US U-18 Men At Pan American Games...

I totally forgot about the Pan American Games in between all of the, Gold Cup, Copa America, U-20 and U-17 World Cup banter. Fortunately for my wife these games aren't on television. The US U-18 men's national team is currently competing in Brazil against soccer teams from the rest of the Americas. In their first match they defeated Venezuela, 2-1. Bolivia and Mexico round out Group A and the US will face them in the coming days.

The U-18 team is always an interesting one because the U-17 and U-20 get all of the hype. However, here we are with a U-18 playing Mexico, Venezuela and possibly Brazil and Argentina down the road. What great experience for these kids. Many of the kids on the roster are top college prospects as well. Let's take a look at the roster.

Kevin Alston - D - Indiana University
Jalil Anibaba - M - Santa Clara
Danny Barrera - M - Rampage FC
Shawn Barry - F - Boca Juniors
Danny Cruz - F - Sereno '89 White
TJ Cyrus - M - Norfolk Academy
Greg Eckhardt - D - Clemson University
Greg Folk - D - UCLA
Omar Gonzalez - F - University of Maryland
Warren Gross - GK - Penn State
Jeremy Hall - M - University of Maryland
Dan Kelly - M/F - Indiana University
Kevin Klasila - GK - Santa Clara University
Marosevic Peri - F - University of Michigan
Stephen McCarthy - M - Santa Clara University
Chance Meyers - D - UCLA
Michael Stephens - M - UCLA

This team has talent. There are All-Americans. There are ESP All*Stars. There are U-17 stars. Don't let the fact that no one talks about them fool you. Some of these kids will end up in MLS and other professional leagues.