Now that the espn.com piece is up, I can also add a few more quotes here that didn't make the Lee story.
Lee on PSV
All the players there had played pro a couple of years before they came to PSV, but that was my first year, coming in there. I was a young kid, going in there, and they’d all been playing in their second and third year. They knew what they’re doing. They’d say, “Get your experience in first, because the coach wants you to be ready when you do go in.”
On what coach Koeman had said to him about improving:
"He’s given me a few pointers on what to do and what to look out for, playing in my position – what to do offensively and defensively. He told be to work on it and when he sees it progressing, then I might move on to the first team."
DaMarcus Beasley on Lee"You can see that in training, he definitely holds his own. I think that’s good for him. If he’s not feisty and fighting for the ball, he won’t get it."
On how he found out Lee was going to be in camp:'I didn’t know. He didn’t tell me. I saw the roster when I got into the hotel and I thought, 'Wow, he’s here.' I was excited to see him."
6 comments:
Andrea,
Excellent piece on an exciting, talented and up-and-coming player! Well done!
I'm excited to see Nguyen's debut and I hope that he will show very well. I agree that he has the potential to take on greater and more critical roles on the senior team in the not-too-distant future.
Hi AC,
Reading between the lines, would you say Lee has made the biggest impression of the group of newbies? Comments by you and Bob sounds very serious. Serious in regards to building potential empty hype. I don't see you do that too often as matter as fact, you kind of soft sell it most of the time.
So Nguyen is 17? 18? not 16 right? You gave us a couple clues(high-schooler, young), but never actually wrote it.
Lee is 20. He was 18 two years ago and still in high school when he made the U20 team.
I have to say that Lee did impress me the most partly because he's the most original of the young prospects. He does unexpected things on the field, and I personally liked to be surprised.
But I don't want to hype him up, because all the writers know that there's players who can hit great shots or make nice plays in practice and yet do nothing but trip over their feet when facing the pressure of a real game. Lee needs to prove it when it matters.
I was at the game in San Jose today. Nguyen got only a few minutes in, but he showed flashes of great skill on the ball.
Fell lucky to have watched Lee since he was 10.
Watched him hoist a Dallas Cup trophy over his head at u12 and watched him dribble four players and score in the dying moments of overtime during the 2005 Southern Regional Final when he was 18 (his 87 Dallas Texans club team went on to win the National Championship, though Lee left before the last 2 games at Nationals to be with the U20's).
Yes, I know that's just youth soccer. But even then his creativity and technical prowess marked him as special.
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