The Elite Academy League recently took two teams of Talent-ID players in the 2009 and 2010 age groups to the MIC Cup in Barcelona, Spain – a prestigious international youth tournament – and held its own. 

The MIC Cup occurs annually and includes some of the world’s most famous youth academies like FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Juventus, and AC Milan. There is an impressive collection of pros who once competed at the tournament, such as Lionel Messi, Neymar, Juan Mata, Casemiro, Gavi, and Marcus Rashford.

The EA selected what served as an all-star roster of the best U13 and U14 players in the league. The Talent-ID program allowed coaches from all EA teams to nominate players for the event before a final group was evaluated and chosen for the week-and-half-long trip to Barcelona.

Scoring a goal or two in the tournament would have been an impressive accomplishment considering the team had little training and was coming up against organized academies. For both teams to get out of the group stage speaks to the quality of the players and the coaching staff. That staff was Eddie Henderson, Chris Mahaffey, Dave Carver, Noah Gins, and Carlos Castellanos, operating in various roles, from coaching the teams to organizing travel and serving as a representative.

The 2010 group reached the Quarter Finals before losing to Juventus in a heartbreaking penalty shootout. The coaching staff left Barcelona more than satisfied with the team's accomplishments. 

“Overall, we felt the team performed well, and they exceeded the expectations we had going into the tournament. Would we have been pleased to get to the semis or finals? Absolutely, nevertheless, we were pleased with where we finished and thought it was a good showing for such a high-level event with very little preparation.”

The 2010s finished the tournament with three wins, two losses, and 12 goals scored to one conceded. Alejandro Garcia, John Aye, Owen Cruz, Ezra Mahteme, and Dinari Beasley received recognition for their exceptional performances at one point or the other. 

The 2009 team also performed well in their own right, losing 2-0 to Barcelona in the round-of-16. That Barcelona team later reached the final before losing to Atletico Madrid in penalties, highlighting the level the 09 boys came up against. 

Reflecting on the event, the coaching staff concluded, “This was a fantastic experience for our players both on and off the field. They experienced a cultural dose of European soccer, developed life skills with each other, and put in some outstanding performances. With the FC Barcelona match, our boys were challenged to compete with some of the top U14 players in the world.”

Aaron Rodriguez, Carlos Perez, Jesous Mendoza, Griffien Giel, Ryon Griego, and Jonah Goldsmith had outstanding performances at different points through a tournament that saw the team finish 2-2 with 12 scored and three allowed. 

With the boys returning home and back to their base clubs, it’ll be interesting to see who gets identified next time around and who can take the steps toward a USYNT camp and other elite opportunities.

2010 roster: 

Emerson Altman (BC United), Liam Omunneke (BC United), Xavi Arce (Atlanta Fire), Beckham Mahaffey (Atlanta Fire), Ashton Oudom (Atlanta Fire), John Aye (United FC), Dinari Beasley (United FC), Michael Behringer (Indy Premier), Axel Sanich (Indy Premier), Collin Tefft (Indy Premier), Ioto Todoroki (Indy Premier), Oscar Chavez (Aspire FC), Owen Cruz (Aspire FC), Alejandro Garcia (All-In FC), Dario Maldonado (All-In FC), and Ezra Mahteme (AFC). 

2009 roSter:

Tommy Bobay (Indy Premier), Oliver Cagle (Washington East), Guy Cohen (BC United), Pierce Willbanks (BC United), Evan Cypers (B-Elite), Dominik Fedotov (B-Elite), Gavin Czerwieski (Dallas Surf), Alexander Garcia (AFC), Jonah Goldsmith (AFC), Ryon Griego (AFC), Griffien Giel (Tonka Fusion), Andres Martinez (Aspire FC), Carlos Perez (Aspire FC), Jesous Mendoza (1974 Newark), and Aaron Rodriguez (Arkansas Comets).

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