Tournament success for Cameron and USA U18s

Academy defender Cameron Carter-Vickers has spoken of his pride after helping the USA Under-18 side win an international tournament in Czech Republic last week.

Our promising 16-year-old centre-half, who was a regular for us in the Barclays Under-18 Premier League last season and shone during our Development Squad’s pre-season trip to France this summer, played in all three games for the States as they took top honours in the 21st Vaclav Jezek International Youth Tournament in Kromeriz.

He was ever-present at the back as his side beat Hungary 3-1 and Czech Republic 3-2 to secure top spot in Group A, before securing a 1-0 win over Ukraine in Sunday afternoon’s final.

Cameron, whose father is American, said: “I’m very proud to have played. It was quite a tough tournament – we had three games in four days so physically it was quite challenging but I think USA were the best team. We played in the right way, played with a bit of style and we deserved to win it.

“Two of the teams we played against played five at the back and you don’t really get that in England that much. At the beginning it was a bit hard to adapt but once I got going I found it quite easy to fit in.”

Another of our Academy starlets was involved in the tournament – midfielder Cy Goddard started for Japan in their 4-1 group stage defeat to Ukraine, having previously featured as a substitute in their 2-1 reverse against Slovakia. He then went on as a late substitute in their 3-0 fifth place play-off victory over Hungary.

John McDermott, our Academy Manager, was encouraged to see both Cameron and Cy involved in competitive international action and explained how the former came to the attention of USA international officials.

“Cameron had an outstanding season at Under-18 level last year while still only a schoolboy,” he said. “His quality was recognised when we went away to the IMG Cup in Florida and played against the USA youth team.

“On the day we played really well and they’ve been monitoring him since that point. He’s a joint passport holder, US and English, and obviously the US have recognised his talent and hopefully they’ll want to invest in him over the next few years.

“Cy has just been away with Japan as well and as I’ve said on several occasions previously, any additional exposure that the boys get to international football can only benefit them. I think it’s very encouraging.”