The Official Cruz Medina thread

I think that's it exactly with Cruz. Hopefully he turns it up a notch. I've seen some hopeful signs.

 

San Jose Earthquakes’ Cruz Medina got called up to the Mexican U-20 squad and has been training with them in México this week.

After training on Wednesday, he was surprised by his grandfather, who lives in México and hasn’t seen Cruz in years.

What a moment for the two as they hugged and embraced each other. You can see Cruz almost tearing up after meeting his grandfather again.

The 17-year-old was born and raised in San Francisco, California, and is one of the brightest young prospects in MLS.

 

Cruz is in the lineup for the first match vs. Jamaica. Now on FS2.

 

Holy cow, Jamaica is bad.

 

Medina goal to go up 5-0.

 

He's playing well. I wouldn't say he looks like the best US player but he's been good, spraying good passes, unlucky not to have assists a couple of times, and a really nice touch and turn in the box for the goal. And Cruz is still 17.

 

Gained a few days but not enough to turn over a birthday.

 

The announcer is quite the ham. Samplings:

"Man, I miss old-school hip-hop".

"Officially the 'United Mexican States', the US and Mexico have a lot in common. The United Mexican States and the United States of America. Can't we all get along?"

"Brooklyn Raines is Liberian like Timothy Weah, and Timothy Weah is from Brooklyn! Not sure what that means, but..."

"Let see, the hamstring is the back of the leg and the quads are the front. Good thing I paid attention in anatomy class."

 

Niko came in as a sub in the 60-something minute, wearing the #10! Hasn't looked great so far. Had a break onto the goal and had it taken from him before he could shoot or pass for a likely goal. Interesting that Cruz rates higher than Niko with US Youth Nats and Niko's been getting 1st team minutes for like 3 years and Cruz yet to get minutes?

 

Cruz is still too slight to play in MLS. Kind of like Pellegrino (however if’s spelled).

 

He's gotten a little taller and maybe slightly more filled out in the last few years. He doesn't really get pushed off the ball in Next Pro like he used to when he started as a 15-year old.

Niko wound up scoring late on what was for all intents and purposes an open goal. He even finished with his right foot.

 

You are misinterpreting, they don't rate Medina higher than Tsakiris because the former started and the latter didn't. They are basically starting two different groups and in the first game it was the B group, so the A group will get the second game and the fourth game which is the most important one. Lots of top prospects didn't start in this one, like Keyrol Figueroa (son of Maynor) and Nimfasha Berchimas (who may be the second highest rated prospect after Cavan Sullivan). This is Tsakiris' second cycle with the U-20s so he is one of the top players on the team.

 

This spin and shot from Cruz Medina 😮‍💨🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/l3ShBX0dOA

— USMNT Nation🫡🇺🇸 (@USMNTvsHaters) July 20, 2024

 

Last cycle I didn't remember seeing Niko as a "top player" in U20's. IIRC he has generally been a late sub. Cruz has been a top player in the youth nats for a few years now though it's only recently that he's moved up to U20's.

Niko started playing with the Quakes when he was 16-17. Cruz will be turning 18 in September. Will he get any minutes with the 1st team this year or will he have to wait until he's 19, when Niko started at 16-17? Or is his Cruz's contract going to run out at the end of the year and he's going to sign for a Mexican club along with Emi. :facepalm

 

Yes because last cycle Niko was one of the youngest guys on the team. I was talking about THIS cycle, obviously. When Niko is one of the few veterans of the previous U-20 cycle.

The Scuffed Podcast just had an entire episode on the U-20 roster with Marcus Chairez who said Tsakiris was one of the most important players on the team.

🎙️New pod@chai_asc joins Belz to ID the players on the USYNT U20 Concacaf tourney roster and the long list of age-eligible players who are NOT on this roster. U20 World Cup qualification is the prize. The games kick off for us Friday vs Jamaicahttps://t.co/f9tm2R0NGx pic.twitter.com/uPsSEXY336

— scuffed (@scuffedpod) July 18, 2024

 

OK, we’ll see. If he’s “one of the most important players on the team” it will be a first for Niko in the youth nats because I don’t think he’s ever been a top player on those teams whereas Cruz has. I get that the age difference could make Niko more “important” than Cruz for U20’s at this point.

Going back to U17’s Cruz was a starter, sometimes captain and key player in the last U17 WC. Not sure that Niko played any U17, though some U15.

 

This seems to confirm that Tsakiris is part of the A group... he's starting the second game and Medina isn't

Full rotation except for Nolan Norris and Luca Bombino.

GK: Eyestone
LB: Bombino
LCB: Norris
RCB: Hawkins
RB: Kohler
LCM: Habroune
RCM: Oregel Jr
AM: Tsakiris
LW: Berchimas
RW: Gozo
CF: Figueroa

This is the more fun lineup, exciting to watch the three young attackers. https://t.co/7fDltProPh

— Marcus Chairez (@chai_asc) July 23, 2024

 

It's a masterclass from Medina and it's a 2-0 lead for @TheTown_FC 👌 pic.twitter.com/MPybHYOYlh

— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) September 22, 2024

A good example of why I wouldn't give up on Cruz Medina ('06) so fast. Not many can score a goal like this. https://t.co/QKK1uyXvXJ

— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) September 23, 2024