The midway point of the year’s final U14 Boys National Team camp saw a pair of spirited scrimmages against Southern California club teams (both more entertaining than Monday’s games) and a reminder of the strengths and weakness in this 1994 birth year squad.

Grit, heart and technical ability are in fairly long supply with this version of Manny Schellscheidt’s squad. Flair and creativity: not so much. Any good team at any level needs a few players who can really make something out of nothing in the attacking third and this group doesn’t seem to have it.

Not to say the team didn’t compete well. A 2-1 win over FC Barcelona and a 1-1 draw with Arsenal FC (with both teams including U15 age group players) are good results,  but at the highest level you hope to see some real standouts and Wednesday night’s highlights had more to do with group, collective and structure.

check our video area in coming days to see match footage and player and coach interviews from Wednesday night.

Match 1: U14 BNT 2, U15 FC Barcelona 1

The match nearly started off with a bang as Barca’s Jordan Mandelbaum made an attacking run from his left back spot and got into the 6-yard box, but the USA’s Sebastian Velasquez raced back and made an emergency clearance to keep the match scoreless. Barca’s Scott Cohen then played a pass to Nate Schnitman, who hit a shot off the post.

Barca wouldn’t have to wait any longer for a goal however as Eric Verso played a good ball into Cohen, who did well in his 1v1 situation to score and make it 1-0. Cohen has excellent quickness and more than a little attacking flair of his own.

The U.S. got some offense going in the 20^th minute when Alejandro Guido fed Aldo Magano with a good ball, but the shot was saved by FCB goalkeeper Omar Zeenni.

Magano continued to be active but could not dribble past Zeeni when he was gifted possession in the 6-yard box. Magano, who plays club soccer for Xtreme Italia here in Southern California, provided a moment of magic with a well-taken free kick, which he sent to the back of the net from 25 yards to tie the score shortly before halftime.

In the 2^nd half, the U .S. was getting good central midfield play from Collin Martin, who again showed quality in holding the ball and spraying it around to teammates despite his relatively diminutive stature. One such pass fed Magano down the right wing and the forward’s whipped cross looked dangerous until FCB’s Joe Kearney stepped up with an effective defensive header. USA forward Devin Devoy hit the post a bit later as his team continued to press forward.

On the other end, Kearney made a good run down the wing and played a pass to Juan Mendoza, whose subsequent setup for Andrew Trejo-Flores was met with a strike that went over the bar. Then the U.S. struck for the winner. Sebastian Velasquez hit a cross into the area and as Jerome Cristobal prepared to head it, the Vardar SC player was upended, prompting the awarding of a penalty by the referee. Victor Zamora took the spot kick and calmly converted providing the margin of victory for the U.S. team.

Match 1 Lineup

U14 BNT

GK: Josh McNeely

D: Andrew Chang, Malcolm Harris, Jalen Robinson, Todd Wharton

M: Sebastian Velasquez, Alejandro Guido, Collin Martin, Joel Salmeron

F: Aldo Magana, Esteban Rodriguez

Subs: Devin Devoy, Yaw Amankwa, Jerome Cristobal, Victor Zamora,

U15 FC Barcelona

GK: Omar Zeenni

D: Joe Kearney, Luis Garcia-Murillo, Jordan Mandelbaum

M: Nathaniel Schnitmann, Eric Verso, Angel Sanchez, Scott Cohen, Carlos Gonzales

F: Juan Mendoza, Adnrew Trejo-Flores

Subs: Kevin Ramirez, Brin Blumenfeld, Sina Etemadian, Eduardo Martin, Jacob Arevalo

 

 

Match 2: U14 BNT 1, U15 Arsenal FC 1

Arsenal carried the play early in this game, and big forward Keegan Smith would have scored an opener for the Californians if not for Fernando Pina’s alert save for the U.S. Play evened out somewhat as the half carried on, but Raul Mendiola scored a poacher’s goal for Arsenal, knocking in a rebound after a hard shot from Dennis Flores was parried by Pina.

Early in the 2^nd half, the U.S. bagged an opportunistic goal when Desmond Gonzales intercepted a pass and hit a cross for Erick Sanchez, who slotted home to make it 1-1.

The U.S. saw more of the ball in the 2^nd half, and defenders Bennett Yort, Josh Miller, Matthew Dunn and Alfred Edmonds were quite instrumental in pushing the ball upfield and controlling possession for their side. Erick Sanchez had a chance for the U.S. with a good turn and shot, and Keegan Smith made a very impressive upfield run on the counterattack, but the match ended all square.

The U.S. plays 2 more matches on Friday evening here.

Match 2 Lineups

U14 BNT

GK: Fernando Pina

D: Alfred Edmonds, Josh Miller, Matthew Dunn, Bennett Yort

M: Derek Sanchez, Atsouh Ayah, Erick Sanchez, Oscar Ortega, Eric Gonzalez

F: Desmond Gonzales, Erick Sanchez

Subs: Alex Olofson, Alex Bello

U15 Arsenal FC

GK:Rafa Ocampo

D: Juan Chavez, Mykal Riley, Raymond Quezada, Andy Lara

M: Jonny Cameron, Ricardo Hernandez, Dennis Flores, Alex Berger

F: Raul Mendiola, Keegan Smith

Subs: Nico Camacho, Cameron Suori,