represent their country proudly on such an important stage.”

Previously, Mitrović has worked as an assistant coach for Serbia’s U-20 team, the U-15s at Red Star Belgrade, before arriving in the U.S. as a member of Veljko Paunovic’s staff with the Chicago Fire. Mitrović stuck with Paunovic when the latter was hired by Reading in the English Championship, returning stateside to accept the U-19 men’s post last year.

Nsien, who was an interim assistant under Callaghan during the USMNT’s Gold Cup run this past summer, was hired in November 2022 as the U-16 boys’ head coach. The Oklahoma native spent four years as the head coach of FC Tulsa in the USL Championship, leading the team to playoff appearances in 2020 and 2021.

Nsien’s duties as head coach of the U-19 team will coincide with a role as the head coach of the U.S. men’s team for the PanAmerican Games, which will take place from October 27-November 4 in Chile. The team for the PanAmerican Games must be selected from players born on or after January 1, 2001.

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U.S. U-17 goalkeeper Diego Kochen makes Barcelona Champions League squad

A USYNT player to watch made Barça’s Champions League roster

U.S. youth national team goalkeeper Diego Kochen is one to watch.

Just ask Barcelona, who included the 17-year-old in its 27-player squad for the upcoming Champions League group stage.

The Miami native, who is a dual national eligible for the U.S. and Peru, is one of eight players who are currently playing for either Barcelona’s “B” team Barça Atlètic or the club’s U-19 squad.

Kochen has been in the mix for the first team this season. Kochen has been in uniform for each of Barça’s last three league matches, though due to availability and registration issues, he has not been the only back-up goalkeeper on the bench for any of those matches.

That said, with Barcelona finally able to register Iñaki Peña — Marc-André ter Stegen’s projected back-up this season — Kochen still dressed for Sunday’s 2-1 win at Osasuna. That builds on a good end to the season for Kochen, who trained with Barcelona’s first team last May.

Barça still pulling levers is good news for Kochen

Despite being home to La Masia, long lauded as one of world soccer’s most productive academies, Barcelona is having to get creative to put together its Champions League squad.

UEFA allows Champions League participants to include up to 25 players on “List A,” which is what most people would think of as the team’s actual roster for the tournament. Of that group, eight must meet requirements to be listed as “locally trained,” of whom four must have spent at least three seasons between the ages of 15-21 at the club.

Barça’s problem is that they can’t meet that requirement, and UEFA’s punishment is to reduce the number of spots a team has on List A as a result. As such, Barcelona submitted a List A with just 19 players, with the rest on List B.

Here is the full description from UEFA on what makes a player eligible to be included on a squad list as part of List B:

A player may be registered on List B if he is born on or after 1 January 2002 and since his 15th birthday has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year. Players aged 16 may be registered on List B if they have been registered with the participating club for the previous two years without interruption.

Kochen, who made his move to Barcelona’s youth system in July 2019, is thus eligible for inclusion.

All of which is to say that while Barça still has a long way to go to get its house in working order financially, and that its apparent win-now mentality has restricted openings for youth players, Kochen is still managing to find a way to get reps with the first team in training, and be in uniform on matchdays.

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U.S. U-17 goalkeeper Diego Kochen trains with Barcelona first team

The shot-stopper reached the milestone just two months after turning 17

Diego Kochen’s impressive rise at Barcelona is showing no sign of slowing down.

The U.S. U-17 star trained with the Liga club’s senior team for the first time this week, another milestone for one of American soccer’s best goalkeeping prospects.

Kochen, who only turned 17 in March, joined Barcelona in 2019 and has been steadily climbing the ranks in the club’s La Masia academy. He currently plays for Barcelona’s Juvenil B team, part of the U-19 setup.

The goalkeeper has occasionally trained with reserve team Barcelona B before this week’s milestone, which he acknowledged with an understated post on Instagram that simply said: “Grateful for this experience.”

Video from the training session would later emerge showing Kochen beginning a passing move that concluded with Robert Lewandowski putting the ball in the back of the net.

The goalkeeper is one of two 17-year-old Americans in Barcelona’s youth ranks, with his fellow U.S. U-17 international Adrian Gill featuring as a midfielder in La Masia.

Kochen was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year, having played in five of the U.S. U-17 side’s eight games on the year.

Despite representing the U.S. at the youth international level, the Miami-born goalkeeper is still eligible for Venezuela through his father and Peru through his mother.

Media in Peru also took notice of Kochen’s first-team training session, with Líbero saying the teenager “rubbed shoulders with Lewandowski!”

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Source: Louisville City defender Josh Wynder set for Benfica transfer

The 17-year-old has become one of the best prospects in the American pipeline

Louisville City defender Josh Wynder is closing in on a move to Portuguese giant Benfica, a source tells Pro Soccer Wire.

The fee for the 17-year-old is expected to be somewhere between $1.3 million and $1.5 million, which would be a USL record.

The move could be completed as soon as this weekend, with Wynder able to move to Europe when he turns 18 on May 2.

Wynder started 21 games for Louisville City in the USL Championship last year, while also making five appearances for the United States U-19s. The center back’s exploits in 2022 earned him a nomination for U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year.

There was plenty of interest across Europe for the 6-foot-3 defender, considered one of the best American prospects at any position. Benfica has beaten out Monaco and Red Bull Salzburg, among other European clubs.

The move sees yet another American sign with a top European club, but this one is unique in that Wynder is coming not from MLS but the second division. It is another seminal moment for the USL as they continue to forge a developmental pyramid independent of the top domestic league in the United States, offering young players another way to not just earn professional minutes but eventually make a high-profile move overseas.

Last summer, Kobi Henry broke the USL transfer record when he joined Ligue 1 side Reims from Orange County SC for a reported $700,000.

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U.S. Under-17s reach World Cup with wild win at Guatemala

Keyrol Figueroa scored a pair to take the lead for most goals at the CONCACAF U-17 Championship

The United States has reached the U-17 World Cup after a wild 5-3 win against a Guatemala side boosted by a vociferous home crowd.

Tuesday night’s CONCACAF U-17 Championship quarterfinal was for a berth at the U-17 World Cup, and both teams were up for the game in front of 11,275 fans at Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores.

The USYNT took an early 2-0 lead before Guatemala pulled a goal back just before the half. The game really kicked into overdrive, though, at the beginning of the second half as three goals were scored in a span of three minutes.

The first was the pick of the night as defender Aiden Harangi struck it pure from 25 yards out, going low into the far corner to give the U.S. a 3-1 lead.

Two minutes later, Guatemala pulled one back to make it 3-2, before the U.S. would hit back a minute after that. Keyrol Figueroa scored his second of the night, as the Liverpool striker became the co-leading scorer at the tournament with his sixth goal.

The U.S. wouldn’t be able to coast from there, however, as Guatemala made it 4-3 in the 74th minute to spark a huge response from a home crowd looking to lift their side to an equalizer. Those fans were quieted in the 83rd minute, though, when Taha Habroune scored to make it 5-3 and finally put the game away.

With the win, the U.S. advanced to the semifinals on Friday, where it will take on the winner of Thursday’s Canada-Puerto Rico match.

The win also saw the U.S. qualify for the U-17 World Cup for the 18th time, the most of any country. Peru will host the event, which will take place in November and December of this year.

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