One of American soccer’s favorite pastimes over the past three decades has been measuring the progress of its players in Europe. U.S. soccer fans—and national team coaches—learned the names of obscure clubs in Germany and Scandinavia to track the few talents who had crossed the pond. A promising teenager’s citizenship status could be as intriguing as his ball control.
So for a soccer culture in search of milestones, this season’s Champions League will set a new standard. For the first time in its history, European soccer’s most prestigious tournament will involve 10 young Americans. They play for teams such as Barcelona, Juventus, and Chelsea—and they’re all under the age of 26.
“It’s not a surprise,” said 18-year-old Sergiño Dest, who this season became the first American to play for Barça’s first team. “I saw already in the youth [teams] that we have a lot of good players and everybody’s hungry.” Ten Americans in the Champions League is still far from a critical mass. It’s roughly on par with the number of players in the Champions League this year from Serbia, a country with the 2% of the U.S. population. And not all of them are ready to feature right away. Konrad de la Fuente, also at Barcelona, only recently started practicing with the first team. Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, at Manchester City, is the club’s third choice.
But for the top of the young American class, led by Christian Pulisic, this season is much more serious business than your average junior year abroad. It’s the product of more players following his lead by committing earlier to a European soccer education.
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