The U.S. U17 Men’s National Team’s quest to repeat as champions at the Nike International Friendlies enjoyed a smooth start on Friday with a comfortable 3-1 wins over England.
The U.S. played with a fire that is rarely seen from a defending champion that is normally more lethargic and arrogant. The U.S. players attribute that hunger to the recent trip to Chile where the results did not go their way and helped light that fire in the group prior to the Friendlies.
“It’s a lot stronger,” U.S. U17 MNT goalkeeper Kevin Silva said about the group following Chile. “We had a little stumble down in Chile, but there’s not much you can do. Some teams don’t much together when adversity happens. Richie [Williams] told us to stay positive and play our and it will come. Obviously, that’s all that happened. We were knocking the ball around; we made chances, and put the ball in the back of the net. That was something we were missing in Chile – putting the ball in the back of the net. Today was a successful time for us. It’s all we can ask for as team – playing as one and winning as one. That’s what we got back today and it’s going to stay like that.”
