It's been 24 hours since Juan Agudelo scored the goal that beat South Africa 1-nil in yesterday's friendly and he is probably the most talked about 17 year old in the country. Juan even got a headline in my morning newspaper, a paper that never reports anything soccer related.
My favorite Soccer Parody Special 1 TV's Jose Mourinho even tweeted about Juan Agudelo's touch of quality. I am 17, just like Agudelo and to see a kid do something you always dreamed of doing (scoring for the US National Team) is really special. I can't talk about how jealous I am of Juan. His celebration showed youth, confidence, and personality. All are qualities that America can fall in love with.
After Agudelo scored the goal he became one of the most trending topics in the USA on twitter. The last USA player to do that was Landon Donovan during the World Cup. To be a trending topic after the World Cup is absolutely incredible. It just shows how far we have come as a soccer nation.
Now to go back to perspective, this is a big deal. However, it is just one goal. It definitely is something to be excited about don't get me wrong but young players are very mercurial. Agudelo has definitely earned a cap for the Chile friendly but the question is will he push for a spot on the Gold Cup roster? That is the main question coming out of that magical moment from yesterday.
Juan will now go back to the U-20s and U-20 manager Thomas Rongen will know he has a player that is not afraid of anyone on the pitch and is glowing in confidence. Wake up America, the US Soccer's Special One may have just made his arrival. (fingers crossed)
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