“The best performers set goals that are not about the outcome but about the process of reaching the outcome,” Geoff Colvin wrote in Talent is Overrated.

Many have cited Colvin’s book since its release three years ago, and many of his ideas apply to what the U.S. Soccer Federation is trying to accomplish with its youth national teams since an ideological shift a couple of years ago.

The shift to a unified playing style has not come without hiccups and there has not been much immediate success for U.S. fans to rally around. With the U20 and U23 teams failure to qualify for their respective events still fresh on the mind, cynicism is the most apparent sentiment for youth national team fans.

Yet, on a chilly Southern California night in February, the U14 Boys National Team gave the Federation, its fans, and its future players a glimpse at what can be accomplished by the national team.