CHESTER, Pa. — “Is Cavan in there?”
A young Philadelphia Union fan pondered the question aloud as he and a couple of his friends wandered past the entrance to the locker rooms at Subaru Park on Wednesday night, all of them looking not much older than Cavan Sullivan himself.
More than an hour before kickoff of Philly’s match vs. the New England Revolution, palpable anticipation vibrated around the stadium, fueled by anticipation around the 14-year-old phenom who soon trotted out onto the pitch among the home team’s reserves, waiting and hoping that this might be a moment for making history.
And so it proved to be. Twenty years on from Freddy Adu’s MLS watershed debut for D.C. United, Sullivan set a new record when he replaced hat-trick hero Tai Baribo in the 85th minute, becoming the youngest player not only in this league’s existence, but the youngest among top North American professional sports leagues as well as the “big five” European soccer leagues, UEFA Champions League and Europa League, dating back to 1988.
“It was a special, special night,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said afterwards. “The place had a buzz.”
Dream debut
Sullivan’s elder teammates did their part and then some to make it possible, racking up a 3-0 halftime lead en route to a thumping 5-1 victory. It snapped a 10-game winless skid and gave Curtin ideal circumstances to debut the newest and most promising prospect to roll down Philly’s prolific assembly line of talent, as the soaking of a summer rainstorm dialed up the sense of theater that much further.
“Seeing more goals go in was great for the both of us, looking at each other like, ‘this is good, this is awesome, could be a big opportunity for you to make your debut,’” Cavan’s older brother Quinn told Union Soccer Blog's Joe Tansey postgame, “and it came to fruition.”
Fittingly, the evening’s final tally was smashed home by Quinn himself, a venomous strike that rippled the net of the River End goal just a few yards from where Cavan was warming up with the other remaining substitutes, who raced over to mob Quinn as he executed a knee-slide celebration.
The younger sibling would enter the match seconds later, awash in the cheers of a crowd eager to hail the arrival of this latest native son, his every touch on the ball greeted by another spike of noise. You’d hardly suspect this was a meeting of two struggling sides who entered the night in 25th and 28th place in the overall league table.
“Absolute chaos, for sure,” Cavan Sullivan later said of the sequence as he fielded questions from reporters with composure beyond his years. “Awesome goal by him, great finish. Yeah, I was there to celebrate right with him … I think that combo of his goal and then me coming in for the sub, it was complete, like, anarchy. Honestly, one of the loudest things I've ever heard. So yeah, the stadium was electric, and it was pretty cool.”
Philly success story
Concepts like homegrowns and academies and player development are more than jargon for the Union and their supporters. They mean something here, around a club that has grounded its ethos, its competitive model, its core identity in the process of nurturing local kids into rising stars. The process has helped elevate the first team into perennial MLS competitors, and reaped dozens of millions of dollars in transfer fees, a list that Cavan Sullivan will join in a few years when he reportedly moves along to English giants Manchester City.
“It's part of the business plan, it’s part of the sporting model here at the Union, to develop young players, and Jim has shown that if they earn it from the way they train, they know that they're going to get playing time,” said midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, who was in the final weeks of his first professional season, at Swedish side Örebro, when the younger Sullivan was born in 2009.
“You see Jack McGlynn, Nathan Harriel now who are representing us in the Olympics, Cavan's brother Quinn getting a lot more playing time, and then the amount of guys that we've had on the bench in recent weeks and that are playing with Union 2 as well, getting proper game time, that this club does take into account the young players. And they really mean it when they say that they're about talent scouting and development and recruitment. So what a great evening tonight to be able to put Cavan on the field and break the record as a North American player. He's earned it.”
The importance of that last part was driven home repeatedly by Curtin and his players. Already one of the most highly-rated youngsters on the planet when Philly signed him earlier this year, Cavan has racked up two goals and two assists in MLS NEXT Pro action and had to show he was prepared for the rugged intensity of the top flight in the leadup to his big occasion.
“You've seen in training the past two months with us, that he's shown many glimpses of the quality left foot that he has, the quickness in his first steps, his soccer IQ, his vision for the game,” noted Bedoya.
And as excellent as the vibes were on this Wednesday, those at the center of the story plan and expect this moment to pale in comparison to what Sullivan has ahead of him.
“Look, this is just the start,” said the 14-year-old. “I'm really, really happy to have done this, but it's honestly the first box checked off, so a long journey ahead. I know it's all about where you finish, not where you start. So I'm just going to keep working, keep developing here. My main focus is on Philadelphia and our season ahead.
“I mean, obviously, it's pretty cool to have,” he later admitted when asked about his pride at breaking Adu’s record. “I’d be lying if I say, I didn't want to reach for it. ... He really paved the way for young guys like me."
What's next?
In a nod at the skeptics who may wonder whether Sullivan is too young for all this, whether surpassing Adu courts parallels to the difficulties that sidetracked the latter player from fulfilling his enormous potential, Curtin made clear that Sullivan won’t be rushed or coddled or saddled with expectation.
“This is just the first chapter in Cavan's career. For those that don't know, we do have a plan for him,” said the coach. “It's not just minute by minute or day by day; there is a plan in place. So you guys saw him dominate the academy level, even up three years. You saw him now score some good goals for Union 2 and do really well. You guys don't get to see him every day in training, but the staff does, and the time was right to give him an opportunity.
"The reality is, guys, he's not a normal kid. We've known that from the start. Do I still want him to play like a kid and play with that joy in the backyard with his brothers? Of course, but he's different. And that's the reality of things. So because he's different, he has a different plan and a different trajectory than other players in our group, and that's the reality of the professional level. There's no such thing as too old or too young, there’s only good and bad, and he's special. We can see that tonight. He’s going to get better and better."
