Herrington And Other Internationals

I've been trying to write this post all week but the Rapids keep making solid moves I need to talk about first.  Good problem to have.  Another good thing to have is Lucas Herrington who has been the biggest surprise of the season so far in my opinion.  I did not rate a guy coming over from the A-League as a solid starter but Herrington has arguably been our best (and certainly our most consistent) player over the first 5 games.

And I'm not the only one who has noticed.  Last week a rumor broke that he's being eyed by Everton and West Ham.  Now these type of rumors are always going around so take them with a large grain of salt but that's some notable interest for an 18 year old who has only 5 starts outside his home league.

He was also noticed by the Australian national team and got his first start and cap in their 1-0 win over Cameroon today (early this morning Denver time).  Not only that but he was named man of the match by fans.  You have to think he's got a decent chance to make the World Cup squad at this point, especially if he gets the start and plays well against Curacao on Tuesday.

So a hot start, possible World Cup play, and rumored interest from the Premier League.  I think the Loic Williams signing is partially in preparation for Herrington to leave sooner rather than later.  I don't think its impossible to see him sold in the summer window, and if he's still here for the sprint season next spring we should count ourselves lucky.

This weekend is a busy international break for a number of other Rapids:

• Donovan Phillip got the start as the lone striker for St. Lucia.  He scored the only goal for the Piton in a 6-1 loss to Azerbaijan in Sumgayit
• As mentioned yesterday new winger Georgi Minoungou is in Ouagadougou as his Burkina Faso side hosts Guinea-Bissau in a friendly tomorrow
• Darren Yapi scored the first goal in the USA U-21's 2-0 win over Japan in a friendly in South Korea.  I can't find anything about this game other than the score and goal scorers, but Noah Cobb is also with the team.  The two Rapids will face South Korea as well before returning to Colorado.
• Bryce Jaimson is in camp with the U.S. u-20s in Argentina.  The squad faced the Argentina U-20s in a friendly today and won 3-0, but based on the picture posted of the starting XI Jaimson didn't start and he's not listed as a goal scorer.  Again, that's all I can find on the match.  They will play another match against Independiente's reserves on Tuesday.

Last, but hardly least, there's one more Colorado connection in international play today.  Right now, Friday night in Denver but Saturday in the Marshall Islands, this is happening:

The Ratak Cup is the Marshall Islands' futsal tournament that they are using to build the sport in the islands.  Because of the lack of space and the ease of using already existing basketball courts many small Oceania countries focus on futsal over 11-a-side football to grow the sport.  Earlier this week the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation put out a call asking for sponsors for the tournament.  There was enough interest amongst Centennial 38 members that we decided to sponsor the tournament and actually raised more than double the amount they were looking for.

This is the second iteration of the tournament, expanding from 4 teams in 2024 to 6 teams i 2026 as they kickstart their new futsal league.  The club names are great:

• Real Majuro
• Vasco de Laura
• Clube de Rairok Flamengo
• Ajeltake Arsenal
• Boca Lagoon
• Rita Plate

Majuro, Laura, Rairok, and Ajeltake are communities in the Marshall Islands while Rita is the nickname given by G.I.'s to the now-former naval base on the island.

3 players who played in the 2024 tournament represented the Marshall Islands in their first ever national team games as part of the Outrigger Challenge Cup held last August in Arkansas (Springdale, Arkansas has the largest population of Marshallese outside the islands) and the hope is this year's tournament will be an opportunity for more players to raise their game and play for the full national team in the future.

Even though the tournament is wrapping up just as I post this we're still raising money to help the federation and will be sending them an additional donation of whatever we raise over the next couple of days.  If you want to help out you can donate through C38's website here.