Sampdoria's young American striker, Gabriel Ferrari, has been absolutely on fire since Thomas Rongen called him up for the U.S. U-20 men's national team. The 18-year old Manhattan native scored twice in his debut for the U-20s, a 3-2 win over SMU, before notching the game-winner against the Haitian national team at Pizza Hut Park on Wednesday.   

Prior to the match against Haiti, Ferrari, who is also eligible to play for Italy and Brazil, spoke with Top Drawer Soccer about being overlooked in the U.S. At 13, Ferrari failed to make the Eastern New York ODP team. "I've spoken with my parents and family about how I was never really noticed here in America but when I went to Europe as soon as they laid their eyes on me they saw something...I don't know why that was." Report author Robert Ziegler calls Ferrari "a classic example" of a good player being "missed by the [American youth] system."

Ferrari began his European career training with Dutch clubs Vitesse and Ajax. After both offered him a contract, the player was unfortunate to break his wrist and then have to fly back to America with no contract for recuperation. After five months, Ferrari returned, this time to Italy, where Sampdoria was the first to offer him a contract after a one-week trial. The striker soon broke into the first team and was recently given his debut against league leader Inter at the San Siro. Read the original story...