Youth National Teams: U-18s take first, fourth in European tournaments

The U.S. U-18 national team, coached by Mitch Murray, completed a two-week tour of Europe with a 5-3-2 record, including a first-place finish at the Tournoi International Tournament in Saint-Martin d’Heres, France and a fourth-place finish at the Youth International Tournament of Terborg in the Netherlands. The U.S. did not allow a goal in four matches in France, shutting out Slavia, 3-0, Derby County ,1-0, and ES St. Martin, 4-0, before edging Real Murcia, 1-0, in the championship match. In Holland, the Americans drew with Spain’s Atletico Madrid, England’s Tottenham Hotspur and Brazil’s Sport Recife and downed Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, 2-1. Mexican club Chivas stopped the U.S., 2-1, in the semifinals, and Vitesse gained revenge with a 2-1 win in the third-place match. Gus Kartes (Tarpon Springs, Fla.), who plays for Greek club Olympiakos Piraeus, led the USA with four goals on the tour, and Brad Davis (St. Charles, Mo.) added two. The U-18s will be off until August, when they regroup for the 1999 U.S. Amateur Sports Festival in Portland, Ore.