GA Cup Day 1 Standouts

It was a lovely day in Bradenton, Florida with temperatures in the mid 70's and low 80's throughout the day. Some excellent footy was played and just like there is every year at this event there was talent everywhere. It is great to see how styles matchup not just from different academies across the country but the international competition as well. My one complaint is that the MLS Academies make it extremely difficult to get names of players. No rosters get handed out and only a handful of clubs have their rosters online. Would love for this to change in the future. Here are some of the names that I was able to get ahold of who played exceptionally well today.    Excellent performance from the commanding center back. He has an amazing athletic profile with size, speed and overall athleticism. Really good timing in the air and played some excellent through balls from the back.     Shang was an absolute beast for the Earthquakes today. He has an incredible engine and is so smooth in possession. Shang has the ability to beat his man in tight spaces and drive forward with the ball from his central midfield role. He is a menace defensively constantly making his opposition feel him. Really good timing and weight on his passes.     Abdella is a little technician in midfield. He has excellent touch and vision. He had a great assist in Charlotte's 4-0 win today against Jamaican side Miles Gully. He combines with his teammates well and has excellent instincts on when to play the ball forwards or backwards. Definitely a late developer but that doesn't seem to stop him from playing at an extremely high level.     The star of the day from the games I watched was [player_tooltip player_id='285847' first='Winston' last='Hoover']. He scored twice for Charlotte FC and had an excellent hockey assist before he was taken off when the game was won. His first goal was a textbook header low back across the face of the goal where the ball came from off a cross which ended up being the game winner in a 4-0 win. His second was a very calm finish with his left from from a cross that he took out of the air masterfully before he calmly finished in the bottom corner. Kid is a special talent.     This kid is an absolute problem on the left wing. He has an insane first step and elite ball skills. He can get to the byline or cut inside for a shot. He wins a ton of fouls and was also seeing many double teams throughout the game. On one of his fouls drawn he proceeded to whip in a lovely free kick and get an assist for his teams first goal. Very bright future for this young prospect.     Souza scored a lovely header off of Nkeh's free kick where he beat his man to the ball front post. He has excellent hold up play and can turn a corner very quickly. His off ball movement is very astute for such a young player. Opposition defenders don't seem to know what to do with him as he can drop into midfield or run into a channel with equal proficiency.     Cannon scored an excellent goal for Philly Union against Sporting KC in his sides 2-0 win. He calmly curled into the top corner just out of the goalkeepers reach that seemed to kill the game off. He is a very technical player who can find gaps in the opposition defenses well. Very smooth operator with the ball in tight spaces.

It was a lovely day in Bradenton, Florida with temperatures in the mid 70's and low 80's throughout the day. Some excellent footy was played and just like there is every year at this event there was talent everywhere. It is great to see how styles matchup not just from different academies across the country but the international competition as well. My one complaint is that the MLS Academies make it extremely difficult to get names of players. No rosters get handed out and only a handful of clubs have their rosters online. Would love for this to change in the future. Here are some of the names that I was able to get ahold of who played exceptionally well today.