CARSON, Calif. – Matt Miazga has been a consistent starter for the US Under-20 national team throughout its preparations for the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, but step back six months, and he was in uncertain territory.
After an encouraging stretch last summer in his second season with the New York Red Bulls, making five successive starts in central defense in June and July, he made just one appearance the rest of the season and, in US coach Tab Ramos' estimation, “was struggling.”
Cut to the present, and Miazga is beginning to soar. He was solid during the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in January and recovered quickly from a calf injury suffered in preseason, impressing first-year Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch enough to start eight of New York’s first nine MLS matches and earning his place as a pivotal part of Ramos’ backline.
It's been a heady rise for the 19-year-old center back from Clifton, New Jersey, who chose the US over Poland, his parents' homeland, and is focused on helping the young Yanks go as far as possible in the U-20 World Cup, which runs May 30-June 20.
“Looking on paper, we're very deep,” said Miazga, who partners Tottenham youth player Cameron Carter-Vickers in the middle. “A lot of us are getting a lot of significant minutes in MLS or in Mexico, and Europe, too, and we're going there with the mentality to win it. We're not going there for vacation; we're going there to win it.”
Miazga went the full 90 in Tuesday's 2-1 tune-up victory over Australia on the Aussies' Central Coast, and the Yanks open Group A play on May 30 against Myanmar in Whangarei.
He’ll head into the tournament full of confidence after a strong start to the year with the Red Bulls – a thrilling development to the Homegrown Player who started in the club's Academy when he was just 13.
“The Red Bulls gave me so much. They've given me everything, and it's great to give back now,” he said. “It's a dream come true to play at Red Bull Arena in front of our amazing fans and play for the club at the first-team level.”
Ramos has been watching closely.
“Matt has made tremendous progress over the last six months,” said the former US national team star, whose final seven years as a player were spent with the MetroStars, now the Red Bulls. “As late as October and November of last year, he was struggling and had not gotten a lot of time for the Red Bulls, so he was not playing when [he wasn't with the U-20s].”
Ramos gave Miazga time at the Marbella Tournament in Spain last November and in two friendlies against Honduras in December, and the 6-foot-3 defender played in five of six games at the qualifiers in Jamaica.
“By the time he went to preseason, he felt a lot more comfortable,” Ramos said. “I think with the work he's done with Jesse at the Red Bulls, he's continued to get better, and now he plays all the time for the Red Bulls. He's becoming a solid player.”
Miazga says much of his growth has come on the mental side of the game.
“I know I can play at this level, and from a mental standpoint and confidence, I've got to be able to perform,” he said during the U-20s' stopover in Southern California before departing for Australia ahead of the World Cup. “I'm trying to establish myself as a leader as well. I think that's very important in my position, to be a leader, and as each game goes, my confidence grows and I try in every game to communicate more with my teammates. They really want me to become a leader and demand and impose directions on the field and all that stuff.”
He's impressed with the Red Bulls, especially during a dominating performance in a mid-April victory over San Jose, and is ready to stand out in New Zealand, too.
“Ever since the first camp of the cycle started, my dream was to make that World Cup roster,” he said. “Now that it's here, I'm really looking forward to it. It's the world stage, so I'm going to be playing against the best players my age, and I really want to make an impact for the team.”
Miazga could have made such an impact for Poland. His parents were born there and in their teens moved separately to the US, where they met and married. Miazga played for Poland's U-16 and U-18 national teams before he got the call from the US U-18s in 2013. He turned down overtures from Poland's U-20s last fall.
“It was a good experience [with Poland],” he said. “I do feel Polish, because my whole family is Polish and we speak Polish in the household, but I was born here in America, so I feel very American because I was here. Every experience I get like that is good for me and good for my development, but now I'm with the US Under-20s, and I'm really focused right now for the USA.”
He hopes to play one day for the full US national team, but he's keeping his options with Poland open.
“I've got to keep my doors open, but the goal is, obviously, to play for the US,” he said. “I don't know what the future holds. We'll see what happens, and we'll go from there.”
