The New York Red Bulls Under-14 squad went to England to test their mettle against top competition in the English Premier League International Youth Tournament. On Monday in Warwick, England, the U-14s showed they could compete with the best by defeating Aston Villa’s youth team 1-0.
The Red Bulls U-14’s opened the game in fine fashion, as they controlled the early stages of the game and created several scoring opportunities. In the 6th minute, midfielder Stephen Elias saw his shot from 18 yards pushed past the post for a corner kick. Then in the 20th minute, Elias brilliantly beat two Aston Villa defenders on the endline only to see Orestis Sousinos just miss the tap in for the opening goal.
The young Red Bulls continued to create chances however, and in the 20th minute, substitute Wilber Nunez finished past the Aston Villa goalkeeper after a neat combination with forward Ethan Lochner. The best chances that Aston Villa created in the first half were two shots from 18 yards that deflected harmlessly past the Red Bulls goal for corner kicks.
In the second half, the Red Bulls continued to play some attractive attacking soccer and were unlucky not to build on their lead. Stephen Elias had two good opportunities that saw the Villa goalkeeper make saves on. However, the best chance for the Red Bulls saw Orestis Sousonis pick off an errant Aston Villa pass and go in on goal, only to see his shot come off the post after he beat the Villa goalkeeper.
“I thought it took us a little while to overcome our nerves in the match,” U-14 head coach Jeff Zaun said. “However, once we settled down we controlled the game and I was disappointed that we did not finish more of our chances.”
