The U.S. Under-20 men's national team is headed to Holland for the FIFA World Youth Championship this week. Two boys with Texas ties hope to represent the country in the prestigious tournament being held during the month of June throughout the small European country.
Defender Hunter Freeman hails from Allen and grew up in the Dallas Classic league. Freeman, now a starter at right back in Major League Soccer with the Colorado Rapids, is no stranger to Dallas area soccer fans. He played midfielder and forward for Allen High School and was a two-time Parade All-American before heading to the University of Virginia. The seventh overall pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, Freeman credits a lot of his success to his time in the Dallas club system.
"I expect Freeman to play outside back and expect solid defending, but his best quality is what he can bring to the attack," said U.S. Under-20 men's national team head coach Sigi Schmid.
Freeman said his growth really started when he made the U.S. Under-17 men's national team and was challenged every day by playing against the best players in the nation, but playing club soccer in Dallas was a huge start towards his success. He credited always playing with and against players at the highest level in the Dallas area.
"The Dallas club coaching I received was the most necessary addition to my competition at the club level," said Freeman.
Lee Nguyen might be the biggest surprise on the U-20 squad, the only high school player to make the roster. He has shown tremendous ability to adjust to the speed of play from high school to the national level. Nguyen hails from Richardson and attended Plano East High School where he won the 2004 Gatorade Boys High School Player of the Year award.
"He has shown a knack for scoring," said Schmid. "Lee's an exciting player with good dribbling skills and quickness. He has an eye for finding gaps on opponents and penetrating. He's still learning, but he has great potential."
Nguyen credited his club coach in Dallas for being the biggest help in his career. "He helped me learn about the game at the next level and its tactical disciplines," said Nguyen.
Tactics are such an important part of the international game. When I asked coach Schmid about how Texas rates on preparing top players for the national pool, he said, "There are areas in the country that you can always find top players consistently. It seems like southern California, New Jersey, Dallas and the areas that surround it are the three most consistent areas over the last 20 years in consistently producing quality players."
As the Director of Coaching for ASG Dallas Futbol and a member of the U-20 national staff, I've gotten to see first-hand these players develop through the club system and superior competition in the Dallas area.
The U-20's are not without their MLS ties as the league continues to make its impact both locally with FC Dallas' 10-year inroad into the community and nationally as you see more than 50 percent of the current U-20 team being professional players. If you come to an FC Dallas game you can see the likes of Eddie Gaven (MetroStars), Tim Ward (MetroStars), Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew), Chad Barrett and Will John (Chicago Fire), Freddy Adu (D.C. United) and Hunter Freeman (Colorado Rapids) work their way into international stardom. That's not to mention the international players on the team such as Quentin Westberg (ESTAC Troyes - France), Jonathan Spector (Manchester United - England) and Sammy Ochoa (Tecos - Mexico). You add a little Texas salsa to the national pool and you've got yourself one of those famous down home, Dallas Mexican dinners.
