The Sounders FC Academy U-14 squad returned to Seattle on Monday after claiming fourth place in the prestigious Cayman Airways Invitational Youth Football Cup. After dominating the group stage—Seattle was the first team in the tournament to advance—the Rave Green were unable to hold onto a first half lead against the U-15 Cuban national team in the semifinal. Despite missing out on the final, the young Sounders turned plenty of heads with dominant displays in a field containing the likes of CD Victoria, Swindon Town, LA Galaxy and Manchester City.
The Rave Green attack came out swinging to start group play, finding the back of the net a combined thirteen times in the first two matches. Azriel Gonzales, operating as the primary striker, provided an excellent focal point for Seattle going forward. In fact, the first two goals of his hat trick against IMG Academy dragged Sounders level before winger Camilo Santiago bagged the go ahead goal. Furthermore, Gonzales’ three-minute brace at the start of the second-half against Cayman Islands last Friday rescued a point for Seattle, and ensured that they finish the group stage unbeaten. The young striker would finish the tournament with eight goals and four assists from just five matches.
On Saturday, Seattle faced off against the year-up Cuban national team in the first semifinal. In the opening exchanges of the match, the young Sounders seemed to struggle coping with the pace and physicality of Cuba. However, despite conceding the opening goal just four minutes into the game, Seattle battled back and took the lead in the 15th minute. Gonzales bettered his quick-fire brace against IMG by finding the back of the net twice in two minutes—the second courtesy of a perfectly executed set piece.
Cuba would equalize from a set piece just four minutes after Gonzales’ second goal, but the Sounders dominated possession for the remainder of the half and even managed to carve out a couple of chances, but ultimately entered the interval level.
The speed and tempo of the match opened up considerably after half time. With the match turning into an end-to-end affair, the Cuban national team’s physical and athletic advantages became more pronounced. Two of their three goals in the second half came via the counter attack.
Sounders made six changes to the starting lineup for the third-place match against LA on Sunday from the side that took on Cuba in the semifinal. Up against an organized and slick-passing Galaxy team that likes to push numbers forward, the young Sounders looked to cede possession and break on the counter.
Although LA enjoyed some tidy possession in midfield, Seattle created three excellent goal-scoring opportunities through exposing the areas vacated by LA’s attacking fullbacks. Unfortunately, they fell just short of applying the finishing touch and subsequently entered the half down 1-0.
LA doubled their lead only a few minutes into the second-half, forcing Seattle into several attacking alterations. The duo of Gonzales and Gianluca Busio--who moved from holding midfielder to winger at the half--posed a serious threat to the Galaxy backline. Gonzales scored another fine goal to halve the deficit, while Busio drove at defenders fearlessly and carved out a couple of chances for an equalizer. Ultimately, LA sustained wave after wave of pressure and won 3rd place.
While the performances and results on the pitch were extremely encouraging in terms of development, the intangible elements of the experience were extremely valuable. As the youngest members of the Seattle Sounders organization, the U-14s had an opportunity to travel internationally and play against some of the top youth sides in the world. The intense environment and heterogeneity in styles of play provided lessons in problem solving and teamwork, which are vital aspects of the Sounders Academy philosophy.
According to Sounders Academy Technical Director Marc Nicholls, it is this blend of tangible and intangible experiences that makes the tournament so valuable.
“The Cayman invitational provided a wide ranging experience both on and off the field." said Nicholls. "The group was able to work together and reached their objective of making it out of the group stage. More importantly, the life skills that were learned will stand the boys in very good stead for the future.”
Based on how well the U-14s performed at the highest level, it is safe to say the future is quite bright. You can view the tournaments full results here.
