The Seattle Sounders U18 academy team recently traveled to Mexico City to play in the Liga BBVA international youth development tournament. The competitive structure of the tournament was unclear but the team was able to play seven different teams from Mexico, Chile and the USA.
Each game was 70 minutes long with 35-minute halves and lots of substitutions allowed for each team to give players minutes.
While the Sounders brought the majority of their U18 team, there were players included from other parts of the development setup. From Tacoma Defiance, Cris Batiz made the trip as well as Calen Dean from the U16 team.
Key performers
Landon Lucero
The academy striker again had a fabulous tournament where he finished with 2 goals and 2 assists. His second goal in the final game against CF Pachuca was fun, as he was able to run in behind the back line on a monster goal kick from goalkeeper Dmitry Johnson. He showed his finishing touch with a perfectly placed shot in the far post after only a couple touches. Lucero continues to show a physical dominance at the academy level with a high motor to be involved defensively. He also is continuing to show he can help create chances in addition to finishing them, which was highlighted on his first assist against the Mexico youth national team. He was able to chest down a ball to Jayden Gonzalez then immediately make a run in behind to get the through ball. While on the ball he drove to the prime assist zone and played a cut back cross to Gonzalez to finish. Lucero has such a high ceiling and is a name that is already starting to make Tacoma Defiance appearances.
Cris Batiz
Batiz seems to make his way into every academy article as he is an offensive catalyst, finishing with 2 goals in the tournament and a highlight-reel machine.
In addition to being consistently goal dangerous, Batiz continues to display a calmness on the ball that makes it extremely difficult for the defense to dispossess him. He can also take his ability on the ball to be aggressive and beat defenders, which is what he did in the last game against CF Pachuca. After being played the ball on the side of the penalty box, he beat his defender with a step-over and earned a corner. This eventually led to the opener as Batiz took the corner well and after a recycled clearance the ball was scored by Patrick Boltz. Batiz seems to have shown in every academy competition that he is ready for the next step, given he is already on a Defiance contract, the hope is we won't have to wait long.
Taiki Sugitani
Taiki Sugitani is a rising academy talent that showed really well in this tournament and has even made some appearances with Tacoma Defiance this summer. He is a versatile wide player who can play on either side but was primarily the LWB in a 3–4–2–1 and finished with 2 assists. The best was in the final game against CF Pachuca, where he was played in on the left and beat his defender with a step-over before a perfectly placed cross to Batiz at the back post. While the highlight of his play was going forward, he was strong in defense. In the game against the Mexico youth national team, there were at least 3 different occasions in the 51st, 58th and 61st minute where he was defending 1v1 and won the duel. Sugitani isn’t a player who has had a lot of accolades in the youth ranks but he could be an under the radar talent to keep an eye on.
Schedule
Results
Seattle Sounders (2) vs CD Universidad Catolica (0)
Lineup (4-2-3-1): Jackson Dale; Jampa Tsognyi, Basil Kuprishov, Bridger Sandnes ©, Taiki Sugitani; Chris Montero, Deyan Radosavljevic; Thiago Silva, Ronan Leeming, Juma Hassani; Landon Lucero
Substitutions:
- 35' Patrick Boltz ⇆ Basil Kuprishov
- 35' Jayden Gonzalez ⇆ Thiago Silva
- 35' Paolo Hurtado ⇆ Jampa Tsgonyi
- 40' William Bischoff ⇆ Jackson Dale
- 59' Calen Dean ⇆ Chris Montero
- 72' Oliver Endo ⇆ Landon Lucero
Goals:
- 57' ⚽Landon Lucero
- 61' ⚽Wells Lear
Replay:
Seattle Sounders (0) vs LA Galaxy (1)
Lineup (3-4-2-1): William Bischoff; Paolo Hurtado, Patrick Boltz, Basil Kuprishov, Bridger Sandnes ©, Taiki Sugitani; Adrian Ton, Deyan Radosavljevic; Angel Mora, Jayden Gonzalez; Landon Lucero
Substitutions:
- 35' Cris Batiz ⇆ Angel Mora
- 35' Calen Dean ⇆ Deyan Radosavljevic
- 35' Oliver Endo ⇆ Paolo Hurtado
- 59' Thiago Silva ⇆ Jayden Gonzalez
- 59' Wells Lear ⇆ Landon Lucero
- 67' Ronan Leeming ⇆ Basil Kuprishov
Goals:
- 12' ⚽LA Galaxy
Replay:
Seattle Sounders (1) vs Atlas (2)
Lineup (3-4-2-1): William Bischoff; Micah Holley, Patrick Boltz ©, Basil Kuprishov; Jampa Tsgonyi, Oliver Endo, Chris Montero, Calen Dean, Oliver Endo; Cris Batiz, Ronan Leeming; Wells Lear
Substitutions:
- 35' Thiago Silva ⇆ Ronan Leeming
- 35' Taiki Sugitani ⇆ Oliver Endo
- 35' Deyan Radosavljevic ⇆ Calen Dean
- 35' Bridger Sandnes ⇆ Basil Kuprishov
- 52' Landon Lucero ⇆ Wells Lear
- 52' Angel Mora ⇆ Chris Montero
- 60' Adrian Ton ⇆ Jampa Tsgonyi
Goals:
- 4' ⚽Cris Batiz (Ronan Leeming)
- 23' ⚽Atlas
- 25' ⚽Atlas
Replay:
Seattle Sounders (3) vs Mexico U16 (1)
Lineup (3-4-2-1): William Bischoff; Micah Holley, Patrick Boltz, Bridger Sandnes ©; Juma Hassani, Chris Montero, Deyan Radosavljevic, Taiki Sugitani; Thiago Silva, Jayden Gonzalez; Landon Lucero
Substitutions:
- 56' Wells Lear ⇆ Landon Lucero
- 56' Angel Mora ⇆ Thiago Silva
- 56' Cris Batiz ⇆ Jayden Gonzalez
- 63' Basil Kuprishov ⇆ Micah Holley
- 63' Calen Dean ⇆ Deyan Radosavljevic
- 63' Jampa Tsgonyi ⇆ Juma Hassani
Goals:
- 2' ⚽Jayden Gonzalez (Landon Lucero)
- 5' ⚽Juma Hassani (Landon Lucero)
- 13' ⚽Mexico U16
- 36' ⚽Thiago Silva (Taiki Sugitani)
Replay:
Seattle Sounders (0) vs Toluca FC (1)
Lineup (3-4-2-1): Dmitry Johnson; Patrick Boltz, Basil Kuprishov, Bridger Sandnes ©; Jampa Tsgonyi, Adrian Ton, Calen Dean, Angel Mora, Oliver Endo; Cris Batiz, Ronan Leeming
Substitutions:
- 24' Chris Montero ⇆ Adrian Ton
- 47' Landon Lucero ⇆ Ronan Leeming
- 47' Micah Holley ⇆ Basil Kuprishov
- 47' Taiki Sugitani ⇆ Oliver Endo
- 47' Wells Lear ⇆ Cris Batiz
- 61' Thiago Silva ⇆ Angel Mora
- 61' Juma Hassani ⇆ Jampa Tsgonyi
Goals:
- 51' Toluca FC
Replay:
Seattle Sounders (1) vs CF Monterrey (0)
Lineup (3-4-2-1): Dmitry Johnson; Micah Holley, Basil Kuprishov, Bridger Sandnes ©; Adrian Ton, Chris Montero, Deyan Radosavljevic, Taiki Sugitani; Cris Batiz, Juma Hassani; Landon Lucero
Substitutions:
- 21' Thiago Silva ⇆ Cris Batiz
- 35' Patrick Boltz ⇆ Basil Kuprishov
- 51' Calen Dean ⇆ Chris Monetro
- 51' Wells Lear ⇆ Adrian Ton
- 51' Angel Mora ⇆ Deyan Radosavljevic
- 64' Ronan Leeming ⇆ Landon Lucero
- 64' Jampa Tsgonyi ⇆ Juma Hassani
Goals:
- 30' Thiago Silva
Replay:
Seattle Sounders (3) vs CF Pachuca (1)
Lineup (3-4-2-1): Dmitry Johnson; Patrick Boltz, Basil Kuprishov, Bridger Sandnes ©; Oliver Endo, Chris Montero, Calen Dean, Taiki Sugitani; Cris Batiz, Angel Mora; Wells Lear
Substitutions:
- 35' Landon Lucero ⇆ Angel Mora
- 35' Juma Hassani ⇆ Oliver Endo
- 54' Ronan Leeming ⇆ Cris Batiz
- 54' Deyan Radosavljevic ⇆ Chris Montero
- 54' Jampa Tsgonyi ⇆ Taiki Sugitani
- 57' Adrian Ton ⇆ Wells Lear
- 62' Micah Holley ⇆ Calen Dean
Goals:
- 16' ⚽CF Pachuca
- 44' ⚽Patrick Boltz (Basil Kuprishov)
- 52' ⚽Cris Batiz (Taiki Sugitani)
- 64' ⚽Landon Lucero (Dmitry Johnson)
Replay:
