With five games in ten days coming up, it’s getting hot down in Frisco, Texas.
NYCFC U16s departed for the finals of the Generation adidas Cup on Wednesday where they will open the competition on Friday morning.
Seattle Sounders will be Matt Pilkington’s side first opposition in a game you’ll be able to watch right here on NYCFC.com, courtesy of MLSSoccer.com.
Despite possessing an average age some way younger than their opponents, NYCFC finished in a hugely creditable third place in the Spring Regional Event, meaning that they will contest the Premier Division in this international finals competition.
For U16s Head Coach Pilkington, it promises to be a great experience for the 20-player roster as his team takes on Seattle, Saprissa and Pumas in the group stages.
“We’re really looking forward to the experience down there,” he told NYCFC.com.
“We’ll have five games in ten days which is a lot of soccer for the group. It’s great preparation for them to manage themselves in a tournament situation, whether that’s monitoring their own sleep habits, their nutrition, their rest – the team-bonding aspect of being in a hotel with your teammates for that amount of time – it’s all great for their development.”
Although they will find themselves as one of the youngest teams at the tournament once again, Pilkington isn’t using that as an excuse.
He feels his team have the quality to compete with any side at the GA Cup, even if at this stage of their careers, it’s more about giving challenges and experiences to the players.
Pilkington said: “We try to find a balance between development and preparing the players for the next level and also performing and winning in certain competitions as they get older.
“Given that this is a younger team, we have a lot of players who are playing one or two years up, there are physical challenges at times but we’re less focused on that and it’s more about how they perform, develop and play.
“So far we’ve seen a lot of positives and we’ve improved over time when it comes to keeping clean sheets, scoring goals, managing games, being more competitive over a long course of time.
“That’s something gradually building in the group – yes, we’re young and there will be times when it’s difficult physically but the level of the players individually and collectively, we can compete with these teams who are older.
“It’s not an excuse for us, it’s something we have to adapt to and deal with.”
Schedule
Friday April 7, 9am: NYCFC vs Seattle Sounders
Sunday April 9, 11.15am: NYCFC vs Saprissa
Tuesday April 11, 12pm: NYCFC vs Pumas
Roster
Alex Rando, Kwaku Owusu, Joseph Scally, Will Citron, Nico Benalcazar, Justin Haak, Alexsi Morel, Kim Colman, Thirston Briscoe, Giovanni Reyna, Salvatore Rasizzi, Johan Penaranda, Eder Mosquera, Harrison Robledo, Jose Flores, Will Sands, Yaya Bakayoko, Andres Jasson, Victor Sousa, Veljko Petkovic
