U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team head coach Wilmer Cabrera and his staff have named FC Dallas Juniors' midfielder Alex Molano among the 40 players selected to the 2008 fall semester of the U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. The players will be competing for a place on the U.S. team that will attempt to qualify for its 14th consecutive FIFA Under-17 World Cup in the spring of 2009.
"We are very happy and proud to have an FC Dallas Juniors player join the U.S. Residency program," said Oscar Pareja, the clubs Director of Youth Player Development and Head Coach of the FC Dallas Juniors teams. "I think it's great for the player; it's great for the image of FC Dallas, to show the way we are working here; and it's a great for the players that we have here, who also dream of representing their national team one day - now they can see that it's possible. They have an incredible staff in Bradenton, and we know that Alex is going to represent FC Dallas very well."
The 16-year old Molano is one of 17 new players to join the program for the 2008 fall semester. He is one of six players that joins the Residency Program from youth clubs associated with Major League Soccer teams, along with John Agudelo (NY Red Bulls Academy), Jonathan Kempin (KC Wizards Juniors), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire Academy), and Julio Arjona and Shaquille Phillips (D.C. United Academy).
The U.S. players live on campus at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.. The players train in the mornings and then attend classes at nearby Bradenton Preparatory Academy. While in the full-time residency program, the U.S. not only trains daily under Cabrera, but also has access IMG's state-of-the-art strength-training facilities, as well as some of the nation's best sports psychologists that work at the Academy.
As one of the players identified by FCD under MLS's homegrown talent initiative, Molano, who attended Colleyville High School in Grapevine and has been part of the FC Dallas Youth program for the past XX years, will remain protected by FCD and thus not eligible for future MLS Drafts.
Since its inception in 1999, nearly 200 players have been through the full-time Residency Program, many of whom have moved on to Major League Soccer, or professional leagues in Europe.
From the current FC Dallas roster, the following players have been in the Residency Program: Dax McCarty, Blake Wagner, Anthony Wallace, Chase Wileman, Jamie Watson, Eric Avila, Abe Thompson, Josh Lambo, and Brek Shea. Also, FCD Assistant Coach and Director of FC Dallas Youth Programs John Ellinger was the head coach of the U.S. Under-17 team that spearheaded the launch of the Residency Program. Finally, Pareja was the assistant coach for the U.S. U-17 team in Bradenton from December 2007 until July of this year, when he returned to FC Dallas to oversee the Juniors programs.
Under-17 Residency Roster by Position (Detailed Roster):
GOALKEEPERS (4): Samir Badr (Fairfax, Va.), Earl Edwards (San Diego, Calif.), Jonathan Kempin (K.C. Wizards Juniors), Spencer Richey (Crossfire Premier)
DEFENDERS (13): Michael Ambrose (El Paso, Texas), Julio Arjona (D.C. United Academy), Zachary Herold (Port St. Lucie, Fla.), Perry Kitchen (Chicago Magic), Jordan McCrary (Concorde Fire), Boyd Okwuonu (Edmond, Okla.), Emilio Orozco (Oxnard, Calif.), Shaquille Phillips (D.C. United Academy), Tyler Polak (Lincoln, Neb.), Alberto Rosas (Real So Cal), Alex Shinsky (York, Penn.), Jared Watts (North Meck), Eriq Zavaleta (Westfield, Ind.)
MIDFIELDERS (17): Jonathan Canales (Santa Ana, Calif.), Dustin Corea (Milwaukee, Ore.), Andrew Craven (St. Simons Island, Ga.), Sean Davis (Matchfit Academy), Bryan Duran (Duncanville, Texas), Victor Garza (Edinburg, Texas), Luis Gil (Pateadores), Joseph Gyau (FC DELCO), Donovan Henry (Schulz Academy), George Malki (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Carlos Martinez (Las Vegas, Nev.), Alex Molano (FC Dallas Juniors), Joel Nash (Birmingham, Ala.), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire Academy), Charles Renken (Scott Gallagher), Dominic Sarle (BW Gottschee), Erik Stephenson (Surf)
FORWARDS (6): John Agudelo (N.Y. Red Bulls Academy), Jonathan Brown (Clinton, Miss), Jaime Gutierrez (West Coast FC), Stefan Jerome (Davie, Fla.), Alfred Koroma (Solar Red), Jack McInerney (Alpharetta, Ga.)
Note: Development Academy players are indicated by the listing of their clubs
