Cavan_sullivan_-_asn_top_-_u-17_world_cup_goal_vs._burkina_faso_-_11-5-25
Morning update

U.S. U-17s aim to continue strong World Cup start, Mitrovic & Martino hired, Americans in Europe

ASN's Brian Sciaretta kicks off your Friday with a big morning update full of news. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
November 07, 2025
8:00 AM

THE UNITED STATES U-17 team is off to a posiitve start at the World Cup. MLS teams are filling their coaching vacancies, with notable hires. Americans are involved in European games and the MLS playoffs resume this wekend with pivotal game three's. There is a lot to break down. 

Let's start in Qatar

 

U.S. U-17s win opener, Tajikistan next

 

The United States U-17 national team defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 in its opening game of the U-17 World Cup in Qatar. The game was extremely physical and the U.S. team faced a tough test.

Burkina Faso was a tough opponent and played with a lot of determination and often outworked the U.S. for balls. The U.S. team controlled possession into the second half but the better chances were in favor of the Africans.

What changed was when Cavan Sullivan entered the game in the 62nd minute. Widely considered to be the best player on the team, Sullivan remained with his club, the Philadelphia Union, until Sunday’s playoff game against Chicago. He only recently joined the U-17 team in Qatar.

But Sullivan made the U.S. team better and more dangerous with its possession. Then in the 79th minute, Borussia Dortmund winger Mathis Albert got the ball out wide and sent in a cross for Julian Hall. The cross came up short and Sullivan was able to finish it instead.



The U.S. team managed to escape with three points after a tough test. But the lessons were likely learned about how to win physical games and that it  cannot be outworked the same way it was in this game. Burkina Faso has the chances to make the result go in their favor.

Next up is Tajikistan, which lost to the Czech Republic 6-1 in the opening game. It might be a game were head coach Gonzalo Segares opts to rotate his squad because the result against Burkina Faso was likely physically taxing.

 

Mitrovic named Revolution head coach

 

The New England Revolution named Marko Mitrovic as the team’s next head coach following a disappointing two-year run with Caleb Porter. Mitrovic has spent the last several years as youth national team head coach with U.S. Soccer. In 2024, he led the U-23 Olympic team to the quarterfinals of the Paris Games. Then last month, he guided the U.S. U-20 team also to a run to the quarterfinals. Both of his teams were eliminated by Morocco.



But Mitrovic is a pragmatic coach who built a system that connected well to his youth teams. But now coaching a club, he will not face the constraints of youth national team soccer where certain generations will naturally be weak in certain positions – then it comes down to adjusting for those weaknesses throughout the cycle. A professional club environment will allow Mitrovic to better build his system.

His role in developing young American players will now only increase at the Revolution who have produced several impressive homegrown players. And now he will be able to work with players like that on a daily basis.

 

Atlanta rehires Martino

 

Tata Martino will return to Atlanta United as his second stint as the team’s head coach. He was, of course, the team’s head coach from 2016-2018 where he guided the team to MLS Cup in 2018 with Miguel Almiron, Josef Martinez, and Darlington Nagbe leading the way.

Since he left, both Martino and Atlanta United have struggled. This past season Atlanta did not make the playoffs despite spending a fortune on players. Meanwhile, Martino had stints with the Mexican national team and Inter Miami although both resulted in his termination.

Can Martino “go home again?” We will see. But this is a move that will certainly excite the Atlanta fanbase again. But if history tells us anything, he won't be in Atlanta very long. He rarely coaches a club team more than a season or two. 


 

Champions League highlights

 

Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun both scored in the Champions League midweek ahead of returning to the United States next week for the national team camp.

Pepi scored his fifth career Champions League goal for PSV in a 1-1 draw against Olympiacos.



Balogun scored the winner for Monaco in a 1-0 victory over Bodo Glimnt north of the Arctic Circle.



Between both players, the U.S. team is in good shape at forward. They are both in good form and they have two very different skillsets that can help teams in different ways. Balogun is an expert in getting behind backlines. Pepi can turn and shoot quickly and he can also be more of an aerial threat.

Weston McKennie meanwhile played a solid 90 minutes for Juventus in a 1-1 draw against Sporting CP. The early returns on the coaching change are promising.

 

Midweek Europa League games

 

Auston Trusty started for Celtic in a disappointing 3-1 loss to Midtjylland in Denmark. Trusty was called up to the USMNT camp in November but Celtic is having a bad year in both the Premiership and in Europe. In the Europa, Celtic has just four points from four games.

Erik Palmer-Brown went 90 minutes for Panathinaikos in a 1-0 away win over Malmo in Sweden. The former Sporting Kansas City homegrown earned praise from the media for his performance which included winning 4/4 of his ground duels and 3/5 of his aerials. It was a good outing in front of new manager Rafa Benitez. 

Tanner Tessmann played 65 minutes in Spain as his Lyon team fell to Real Betis 2-0. Not a great result but it wasn’t a well-played game by either team as players were likely thinking about the games this weekend.

 

Midweek Conference League games

 

Aziel Jackson came off the bench for Jagiellonia Bialystok and assisted on a late, stoppage time equalizer in a 1-1 draw with KF Shkendija of North Macedonia. Leon Flach started for Bialystok while Jackson came off the bench in the 76th minute.  

Chris Richards went the distance for Crystal Palace in a 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar. Richards was left off the November USMNT roster as he plays through a calf injury. The Alabama native was good in this game.

Lennard Maloney started for Mainz against Fiorentina but was subbed out in the 60th minute with Mainz down 1-0. After he left the game, Mainz came back for a 2-1 win to move into first place.

Dante Polvara played 84 minutes for Aberdeen in a 0-0 draw with AEK Larnaca.

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