Crossfire Makes Quarters at Manchester World Championships

The Crossfire Premier team from Redmond, Washington, has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIKE Manchester United World Championships in Hong Kong. There they join such vaulted company as Inter Milan (Italy), Ulsan Hyundai (Korea), Paris Saint-Germain (France), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Estudiantes La Playa (Argentina), Fluminense (Brazil) and Club Universidad Pumas (Mexico). This accomplishment is underlined by noting the teams that did not advance such as Arsenal (England), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Universidad Catolica (Chile) and the host team, Manchester United.

This is the first time in the modern format of the tournament, where 20 national and super regional champions from all over the globe compete for the world championships for 15 year olds, that a US team has advanced to the quarterfinals. They will now face Estudiantes La Playa in the quarterfinals.

The NIKE Manchester United Premier Cup is an international soccer tournament, started in 1993 as the NIKE Premier Cup. It is only for U15 Boys (players born in 1990). It started out twelve years ago as a European regional tournament and has now grown to one of the most prestigious tournaments of its kind. Over 642,000 players have taken part in the tournament since its inception.

15 countries (England, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, China, Korea, Japan, South Africa, US and Hong Kong-host) receive places in the World Finals. In addition there are representatives from regional play-offs in Eastern Europe & the Middle East, Asia Pacific plus the co-host Manchester United who gain spots in the competition. Alumni from this tournament are now playing across the globe both professionally and for their national teams.

“What a great result for the Washington Crossfire team,” said NIKE US Grassroots Manager, Monica Rigali. “To advance to the quarterfinals in the Manchester United Premier Cup is no easy feat. NIKE is honored to sponsor a great club and a great team. They’ll be a tough opponent for Argentina.

We wish them all the best.”... “We are excited to represent our country in such a big competition,” comment Crossfire coach Bernie James. NIKE has put together a tournament that brings the best teams of 15 year olds in the world. We feel fortunate to be able to participate and even more fortunate to advance out of group. The boys have learned so much in this week. I could not be more proud of them.”

Crossfire was 2-1-1 in their group. They opened the tournament with a heartbreaking 0-1 loss to CSKA Moscow. It was a hard fought game where Moscow only point came on an own goal five minutes into the game. Crossfire had chances to even up the score through the hard work of forwards Ellis McLoughlin and Brent Richards but luck was not on their side. Brooks Hopp in goal was particular strong and was singled out by the Russian coach as “Man of the Match.” Coach Bernie James was disappointed with the result but realized that they had been up against a great opponent, “I have had the opportunity to see most of the teams here and the Russians might have been the strongest team in the group play. They have high quality players from top to bottom and are very organized. They had no apparent weaknesses that I saw. Though the game was close one has to say Moscow was the better team.”

One hour later the Washington boys were back on the pitch against the champions of China, Liaoning. This match promised to be challenging because the Chinese were playing in their first match of the day. Crossfire proved up to the task winning 1-0 on a first half goal by forward Fernando Monge. The hard work of Ellis McLoughlin provided numerous chances in the second half but hard luck and great goalkeeping kept the second goal from falling. “I was really proud of the boys coming back in this heat and taking care of business,” said James. “In reality, we should have won by a more comfortable margin but in a tournament like this a win is a win.

Day 2 started against Universidad Catolica who were coming off a tie against Moscow the day before. The Chileans featured a very fast team with a multi-dimensional attack. They started the game with a vicious pace continiously Crossfire from the midfield. The Crossfire defensive line of Ty Klein, Aaron Becerril and Captain Anthony Arena was up to the task not allowing the South Americans a real chance the entire game. Crossfire worked hard to develop an attack but the Chileans proved to be very well organized in the back and despite all efforts the North Americans did not threaten in the first period. In the second half Universidad starting playing more defensively believing a tie would put them in a good position to advance. Even with the defensive posture Crossfire had the best chance of the game when defender Aaron Becerril sneaked up from and found himself with the ball undefended in front of the goal, only to have his shot go wide. “The boys showed a great effort in this match,” said James. Chile threw a lot of things at them and they were able to meet the challenge. We could have easily came out with a win but a tie against a club like this is a good result.”

In the afternoon with the help of a great effort by a resilient Chinese squad, who played Chile to a 1-1 tie, the Crossfire boys again controlled their destiny. A win in their game against New Zealand would mean they would advance out of group. The team proved up to the task with a 3-1 victory that was never really in doubt. The scoring started when Ellis McLoughlin, who was dangerous the entire match, was brought down in the box. Anthony Arena calmly converted a penalty kick to give Crossfire a lead they would never give up. In the second half Ellis McLoughlin dribbled through the Kiwi defense to put the team up 2-0. New Zealand scored on a deflection in front of the Crossfire goal to close the gap to 2-1 but Crossfire quickly answer with a Brandon Zimmerman header off a Kellan Brown corner kick resulting in a final score of 3-1 and ensuring Crossfire’s place in the quarterfinals. “The boys really answered the bell this game,”said James. “Both us and Chile were coming off a really tough match. We were given the chance and we took care of busy. I am really proud of this team. With all the great clubs here no one thought a team from the US would find their way in the quarterfinals. They did what they needed to do and I think they proved they belong.”

 

Quick Facts
Event: Nike Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals
Location: Hong Kong
Team: Crossfire Premier (Redmond, WA) – US Champions
Games: 0-1 LOSS CSKA Moskow
1-0 WIN Liaoning (China)
0-0 TIE Universidad Catolica (Chile)
3-1 WIN Soccer2 (New Zealand)
Next Game Quarterfinals versus Estudiantes La Playa (Argentina)
Interesting Fact: This is the first time in the modern format of the tournament, where 20 national and super regional champions from all over the globe compete for the world championships for 15 year olds, that a US team has advanced to the quarterfinals.

Thanks Brian Klein for the story and update and good luck to the boys in the quarters

I'd also like to thank the person who sent the email to me of the photos. Rob Olsen at SounderCentral, thanks for the great photos.