Pulling the positives from a trip that resulted in only one win from five games is difficult for most, but Hugo Perez saw plenty to make him genuinely pleased with his squad following the U.S. U15 Boys National Team’s most recent trip to Europe.
The U.S. U15 BNT finished third in Group C at the Torneo delle Nazioni in late April in Slovenia/northern Italy. It was the first international trip for Perez’s group, which consisted of only players born in 1999. Making matters even more difficult was the absence of three standouts from this age group – Tyler Adams, Edwin Lara, and Nicholas Taitague. Adams and Lara are exclusively with the U17 Men’s National Team now while Taitague, who has played up as well, was injured for this tournament. On top of the shorthanded roster, the tournament was for players born in 1998 as a prelude to the U17 World Cup next year.
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“We took some positive things from it,” Perez told TopDrawerSoccer.com last week. “We expected to be able to go through and I believe we had the capacity to do that. It was disappointing [not to advance from the group]. We managed to play the style that we have for a year and a half. The kids did not doubt how we play and possession wise we dominated every team.”
