The rise of a new soccer star: Who is US teenager Cavan Sullivan?

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Americans often say they need to see a superstar to fall in love with a sport, and for years, soccer has come up just short in the US.

We had the likes of Clint Dempsey in the past, a clinical Premier League player but not quite the level of a superstar. Next up was Christian Pulisic, dubbed Captain America , who is arguably a bit better but struggles with consistency.

But now, following those halcyon World Cup days on home soil, the US has a new star breaking through: 17-year-old Cavan Sullivan.

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The Philly native has long been on the radar of soccer lovers, ever since he made his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut for Philadelphia Union at just 14.

A record deal at his hometown club followed, as was a reported agreement with Manchester City to sign with the Premier League giant when he’s 18. Now, just one year away from that potential move, he’s making waves at the senior level and is now starring for the US Men’s National Team (USMNT).

It looks as though all that potential is now starting to be realized.

Expectation has followed Sullivan since he was even younger than he is now, and it’s not hard to see why.

The attacking midfielder, who can play centrally or drift in from the right flank, is box office when he’s in possession.

On a basic level, his foundations are elite. The ball sticks to his foot in possession and he has that explosive movement that terrifies defenders. He’s so much sharper than most, able to dart in any direction to evade danger.

But it’s his creativity that sets him apart from other youngsters coming through the ranks.

When the ball is at his feet, you get the sense that anything can happen. There are training videos online of Sullivan producing skills and tricks that don’t even have names yet. It’s a kind of talent that sells tickets and has caught the attention of USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino as he starts a new World Cup cycle.

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The teenager, who has excelled for The Union by scoring seven goals and providing 12 assists in MLS this season, was called up to his first national camp this month and made his international debut in the US’ 4-1 thrashing of Peru on Saturday.

Sullivan was selected as a starter for that match, showing just how much faith Pochettino has in the emerging talent, who only turned 17 on Monday.

“I’m so happy with his performance, I feel really proud,” Pochettino said afterwards. “At 16 years old, performing, fighting and playing with personality, with character.”

That character is no fluke – it’s the product of his upbringing in Philadelphia and molded by the soccer-obsessed household he grew up in. Both of his parents played at collegiate level and the youngest of four brothers followed in the footsteps of his three older siblings, all of whom play the Beautiful Game.

Cavan’s brother Quinn also plays professionally for the same club, the pair regularly turning out together for the U this season.

But it was at childhood club FC Delco , on the outskirts of Philadelphia, where Sullivan made his first steps as a future soccer prodigy.

Rob Elliot, general manager of FC Delco, has seen all the Sullivan boys pass through the various age groups at some point and has known the family for several years. For him, though, it was clear the youngest son was that little bit more special.

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“Cavan must have been like nine years old, maybe something like that, but obviously back then, he was still a special talent,” Elliot tells CNN Sports .

“Every once in a while, some of these kids that come through are just built differently, right? Their mentality, their focus on what they do, it’s just different.”

Elliot says Sullivan started playing on the same team as his brothers, who were two years older than him, but he was still able to make an impact despite being so much younger than his teammates and the opposition.

It was the youngest Sullivan’s mentality that stood out most to Elliot in those early years – a ‘watch-this’ attitude that was rooted not in ego, but in hard work and perseverance.

He remembers getting Sullivan to write down his goals for the future. “Win the World Cup for FC Delco,” Sullivan wrote. And while that might not be possible, a career full of glittering moments isn’t a stretch for a player with so much talent and potential.

“He just was fearless about it. It didn’t matter what you threw in front of him, he was gonna attack it,” Elliot adds.

“In some ways, you don’t know any better at those ages, but you put a challenge in front of him, and he’s gonna figure out a way to tackle that challenge.”

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That was evident over the weekend when Sullivan made his debut for the US men’s team. Despite not registering a goal or an assist in just over an hour on the pitch, the youngster was never afraid to receive the ball and try to make something happen.

At one point, he was shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Peru’s goalkeeper, an incident that made opposition players protest in his face.

Sullivan’s response? Calmly walking away from the scene without looking fazed at all. That reaction spoke volumes about the sort of player he’ll develop into. It’s a cutting edge that makes him that little bit more special than the host of other youngsters coming through the US system at the moment.

It’s also an attitude that looked ever so familiar for Elliot.

“I remember he was playing against a kid two years older than him, probably a foot taller than him, and they get into a crunching tackle,” Elliot says, recalling a time when he knew Sullivan was destined for big things.

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“This kid probably weighed 30 or 40 pounds more than him, but Cavan didn’t care. He went full into the tackle, got up, and stood over the kid as if to say, ‘Don’t mess with me,’ kind of thing.

“He’s really competitive, but he knows how to walk the line because he’s a really bright kid – just not backing down from anything.”

It’s incredible to think that Elliot first met Sullivan before he even became a teenager. And yet less than five years later, the youngster was making his MLS debut.

That’s a rapid journey that can come with pitfalls – many young stars have been put on a pedestal and failed to deliver on that promise. But Elliot is highly complimentary of the way Philadelphia Union has handled the youngster since he left FC Delco to join the MLS club’s academy in 2020.

Sullivan, for example, has never forgotten his roots and has been back to watch his former childhood team play since moving on, even joining sessions with his former teammates.

“He’s a soccer junkie,” Elliot says, laughing. “But he’s still a down-to-earth kid. Obviously, he’s got to deal with a lot of things that 17-year-old kids don’t have to deal with, right? But he’s brought up well, his parents have done a really good job, and again, I think the Union and everyone else around him have done a good job of staying true to who he is.

“I don’t think that will change for him. You know, he loves playing.”

Sullivan might get another chance to shine for the national team later on Tuesday as the USMNT faces Chile in a friendly.

And while his profile continues to rise and expectations increase, you get the sense that this precocious young talent has the ability to keep improving. The eyes of the world are already watching.

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美国人常说，他们需要看到一位超级巨星才能爱上一项运动，而多年来，足球在美国一直未能达到同样的成功标准。

我们过去曾有过像克林特·邓普西这样的球员，他是一位技术精湛的英超球员，但还达不到超级巨星的水平。接下来是克里斯蒂安·普利西奇，绰号“美国队长”，他或许比邓普西更出色一些，但稳定性不足。

但现在，在本土世界杯的辉煌岁月之后，美国队又涌现出一位新星：17 岁的卡文·沙利文。

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这位费城本地人一直备受足球爱好者的关注，因为他14岁时就代表费城联队在美国职业足球大联盟（MLS）首次亮相。

随后，他在家乡俱乐部签下了一份创纪录的合同，据报道，他还与曼城达成协议，将在18岁时加盟这家英超豪门。如今，距离他可能转会仅剩一年时间，他已经在成年队中崭露头角，并成为美国国家男子足球队（USMNT）的明星球员。

看来所有这些潜力现在都开始得以实现了。

从苏利文更小的时候起，他就一直被寄予厚望，这不难理解。

这名进攻型中场球员既可以踢中路，也可以从右路内切，控球时极具威胁。

从基本功来看，他的能力堪称一流。控球时，球仿佛粘在他的脚上，他爆发力十足的移动令防守队员胆寒。他比大多数球员都更加敏锐，能够迅速向任何方向闪避危险。

但正是他的创造力使他从其他崭露头角的年轻球员中脱颖而出。

当球在他脚下时，你会觉得一切皆有可能。网上有很多苏利文的训练视频，他展现出的技巧和花式动作甚至还没有名字。这种天赋极具票房号召力，也引起了美国国家队主教练毛里西奥·波切蒂诺的注意，他即将开启新的世界杯周期。

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这位少年本赛季在MLS联赛中为费城联队表现出色，打入7球并贡献12次助攻。本月他首次入选国家队集训营，并在周六美国队4-1大胜秘鲁队的比赛中完成了他的国际赛首秀。

苏利文被选为那场比赛的首发球员，这表明波切蒂诺对这位周一才满 17 岁的新星有多么信任。

“我对他的表现非常满意，我感到非常自豪，”波切蒂诺赛后说道。“年仅16岁，就能如此出色地完成比赛，展现出鲜明的个性和性格。”

这种性格并非偶然——这是他在费城长大，并受到他成长的那个痴迷足球的家庭的塑造的结果。他的父母都曾是大学级别的球员，作为家中四个兄弟中最小的一个，他也追随了三个哥哥姐姐的脚步，他们都从事着这项美丽的运动。

卡文的兄弟奎因也效力于同一家俱乐部，两人本赛季经常一起代表U队出战。

但正是在费城郊外的童年俱乐部 FC Delco，苏利文迈出了他作为未来足球神童的第一步。

FC Delco总经理罗布·艾略特见证了苏利文家所有男孩在各个年龄段的成长，并且认识他们一家好几年了。不过，在他看来，最小的儿子显然更加特别。

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“卡文当时大概九岁左右，但显然，在那时，他仍然是一位特别有天赋的球员，”埃利奥特告诉 CNN 体育频道。

“有时候，有些孩子天生就与众不同，对吧？他们的心态，他们对所做事情的专注程度，都不一样。”

埃利奥特说，苏利文最初和他的哥哥们在同一支球队打球，他的哥哥们比他大两岁，尽管他比队友和对手年轻得多，但他仍然能够发挥重要作用。

在那些早年岁月里，最让艾略特印象深刻的是小苏利文的心态——一种“看着吧”的态度，这种态度并非源于自负，而是源于努力和毅力。

他记得自己让苏利文写下未来的目标。“为德尔科足球俱乐部赢得世界杯，”苏利文写道。虽然这或许难以实现，但对于一位天赋异禀、潜力无限的球员来说，拥有辉煌的职业生涯并非遥不可及。

“他对此毫不畏惧。不管你给他什么，他都会迎难而上，”埃利奥特补充道。

“从某种意义上说，那个年纪的孩子不懂事，但如果你给他设置挑战，他总会想办法应对。”

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这一点在上周末苏利文代表美国男足国家队首次亮相时就显露无疑。尽管在场上一个多小时的时间里没有取得进球或助攻，这位年轻球员却从不畏惧接球并尝试创造机会。

比赛中，他曾因对秘鲁门将的一次鲁莽犯规而被出示黄牌，这一事件引发了对方球员的抗议。

苏利文的反应？他镇定自若地离开现场，丝毫没有受到影响。这种反应充分展现了他未来会成长为怎样的球员。这种敏锐的洞察力让他比目前美国体系中涌现的众多年轻球员更加出类拔萃。

这种态度对艾略特来说也再熟悉不过了。

“我记得他当时和一个比他大两岁、可能比他高一英尺的孩子比赛，他们进行了一次激烈的擒抱，”埃利奥特回忆起当时他就知道苏利文注定要成就一番大事业的情景时说道。

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“这孩子可能比他重30到40磅，但卡文不在乎。他全力扑倒了那孩子，然后站起来，站在他上方，好像在说，‘别惹我’之类的话。

“他很有竞争心，但他知道如何把握分寸，因为他是个非常聪明的孩子——就是从不退缩。”

难以置信的是，埃利奥特在还没成年之前就认识了苏利文。然而不到五年后，这位年轻人就完成了他的美国职业足球大联盟首秀。

这是一条快速发展的旅程，但也充满挑战——许多年轻球星被捧上神坛，最终却未能兑现人们的期望。不过，埃利奥特对费城联队自他2020年离开FC Delco加入这家美国职业足球大联盟俱乐部的青训营以来对他的培养方式给予了高度评价。

例如，苏利文从未忘记他的根，自从离开家乡后，他一直回去观看他儿时球队的比赛，甚至还和以前的队友一起参加训练。

“他是个足球狂热分子，”埃利奥特笑着说。“但他仍然是个脚踏实地的孩子。显然，他要面对很多17岁孩子不用面对的事情，对吧？但他家教很好，他的父母做得非常出色，而且我认为费城联队和他身边的所有人都做得很好，始终让他保持本色。”

“我觉得他不会改变这一点。你知道，他热爱比赛。”

周二晚些时候，美国男足国家队将与智利进行一场友谊赛，届时苏利文或许将再次获得为国家队效力的机会。

随着他的知名度不断提升，人们对他的期望也越来越高，你会感觉这位早慧的年轻天才还有继续进步的空间。全世界的目光都已聚焦在他身上。