The intertwined relationship between U.S. Soccer (USSF) and Mexico Federation of Football (FMF) pushed USSF to establish a direction for its youth program, but it might be a while before U.S. catches up to its successful neighbor.  

FMF is enjoying one of the most dominating and impressive runs in international youth soccer history over the last decade.

With two U17 World Cup titles (2005 and 2011), a third place at the U20 World Cup in 2011, and a chance at gold in the Olympics this summer, there is a legitimate argument that Mexico has built the best youth program in the world.

This snuck up on the U.S. and on much of the world. Now, USSF is pushing to rejoin the conversation with Mexico and try to compete with what the FMF has been able to accomplish over the years.

The first step in that puzzle was to get every youth national team on the same page in terms of style of play.

Now, nearly a year later (and after cleaning house with many new coaches added to the puzzle), there are positives to take away from the direction that U.S. Soccer is heading toward.

Saturday marked the end of the U14 cycle for the 1998 age group. A relatively unceremonious occasion, as the 1999 age group

replaced them on Sunday for the next group at the U14 Boys National Team, and the endless cycle of youth national teams continues.

But there is a special meaning for the ‘98s – it is the first age group that will pass through U.S. Soccer’s infrastructure with the directive of playing a specific style.

The possession-oriented 4-3-3 system has been brought along with every age group, but the ‘98s are the first to start with the practice that all teams need to play in a similar manner.

Will it help?

The general consensus from top coaches is that this is the direction U.S. Soccer had to head.

“First is philosophy,” Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho said during the NSCAA coaching course last week. “The start of everything is you decide the style of play.”

Javier Perez, one of the masterminds behind the style of play and the current U18 Men’s National Team head coach, spoke with TopDrawerSoccer.com earlier this year about the challenges of getting every team and player to buy into it.

“The challenge here is to build up a proper style of play,” Perez said. “In other countries, it is smaller and there is a similar type of player. In this country, we have different backgrounds and many different ideas. So bringing players from different teams in different parts of the country and put them together and make them work with the same style of play is the biggest challenge.”

The way to curtail those obstacles, reach the players early and introduce them to this style without any other preconceived notions, which makes the ’98 group the perfect sample.

The ‘98s entered this system, in essence, as blank slates.

U14 BNT head coach Hugo Perez, no relation to Javier, took over this team as his first group with the youth national team program. After a handful of camps with them, he believes this is the team that could change the complexion of the program.

“We have had these kids for only four camps, which is nothing,” Hugo Perez said explaining how quickly the style of play was implemented. “They are used to it now, and they like it.”

When asked if this is the team to challenge Mexico, Perez was confident but not brash about his assessment.

“Yes. I think if we pay attention to them for the next two to three years and continue to work the way they have been working. I think they have a good chance to be successful.”

Quantifying success is difficult – at either the team or individual level. What exactly would be a successful showing for USSF with this new crop of players? Is it putting the players into top clubs across the world? Or is the goal to slow Mexico’s dominance in the youth game?

While the former may appeal more to the long-term prospects for the program, the latter may need some attention.

Mexico has brought on U.S. born players on a number of occasions in the past including notable recent cases like goalkeeper Richard Sanchez (FC Dallas/Mission Hills, California) with the 2011 Mexico U17 MNT and current Mexico U23 MNT defender Miguel Ponce (Sacramento, California). 

While neither player may have been inclined to jump for a U.S. call regardless of the direction of the programs, the selling point of Mexico’s success has made its federation more brazen with its attempts at casting a wide net in the States.

U.S. U14 BNT starting goalkeeper Abraham Romero (LA Galaxy/Pasadena, California) has already heard from Mexico, and declined the call up according to his father.

While Romero is happy with the U.S., Mexico’s selling point is only going to get louder for players in a similar situation with the continuous success of its youth national teams. 

USSF needs a response, and this ’98 group might just be the answer.

With the implementation of a new style, a talented group that “makes it easy” according to Perez, and new coaches with the same mindset, this is the showcase group that U.S. Soccer needs to succeed.