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The US U-17 Men's National Team got off to an impressive start to the Nike International Friendlies, delivering a 7-1 win over Portugal. Next up is Turkey, 4-2 loser to Brazil in its opening match of this tournament.
Another blow-out win for the USA would be a surprise. Past results don't count for too much, nor are they great predictors of how any of these teams might perform in the 2017 U-17 World Cup - which is almost a year away (it starts in October) and for which most of the qualified sides are not yet know.
But this US U-17 squad has been kept busy with regular games and camps over the last few months, and the evidence of the Portugal match is simply that that team knows itself pretty well. Turkey might prove a more challenging opponent than Portugal, it might not - but the USA should at least be expected to be competitive.
As they proved against the Portuguese, if an opponent lets them play, these U-17s can put a game out of reach pretty quickly.