(Pictured Above: U.S. Women’s Youth National Team standout and Class of 2024 Texas Longhorns recruit Amalaia Villarreal)
In soccer, new opportunities for success aren’t always a given. So when they do arise players are advised from the earliest of ages to seize them. That mentality can certainly also be applied to matters off of the field. For both the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Youth National Team programs, opportunity awaits them in the form of this year’s Pan American Games, slated to start on October 22 in Santiago, Chile.
Last week, U.S. Soccer announced their rosters for the men’s and women’s teams that will be participating. While most roster announcements come with a flurry of opinion and viewpoints from across the soccer spectrum, these two announcements were met with a different sort of reaction: one of surprise. The surprise wasn’t necessarily over one player being picked over another, but more one of that many followers didn’t know the United States would be participating in soccer in this year’s Games.
It’s certainly understandable why American supporters might not have known that the USWYNT and USMYNT would be participating in their respective events, as it has been quite some time since they’ve been involved. Both the men’s and women’s teams will be making their first appearances since 2007. Both sides qualified having won their respective CONCACAF Championships (the men through the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship and the women from the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship).
The Pan American Games come at an interesting time for both programs. Identifying core issues can be a challenge given the difference in expectations (that comes with the women’s program having won multiple World Cups and Olympics, while the men’s program are still searching for their first in either competition) but there does seem to be a desire to find more competitions for their vast player pools to participate in. Results at the youth level for both programs as of late have also been a bit spotty, to say the least. The U-17 women’s team lost out to Nigeria at last year’s World Cup. Seven of the players from that U-17 Women’s World Cup roster will be competing in the Pan American games.
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The men haven’t fared much better at the youth level, with the U-20s also dropping out in the Quarterfinals at this year’s U-20 World Cup to Uruguay. That results at the senior level have also been lackluster certainly does not help.
The immediate response to these uneven results seems to be tapping more into the depth of the player pool across all age divisions, but in particular with the youth teams. Therein comes the benefit of playing in the Pan American Games, to give players a higher level of competition (the women’s teams in the tournament are typically the senior national teams, while the men’s are a mix of youth players and players from their top senior club teams) while also providing U.S. Soccer coaches the opportunity to train and develop players as they progress through the pipeline.
The opportunity to make an impact does seem to be there for both teams as the men’s and women’s teams will be featuring players from across the youth system. For the men, the team is comprised of players from the 2002-2005 age groups including Homegrown Players Brooklyn Raines, who at the age of 18 has already made 8 appearances in the defense for the Houston Dynamo. It’s also an opportunity for players currently playing abroad like Rodrigo Neri, who scored 17 goals in his first season with Athletico Madrid’s U-17 team.
For the women’s team, players will be coming from the under-19 team and will likely be facing stiff competition from opponents bringing their senior national team players. Providing that high level of challenge could perhaps be just what the program needs, giving players the chance to playing against older competition that has more experience. Amalaia Villarreal, who plays for both Solar SC in the ECNL and Michigan Jaguars in the Girls Academy, and Grace Restovich, an ECNL All-American midfielder for St. Louis Scott Gallagher, head an impressive attacking group that should hold their own in Group B against Costa Rica, Argentina, and Venezuela.
A strong showing in the Pan-American Games could lead to more opportunities for the players. For the USMYNT, the 2024 CONCACAF U20 Championships, and the 2024 Olympic Games are both coming up in the next year and for many players on the roster this might be their best chance to impress. The same could also be said for the USWYNT, who will be looking for a spot in the FIFA U-20 World Cup roster. Of course, both rosters will be looking to put their name in the hat for the senior roster as well.
Can these teams medal at the Pan-American Games? The possibility is there but there will be challenges. For the women’s team, it depends upon how they react to the challenge of playing against more experienced players. The last time they played in the Games, a U-20 roster made up of Kelley O’Hara, Alyssa Naeher and Tobin Heath made it to the Gold Medal game, falling just short 2-1 against the senior Canadian team. This roster has a high level of talent, but it is really down to how they can cope with the expectations that come with their history.
As for the men’s team, success may be a bit trickier. As opposed to the women’s team, it is a roster that doesn’t have quite the cohesion and chemistry which may make for some tough games early on. Starting with Brazil, who take this competition seriously, is not exactly the best way to break into Group B. They will need to grow and develop on the fly particularly against their other two Group B competitors Honduras and Colombia. It wouldn’t be the first time that the U.S. men’s team has earned a medal in the competition-they previously won it in 1999 and in their last endeavor in 2007 finished second. But making it out of a strong group has to be the primary objective before they can dream bigger.
