The Philadelphia Union midfielder has gotten his longest run of game time since turning pro, and the data is tantalizing

There’s a video from a United States U-15 camp three years ago that will make your head spin. It’s a routine training session for the boys on the pitch except one, a head shorter and a year or two younger than the others, who’s practicing with the national team for the first time.

Is the boy nervous? He is not. A pass floats into the box and he checks his run, tries to get under it, but the ball is too high for his 13-year-old head to reach. He doesn’t even jump. As the cross sails over him, he flings himself forward like Superman and flicks a heel up behind his back, catching the ball with a scorpion kick that bounces straight into the path of a teammate for a cartoon assist.