Cade Cowell’s name was trending at No. 6 on Twitter on Jan. 25 following his standout performance during the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team’s 2-1 loss to Serbia in front of 11,475 fans at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.
The Ceres native/Cesar Chavez Jr. High grad earned Inside Man of the Match honors.
“There’s no better feeling than representing your country,” 19-year-old Cowell said leading up to the international-friendly match. “I was originally going to play for the U-20 team. I got a call from (USMNT interim head coach) Anthony Hudson. He asked me if I wanted to be on the National Team. I’m really excited and stoked to play with the Senior Team. I feel really confident and I’m ready to go. I’m super grateful and blessed. It’s in Los Angeles. All my family will be able to go.”
Cowell boosted his stock while making his first career start and second overall appearance for the USMNT.
He logged 72 minutes of playing time at forward.
Cowell had shots ricochet off the left post and right post 10 minutes into the second half.
Both shots were taken inside the 18-yard box.
He also fired a shot just wide of the goal in the first half.
Hudson talked about Cowell’s performance after the game.
He was interviewed by Charles Boehm, a national writer at MLSsoccer.com.
“He was just really outstanding tonight,” Hudson said. “Really direct, really aggressive, brave. I think maybe if he’d have stayed on, I think he deserved a goal for sure. But this is probably one of the best performances I’ve seen. I’ve seen him have some amazing moments. I think tonight’s showed another level, another step forward for him. So it was a really special performance from him and I’m really proud of what he did tonight.”
Cowell was among 24 players called up to the U.S. Men’s National Team for the annual January training camp.
He was the youngest non-goalkeeper on the roster and second youngest player overall.
The training camp kicked off on Jan. 21 before the USMNT faced Serbia on Jan. 25 and Colombia on Jan. 28.
Cowell made his debut with the U.S. Men’s National Team in December of 2021.
He entered the game in the 78th minute.
Cowell earned his first-ever call-up to the USMNT in July of the same year. He spent several days in Dallas training with U.S. leading up to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal game versus Jamaica before returning to San Jose.
Cowell will begin his fifth season with the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) later this month.
He’s scored nine goals and dished out 12 assists in 81 career games.
Cowell’s started 33 times.
He holds numerous age-specific club records, including youngest player to make an MLS appearance (16 years, 150 days), youngest player to make an MLS start (16 years, 325 days), and youngest player to score an MLS goal (16 years, 325 days).
Cowell became the third-youngest player in MLS history to be voted MLS Player of the Week (17 years, 207 days) during the 2021 campaign. He also recorded career highs in appearances (33), starts (14), minutes (1,664) and shots (42), earning the club’s Young Player of the Year award and a selection to the MLS All-Star Team.
Cowell inked a five-year contract with San Jose at the age of 15 in January of 2019.
He became the youngest player signing in Earthquakes and Bay Area team sports history.
Cowell signed a contract extension on Feb. 11, 2022 with San Jose. Financial terms for the deal which runs through the 2025 MLS season with a club option for 2026 were not disclosed.
“Seeing Cade grow from a promising youth player and having it translate to production at the MLS level has been exciting to watch,” Earthquakes General Manager Chris Leitch said.
