USYNT U17: Players That Impressed During Vaclav Jezek Tournament

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The USYNT U17 National Team finished off the Vaclav Jezek tournament with a 2-0 loss to Germany and a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic. The side ended the competition with a 1-2-0 record, having lost to Slovakia last Wednesday 1-0. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite the uneven results, there was a fair bit of positives to come from the event and at least some answers for USYNT U17 head coach Gonzalo Segares aheaad of World Cup qualification. You can check out our player analysis from the Slovakia match here. In the meantime, here are some of the players that impressed against Germany and the Czech Republic. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Defender </em></strong><em style="font-weight: bold;">[player_tooltip player_id='10412' first='Tyler' last='Hall'] (Inter Miami Academy)</em>-Across both matches, Hall was one of the lone bright spots for the side. Despite consistent pressure from the Germans, Hall held his own keeping the USYNT afloat. Against the Czech Republic, the captain could move a bit more, helping the midfield set up attacking plays. Getting the chance to play against two strong attacking sides should help him prepare for some difficult CONCACAF competition in February. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Forward Keyrol Figueroa Norales (Liverpool)</em></strong>- After only getting a cup of coffee in their first match against Slovakia, Figueroa Norales was a key contributor in the final two matches. His ball control and ability to find open spaces to exploit resulted an excellent goal in the 42nd minute against the Czech Republic. But beyond the goal his runs off of the ball proved to be just as important as he he drew defenders out of position and allowed for his teammates to capitalize. He has a big decision on his hands now: Does he choose to represent the United States or does he choose to represent Honduras, where his father Maynor Figueroa was the captain and played in multiple World Cups. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Forward [player_tooltip player_id='7597' first='Ezekiel' last='Soto'] (Houston Dynamo Academy)</em></strong>-Soto was perhaps the USYNT's most consistent attacking player across all three matches, helping stretch the German defense late in the second half and scoring a brace against the Czechs (78' and 80'). He seems to have develop some excellent chemistry with Figueroa and [player_tooltip player_id='11561' first='Aaron' last='Heard'] (more on him in a minute). If they can find their scoring stroke earlier in the match, it should help them greatly during qualification. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Midfielder [player_tooltip player_id='11561' first='Aaron' last='Heard'] (St. Louis FC 2)</em></strong>- Heard continues to show why he is one of the top young midfielders in the USYNT pool with two strong performances against two very strong defensive sides Against the Germans he used his speed to open up play for Figueroa to move in, laying in an excellent pass for Figueroa in the 90th minute that almost put the US on the board. His cross to Soto for the US' fourth and final goal against the Czechs was about well-played of as one will find the youth level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/USYNT/status/1574013454750474248","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/USYNT/status/1574013454750474248 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Defender [player_tooltip player_id='8449' first='Oscar' last='Verhoeven'] (San Jose Earthquakes Academy)</em></strong>- Verhoeven had a real challenge on his hands controlling the German attack and despite a few shaky moments, he seemed to handle the pressure well. Especially late in the match as the German defense continued to provide pressure, the San Jose Earthquakes academy right-back made several key stops to keep the match close. His workload wasn't quite as heavy against the Czech's allowing him to get more involved in the attack. His free kick delivery into Soto in the 78th minute should seal his spot as one of the club's top set piece takers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Goalkeeper [player_tooltip player_id='49792' first='Adam' last='Beaudry'] (Colorado Rapids 2)</em></strong>- Beaudry got his first bit of action during the competition against the Czech Republic and put in a solid shift. His diving save in the 15th minute kept things level and more importantly seemed to give him a bit of confidence throughout the remainder of the match. Segares still seems to have Diego Kochen penciled in as their number one, but Beaudry showed that he can handle his own and can be an asset when called upon. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->