It is said that the youth are the future. Such an ideal translates pretty well to the sports world in general and to soccer clubs in particular. In addition to utilizing their own innate talents, the new blood being brought into a given side needs to be properly trained and developed if the team is to remain competitive in the future.
For Columbus Crew SC, that youth movement is apparent in the form of Romain Gall and Ben Swanson. The two have arrived at the club in different ways but have the potential to contribute similarly in the midfield when they get their shots.
Romain Gall and Ben Swanson: 2 Young Players with Promise for Crew SC
Gall was acquired via Major League Soccer’s weighted lottery on August 7th, 2014. The 20-year-old was born in Paris, France but moved to the US when he was seven and has dual French-American citizenship. He has had significant prior youth experience in both D.C. United and Real Salt Lake’s academy systems going back to 2010. In 2011, he moved back to the country of his birth, joining French club Lorient, but saw limited time with their reserve team in his two seasons there.
Swanson, 17, is a product of the Crew SC Academy and spent eight years in the club’s youth system before signing a Homegrown contract on October 16th of last year. He has starred for the Crew Juniors at virtually all levels since joining in 2006 and is currently ranked fifth in the 2016 Boys IMG Academy 150 which tracks the nation’s best high school-aged prospects.
Not only are the two up and coming midfielders teammates on the Black and Gold, they also have figured prominently at international level for the United States. Swanson has been a mainstay of the under-18 squad over the past year and has worn the captain’s armband on multiple occasions, including a 2-1 win over the Germany under-18s in December during a camp in Marbella, Spain.
For Gall, he has earned a total of 15 caps for Tab Ramos’ under-20s and has showcased his potential as an attack-minded midfielder with good goal-scoring instinct. He’s currently tied with defender John Requejo and striker Tommy Thompson for the most appearances amongst the players on the current US U-20 roster.
During the CONCACAF U-20 Championship held in Jamaica this past January, Gall scored five goals including a hat trick in an 8-0 blowout of Aruba. His tally was good enough for a tie with Mexico’s Hirving Lozano for the Golden Boot, given to the highest scorer for the tournament. His efforts helped the U-20s secure qualification to the 2015 World Cup for that age group to be held in New Zealand this coming June.
In the span of the past week, we’ve seen that both youngsters will continue to feature prominently with the US. Last Friday, it was announced that Gall will join the U-20s once again for their training camp ahead of the World Cup in Linz, Austria which is currently taking place. He entered as a 76th minute substitute in the team’s 2-2 draw with the Qatar U-20s on Tuesday. The team has one more friendly scheduled during the camp with Croatia on Saturday.
Tuesday saw Swanson get another call-up to the U-18s for their first training camp of the year in Medugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The camp got underway on Wednesday and will finish up on May 1st. Like the U-20s the younger of the national sides will contest two friendlies, one against Bosnian Premier League side Siroki Brijeg on April 28th and the other against the Bosnia U-18s two days later.
Gall made three appearances, all off the bench, for the Black and Gold in 2014 and has yet to see action in the six matches the team has played this season. In fact, neither him nor Swanson have yet to break into the 18-man game day lineups in 2015. Gall was nursing a minor knee injury early on in the season sustained in practice and wasn’t available for the first few games. Expect them to get minutes in forthcoming US Open Cup ties as well as the annual summer friendly which has become a fixture on the Crew SC calendar, usually in late July.
Could this talented tandem one day join their Crew SC compatriot Wil Trapp in the senior national team player pool? That’s still a long way from happening. Nevertheless, both Gall and Swanson have shown qualities in their own unique ways that could see them emerge later on in their careers.
If Gall can continue to develop his skills as a goal-poaching, playmaking attacking midfielder, while Swanson hones his leadership skills on the field, we may very well see the two as regulars for both the Black and Gold and the Red, White and Blue at some point in the future.
Crew SC News and Notes
– Crew SC welcomes the Philadelphia Union to MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday night (7:30 PM ET, Time Warner Cable Sports Channel Ohio, MLS Live).
– This is a series that has been dominated by the Black and Gold since the Union entered the league in 2010; Crew SC sports an 8-3-1 all-time record against Philly and have never lost to them at home.
– Through six games, Crew SC lead Major League Soccer in chances created per game (12.67) and total shots per game (15.33).
– Striker Kei Kamara is set to play his 200th career MLS match on Saturday. He has tallied 56 goals and 24 assists in separate stops with Crew SC, Sporting Kansas City, the San Jose Earthquakes and the Houston Dynamo.
– Left back Waylon Francis (95.1 percent) and defensive midfielder Mohammed Saeid (90 percent) are the two most accurate passers in the league amongst those who have attempted 100 or more passes and the only two to have 90 percent or better passing accuracy on the year.
– The club is currently in the midst of a 206 minute stretch where they haven’t conceded a goal, the longest active shutout streak in MLS.
