Sands of Time

It was yet another great outing for 18-year old James Sands, who kept his place in the XI after completing all 18 of his passes vs. Orlando on the opening day.

This performance from the U.S. youth international was even better, as he put his foot in decisively to win back possession for his team and used the ball with a wisdom and maturity beyond his years.

Dome was impressed, too, telling reporters: “Jimmy is our future. I am sure. He played amazing for me today. He's in control all the time. He’s a clever player for us... For Jimmy and these players, it’s never you are too young to play soccer. Never. It depends on the quality."

The numbers also backed up that James had a very fine outing: James won a game-high 10 duels and recovered the ball seven times over the course of the 90’.

We already knew Sands could pass the football beautifully over a range of distances, but this performance, against a talented, fleet-footed D.C., showed he can also mix it physically vs. players vastly more experienced.

Exciting stuff.