Cavan Sullivan just wanted to hug his mom and dad.
The U.S. men’s national team prodigy — who celebrated his 17th birthday on Monday — was less than two hours removed from becoming the second-youngest starter in the program’s 113-year history, going a solid 62 minutes in Saturday’s 4-1 friendly win over Peru at Orlando’s Inter&Co Stadium that marked the start of a new World Cup cycle.
When it was over, Sullivan rose from the bench, looked up into the stands behind the USA’s bench and waved to his parents, friends and the former youth coaches who had made the trip to Orlando to watch his debut. Then he strode into the tunnel in the southwest corner of the stadium and disappeared.
The hug will have to wait.
“I didn’t get to see them,” Sullivan told reporters shortly before boarding the team bus and heading to the airport to catch the charter flight back to Atlanta and U.S. Soccer’s sprawling new training facility. “I know now for next time that I can find a way to bring them down here.”
(Photo by Mark Thorstenson/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Off the field, Sullivan obviously still has plenty to learn. On it, he’s clearly well ahead of his years. With seven goals and nine assists in his last nine games for his hometown Philadelphia Union, it was no surprise that Sullivan became just the fourth 16-year-old to represent the Stars and Stripes on Saturday and the first in more than 20 years, or that he was in U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino’s lineup from the beginning, or that he appeared almost as comfortable against the Peruvians as the seven World Cup veterans who were also in the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager’s starting XI. His opportunity was earned.
So don’t be shocked if Pochettino goes right back to Sullivan when the Americans meet Chile in St. Louis on Tuesday night. With rivalry games looming against regional nemeses Mexico and Canada to close out FIFA’s extended four-game international window early next month, Pochettino seems more likely to ask two-time World Cup veteran Sergiño Dest to man the right wing for the majority of those games.
Sullivan will be ready however many minutes he gets against El Tri and Les Rouges.
(Photo by Alex Menendez/USSF/Getty Images)
“He’s a special player,” U.S. veteran Tyler Adams said of Sullivan. Adams isn’t prone to hyperbole, having played close to 300 club games in the Premier League, Champions League, Bundesliga and MLS. But the 27-year-old and two-time World Cup veteran can’t help but be impressed by Sullivan’s maturity in training and in games.
“He’s obviously very young still, but you wouldn’t know that he’s that young. He’s not out of his depth in any way,” said Adams, who was the youngest captain at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“I see a lot of similar qualities that I had growing up, and I kind of relate it to being from the Northeast, having that chip on your shoulder, that mentality, a little bit of swagger.
“You need all those to take it to the next level,” Adams added. “Now it’s just putting the pieces together. But he has time to do that.”
(Photo by Taylor Banner/USSF/Getty Images)
Over the last week, Sullivan’s introduction to the national team has been aided both by vets like Adams and the presence of his peers; seven other teenagers also made their debuts on Saturday. The majority of them will inevitably return to the U.S. under-20 and -23 national teams after this camp, with the latter providing the core of the USA squad for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. But a few of the newcomers will have a chance to stick with the big boys. Sullivan, who is scheduled to leave Philly for Manchester City next year, tops the list.
“He’s got a load of talent,” U.S. vet Gio Reyna told me in Orlando. “I’m looking forward to continue to see him develop.”
Racking up a few more caps over the next week—plus, can only speed up that process. Though Sullivan has adjusted quickly to the increase in speed and intensity, the Mexico and Canada games will both ratchet up to another level. Having experienced teammates next to him will help.
“When you’re surrounded by players with such high quality,” he said, “It makes it so much easier.”
The 5-foot-7 Sullivan might not even be finished growing yet. But he’s been playing against men since turning pro at 14. Depending on how these next matches go, Pochettino could bring him back for next month’s Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals. Either way, he figures to be a senior team regular sooner rather than later.
Christian Pulisic, the country’s most gifted attacker and a player to whom Sullivan is often compared, has been a mainstay since he was 17. Same for Reyna. Adams was 18 when he won the first of his 59 caps. Sullivan’s now on the same path, but what’s impressed Reyna the most isn’t the youngster’s ability. “[He’s a] really, really hard worker,” Reyna said. “I think we’re all still getting to know him, but he’s been great so far.”
“He’s been himself,” 25-year-old midfielder Sebastian Berhalter told me during a videoconference with reporters Monday before the team flew to St. Louis. “That’s all you ask for. And we’re here to help him and guide him along the way.”
