Commentary
Christian Pulisic near another milestone
- by Mike Woitalla @MikeWoitalla, May 17, 2016
Christian Pulisic, the 17-year-old Pennsylvania kid who has already played nine Bundesliga games, is one game away from winning his second German youth national championship.
It’s been a tremendous 2016 already for the midfielder who in 2015 played for the USA at the U-17 World Cup and helped Borussia Dortmund win the 2014-15 U-17 German national championship. Pulisic made his first-team Dortmund debut in January and went into the record books as the:
• Youngest American to debut in a major European league and eighth youngest Bundesliga debutant ever.
• Youngest American to play in European competition (Europa League).
• Youngest American to appear in World Cup qualifier (vs. Guatemala).
• Youngest player born outside Germany to score in the Bundesliga and youngest Bundesliga ever player to score two goals.
Last Sunday, in the German U-19 national championship, Pulisic scored the first goal in the Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win over 1860 Munich in a semifinal second leg that gave BVB a 3-2 aggregate win and a final date at Hoffenheim on Sunday.
Pulisic, who is on U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s preliminary roster for the Copa Centenario, played in 14 U-19 league games and three U-19 cup games in the 2015-16 season and scored eight goals (including this golazo) in 14 wins, one tie and two losses. Last season he played for both BVB's U-19 and U-17 team, for which he scored six goals in eight games in its run to the U-17 national championship.
U.S. U-17 boys tie Tanzania
The U.S. U-17 boys national team opened the AIFF Youth Cup in Goa, India, with a 1-1 tied against Tanzania 1-1. Defender Jean-Julien Foe Nuphaus (San Jose Earthquakes) set up Ayomide Akinola (Toronto FC) for a third-minute goal. But the USA, despite a 11-7 advantage in shots, failed to convert after Tanzania's 15th-minute equalizer. Coach John Hackworth's U.S. team faces India on May 19.
Back row: Durkin, Foe Nuphaus, Akinola, Shaver, Sargent, Garces. Front row: Carleton, Goslin, Gloster, Villegas, Acosta.
(Courtesy U.S. Soccer)
May 15 in Goa, India
USA 1 Tanzania 1. Goals: Akinola (Foe Nuphaus) 3; Abdallah
(Mtesigwa) 15.
USA -- Garces; Gloster, Shaver, Durkin, Foe Nuphaus (Vasquez, 75); Goslin, Villegas (Sands, 62), Acosta; Carleton (Lemoine, 80), Sargent, Akinola.
Tanzania -- Kabwili; Kirabage, Msengi, Makamba, Job (Ally Shomari, 31); Ada, Nganzi, Juma; Mtesigwa (Naftal, 75), Abdallah, Mkomola (Ngawembele, 52).
Around the Net
• The NCAA announced it will not hold
any events in cities that do not protect all residents with LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination laws. Dan Woog interviews Anson Dorrance, Wilson
College goalkeeper Michael Martin and Clark University head coach Brienne Smith in his NSCAA.com article:
North Carolina's "Bathroom Bill" and its Potential Effects Within Soccer.
• Bill Banks reports in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on how players on the Decatur High School won the Georgia AAA state championship despite the game conflicting with some of its players' International Baccalaureate history final. One player took half the test while four skipped it entirely to be on time for the game that took place 90 minutes away. The team had qualified for the final on a Tuesday for the Thursday game and efforts to rearrange the schedule failed.
“It puts the kids in terrible position,” said Superintendent David Dude. “You either take the entire test and miss your championship game, or you play and skip the test. Or you take the test in half the time normally allotted and barely make it to the game. … They have prepared years for both of these events, and being forced into such a decision by the inflexibility of GHSA [Georgia High School Association] and IB is unacceptable."
The good news is that the players affected had all already had been accepted to college, but not passing the test denies them of an IB diploma that gives them college credits. Goalkeeper Theo Davis, who took half of the test, entered in the 10th minute of the game that Decatur came from behind to win, 3-2.
Decatur students ditch big test to clinch soccer championship
• Tampa Bay Times: The Greater Tampa Bay Football Club, which provides competitive soccer opportunities to more than 1,000 area children, was forced — perhaps temporarily — to shut down its competitive program.Failed merger leaves youth soccer players stranded.
• BigDsoccer.com: Taylor Heston lists Weston McKennie, Devin Vega, Reggie Cannon, Paxton Pomykal and Jesus Ferreira as the top candidates to add to FC Dallas' MLS record number of academy players who graduated to the first team.
David Dude has it right ... the adults have to resolve conflicts in favor of THE KIDS! It is absurd to place kids in a no-win situation of choosing between two valuable enterprises: pursuing mastery through the IB program and pursuing excellence through athletics as a member of one's team (athletic / school / community).
Thank you Kevin for your comment, and kudos to David Dude! As a retired professional educator and former club and college coach, to put the onus on the student-athletes I would draw the line and "just allow" the players some leeway over other students needing/having to take the exam. There MUST be a way to work these things out, for example, during the final four time and other NCAA championships, many universities allow their student athletes to take a final exam in the hotel (hopefully) properly proctored by non-athletic department staffers. Maybe this could be a possibility for something similar at this high school district?
LGBT, NSCAA, NCAA, gender identity, access to go where you want. Dorrance you disappoint, but then politically correct is easier. Group think run amuck. Our leaders in this and many other areas have been neutered. Grow a set. Thanks Professor Obama and your ilk. There's always been a difference between theory and reality/applied. But since educators and some leaders live mostly in the world of fantasy we get this nonsense. This like an attorneys rhetoric class, its about who can dazzle us with BS the best. I'm not sure we can recover and get back to where the majority can pull their heads out.
Wooden Ships I enjoy your comments on soccer. However, concerning Anson Dorrance, I would venture that supporting the bathroom bill would be a lot easier than taking a stand concerning inclusiveness. Your rhetoric/BS was anything but dazzling. Remember Madison's famous dictum, "Majority rule but minority rights." Stick to soccer.
Point taken Lewie. Sometimes the vacuum of soccer isn't enough for me. When players, commentators, analysts, coaches and owners open a door, I usually walk through. Popular today is standing for everything, which dangerously means standing for nothing. Inclusiveness is important but not at the expense of sense. And, it isn't easier to support NC position-suit, IMHO. That's going against group think. On soccer, Anson is virtually unmatched, in any team sport at the university level. I'm a fan of his for sure.
There are plenty of places online for you to express such opinions but this really isn't the right forum.
I hear ya FPGN. It was soccer related, covered by Soccer America/Around The Net along with the high school in Georgia and their inflexibility with regard to a finals test.