ones that follow in the footsteps of Donovan, Beasley, Convey, Johnson, Onyewu and Spector -- that is surprising.
Do not get me wrong. I know very well that we're talking about 16- and 17-year olds here. Skills develop, bodies change and maturation occurs. There will likely be benchwarmers from this current squad that will make it to MLS over a player who started in all three or four matches down in Peru.
There just doesn't seem to be a lot of future national teamers on Hackworth's roster the way there was on Ellinger's teams in '99, '01 and '03.
The brightest future of the bunch likely belongs to Real Salt Lake defensive midfielder Nikolas Besagno, who was unavailable for both the Ivory Coast and Holland matches after getting injured against Italy last week. Still only 16, the hard-tackling top pick of last year's SuperDraft seemingly has a long career as a professional ahead of him. He needs some seasoning and more time on the ball, but he already has the type of frame (6-foot-1, 175 pounds) and hard-nosed mentality it takes to succeed at the next level. Had the U.S. backline had him in the mix against the Dutch, things might have gone a little better, especially after right back Kevin Alston broke his leg just 13 minutes into the game. (How was that NOT a red card, by the way?)
After Besagno, it's a bit of a crapshoot. Even though Quavas Kirk is already a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy, he definitely isn't the next player worth mentioning. He's still too raw, too uncomfortable with the ball and in search of a better touch to look at as a legit prospect.
Preston Zimmerman, an exciting striker out of the state of Washington, will be interesting to follow over the next few years. A lot of the top young strikers around the country -- both in and out of residency -- like to prance around the field and only spring into action when the ball is at their feet. That's hardly the case for Zimmerman, who never stops working whether his team has possession or the ball is being bandied about by the opposing defenders. He'll fit in perfectly at Duke, where he'll be able to play up top alongside a tremendous freshman striker by the name of Michael Grella, who is a bigger prospect than any player on the U-17s.
The list of true "players to watch" candidates starts to get a little thin after that.
"When I watch them, I see a lot of good college players, but not a lot of pros," said one insider. "It's a more athletic team than we've seen in the past. Just not as strong overall talent-wise."
Sources have said that midfielder Kyle Nakazawa might be declaring for the draft later this fall or signing with a league outside of the U.S. He has game, no doubt about it, but his entry into the professional ranks would be more as a developmental player for the next two years than as one that would make an impact right away. Nakazawa is one of the three or four guys to keep the closest eye on going forward, though, as his technical ability is superior to others on the U-17s and his knack for bending free kicks around walls is similar to that of Guillermo Gonzalez when he was running the show for Ellinger's team in '03.
No one wanted to see these kids ousted in Peru, and everyone in soccer in the U.S. hopes the best for this group as they move forward. It just needs to be said that the extraordinary talent base from six years ago, four years ago, and two years ago has dropped off at the U-17 level.
Time will only tell whether we were looking at the next Donovan, Beasley or Gooch during this tournament. But from where I'm sitting this morning, it's certainly doesn't seem likely.
Marc Connolly writes for several publications. This column runs each Tuesday on MLSnet.com and Marc can be reached at marc@oakwoodsoccer.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
