在博拉·米卢蒂诺维奇执教美国国家男子足球队期间，他以征召年轻人进入国家队而闻名。
During his time in charge of the USMNT, Bora Milutinovic had a reputation for calling up youngsters to the senior level.
。像卡万·沙利文这样16岁的球员为美国国家队效力，这在过去是不可想象的——直到迈克·斯利文斯基、马克·乔纳斯和尼尔森·瓦尔加斯在1991年的一场友谊赛中亮相。如果16岁的卡万·沙利文在未来几天内代表美国国家男子足球队出场，他将加入一份美国队史上最年轻球员的名单，其中不乏耳熟能详的名字。
The idea of 16-year-olds like Cavan Sullivan playing for the USMNT was once unfathomable – until Mike Slivinski, Mark Jonas and Nelson Vargas appeared in a 1991 friendly If 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan takes the field for the US men’s national team in the coming days, he will join a list of youngest-ever US players that has no shortage of recognizable names.
排在榜首的是曾经的天才球员（后来成为警示案例）弗雷迪·阿杜，他至今仍是代表美国男足出场的最年轻球员。像埃迪·加文和鲍比·康维这样排名前20的名字，对于美国队的资深球迷来说并不陌生；克里斯蒂安·普利西奇、尤努斯·穆萨和吉奥·雷纳目前仍是队中核心，他们很可能成为沙利文未来的进攻搭档。
At the top is onetime phenom (turned cautionary tale) Freddy Adu, still the youngest player to ever appear for the US men. Names in the top 20 like Eddie Gaven and Bobby Convey will feel familiar to longtime US fans; Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna are all still very much in the picture and may well prove to be Sullivan’s future partners in attack.
在阿杜的名字之下、上述五人之上，有三个名字对于绝大多数美国球迷来说是陌生的：迈克·斯利文斯基、马克·乔纳斯和尼尔森·瓦尔加斯。这三名球员都在1991年对阵牙买加的友谊赛中完成了首秀，其中斯利文斯基和乔纳斯出场时的年龄都比沙利文此次若能出场时的年龄还要小。这三人中只有瓦尔加斯后来再次代表美国队出场，他在1991年至1994年间又获得了三次出场机会。
Just below Adu’s name and above those five mentioned is a trio of names unknown to the vast majority of US fans: Mike Slivinski, Mark Jonas and Nelson Vargas. All three players made their debut in a 1991 friendly against Jamaica, with Slivinski and Jonas both younger than Sullivan will be should he appear for the US this window. Only Vargas featured for the US again, capped an additional three times between 1991 and 1994.
如今，16岁球员代表美国国家队出战的概念已经成为主流，但在20世纪90年代初，这简直闻所未闻，那时距离美国足协投入数百万美元用于青训和人才发掘还有很长一段时间。正因如此，当沙利文上周接到征召时，似乎没有人记得这三位在三十多年前就将自己的名字载入史册的球员。
The idea of a 16-year-old representing the US at the senior level has been mainstreamed by now, but it was unheard of in the early 1990s, long before the US Soccer Federation pumped millions into youth development and talent identification. So much so that when Sullivan received his call-up last week, nobody seemed to even remember the three players who, more than three decades ago, carved their names into the record books.
“我的一个哥们发给我一篇关于[卡万入选]的文章，上面说他将成为美国历史上第二年轻的球员，”斯利文斯基大笑起来。“那我算什么，他妈的鬼魂？我不觉得那是场梦，我挺确定我没想象出那场我踢过的唯一一场比赛。”
“A buddy of mine sent me an article about [Cavan’s call-up], and it said he’d be the second-youngest player in US history,” says Slivinski, breaking into laughter. “What am I, a fucking ghost? I don’t think it was a dream, I’m pretty sure I didn’t imagine the one game I played.” hen Bora Milutinovic took the reins as US head coach in 1991, he inherited a program approaching the most pivotal moment in its history. A year earlier, the US had appeared in their first World Cup in four decades. In three years, the country would host the tournament for the first time. It was imperative, then, that the USMNT put in a decent showing on home soil.
1991年，当博拉·米卢蒂诺维奇接过美国队主教练的教鞭时，他继承的是一个正处于历史上最关键时刻的项目。一年前，美国队时隔四十年再次亮相世界杯。三年后，该国将首次主办这项赛事。因此，美国男足国家队必须在主场打出像样的表现。
Milutinovic took a long, wandering path to the USMNT, with stops as a player or coach in a dozen or so different countries. He led Mexico at the 1986 World Cup and Costa Rica in 1990, guiding both sides to their then-best-ever finishes. His reputation as a bit of a miracle worker – a specialist extracting results out of underperforming teams – was a perfect fit for a US side who lacked little in the way of grit but still missed the quality to compete with the world’s best.
米卢蒂诺维奇走了一条漫长而曲折的道路才来到美国男足国家队，曾在十几个不同的国家担任球员或教练。他曾率领墨西哥队参加1986年世界杯，又在1990年带领哥斯达黎加队参赛，两队均取得了当时历史最好成绩。他作为“创造奇迹者”的名声——专门从表现不佳的球队身上榨取成绩的专家——完美契合了一支美国队：这支球队不缺拼劲，却仍缺乏与世界强队抗衡的实力。
In short order, Milutinovic set out on a talent identification journey that was unprecedented at the time, calling hundreds of players into varying camps and handing nearly 50 of them their first caps in his three years at the helm.
很快，米卢蒂诺维奇开启了一场前所未有的选材之旅，征召数百名球员参加各类集训营，在执教的三年里让近50人完成了首秀。
In August 1991, that scouting journey took Milutinovic to the U-17 World Cup in Italy. There, an unheralded group of US youngsters bossed an Italy squad featuring Alessandro Del Piero and an Argentina team led by Marcelo Gallardo and Juan Sebastián Verón. The US would be undone by eventual champions Ghana in the semi-finals, but several players had managed to leave their mark on Milutinovic and his staff.
1991年8月，这场选材之旅将米卢蒂诺维奇带到了意大利U-17世界杯。在那里，一群默默无闻的美国小将压制了拥有亚历山德罗·德尔皮耶罗的意大利队，以及由马塞洛·加亚尔多和胡安·塞巴斯蒂安·贝隆率领的阿根廷队。美国队最终在半决赛负于后来的冠军加纳队，但有几名球员已在米卢蒂诺维奇及其教练组心中留下了印记。
Among them was Slivinski, who’d grown up in a trailer park in St Charles, Missouri, across the river from St Louis. Long before the era of MLS Next Pro or elite youth travel teams that sometimes resemble professional clubs, Slivinski honed his skills at his local high school, eventually earning a look from US Soccer.
其中就有斯利文斯基，他在密苏里州圣查尔斯的一个拖车公园长大，隔着河就是圣路易斯。在MLS Next Pro或精英青年旅行队（有时酷似职业俱乐部）出现的很久以前，斯利文斯基就在当地高中磨练技艺，最终引起了美国足协的注意。
“Those Italy players from that U-17 World Cup left and went back to training with Fiorentina,” Slivinski says, laughing. “I left that tournament and went right back to training with Francis Howell North [high school].”Slivinski’s partner in midfield, Vargas, also caught Milutinovic’s eye. Vargas’s footballing journey in some ways mirrors that of US legend Clint Dempsey, whose skillset and mentality was tempered playing in the Mexican men’s leagues of his home town. Raised by a Colombian father, Vargas was featuring in Miami’s highly-competitive Sunday leagues at age 13, often lining up against ex-professional players twice his age and size.
“那届U-17世界杯的意大利球员们离开后，回去和佛罗伦萨队一起训练了，”斯利文斯基笑着说，“而我离开那届赛事后，直接回去和弗朗西斯·豪厄尔北高中一起训练了。”斯利文斯基的中场搭档巴尔加斯也引起了米卢蒂诺维奇的注意。巴尔加斯的足球历程在某些方面与美国传奇克林特·登普西相似，后者的技术和心态是在家乡的墨西哥裔男子联赛中磨练出来的。巴尔加斯由哥伦比亚裔父亲抚养长大，13岁时就在迈阿密竞争激烈的周日联赛中出场，经常对阵年龄和体型都是他两倍的前职业球员。
“If you’re good enough,” Vargas says now, “you’re old enough.”Like Slivinski, Jonas was 16 at the time and also played for his high school team. His profile, though, was greatly boosted by his presence on an elite club side in Maryland, a hotbed that had produced several members of the 1990 World Cup squad. Jonas was a participant in the federation’s Olympic Developmental Program, at the time the only true pathway for a youth player to stay on the radar of the senior national team.
“如果你足够好，”巴尔加斯现在说，“你就足够大了。”和斯利文斯基一样，乔纳斯当时也只有16岁，也在为高中球队效力。不过，他的知名度因在马里兰州一家精英俱乐部效力而大幅提升，该地是青训热土，曾培养出多名1990年世界杯阵容成员。乔纳斯曾参加足协的奥林匹克发展计划，当时那是青年球员保持在成年国家队视野内的唯一正规途径。一张内尔森·巴尔加斯参加U-17世界杯时期的新闻剪报。
A news clipping from Nelson Vargas’s time at the U-17 World Cup.
摄影：内尔森·巴尔加斯 三人在9月14日美国男足国家队对阵牙买加的友谊赛前三天抵达北卡罗来纳州，加入了由其他新人和主力球员组成的阵容。这三名高中生与保罗·卡利久里、费尔南多·克拉维霍和雨果·佩雷斯等美国队主力汇合。
Photograph: Nelson Vargas The three arrived in North Carolina three days before the USMNT’s 14 September friendly against Jamaica and joined a mix of other newcomers and regulars. The three high schoolers joined up with US staples such as Paul Caligiuri, Fernando Clavijo and Hugo Pérez.
“能和一线队的那些家伙在一起，简直太不可思议了，”乔纳斯说。“克里斯·亨德森也在场。我记得克拉维霍给我留下了深刻印象，他是个非常强硬的球员。看着一切如何转化为实战，简直疯狂；我还是个孩子，那是我第一次和成年男子对抗，节奏快得惊人。”
“Just being around some of the guys from the full team, it was incredible,” Jonas says. “Chris Henderson was there. I remember Clavijo left a huge impression on me, he was a very hard-nosed player. It was crazy to see how everything translated; I was a kid and that was the first time I had ever played against full-grown men, the speed of everything.”
“时间和空间，”巴尔加斯说，“如果你不习惯，和成年男子比赛时会难以驾驭得多。一切发生得都快得多。”那场比赛没有录像——从来就没有，因为大多数美国队友谊赛都没有广泛转播。当被问起时，三人中没人有一张和一线队在一起的照片。但据大多数说法，意外获得首发机会的斯利文斯基表现不错。美国队上半场凭借室内外足球老将萨德里·格约巴拉伊的进球取得领先。
“Time and space,” Vargas says, “becomes a lot harder to manage with grown men, if you’re not used to it. Everything happens a lot faster.”There is no video of the match – there never was, as most US friendlies weren’t widely broadcast. When asked, none of the three even had a photo of their time with the senior team. But by most accounts Slivinski, who had been handed a surprise start, acquitted himself well. The US took a first-half lead on a goal by indoor and outdoor soccer journeyman Sadri Gjonbalaj.
不久后，斯利文斯基在距球门约25码处造犯规，随后主罚任意球差点破门。接着他又获得单刀机会，横敲射门再次考验牙买加门将。
Not long after, Slivinski made his mark, drawing a foul about 25 yards from goal and coming very close to converting it on the ensuing free kick. Then came a breakaway and a shot across the face of goal which once again challenged Jamaica’s keeper.
“这段经历无法用语言形容，”赛后斯利文斯基对当地报纸说。“这简直是莫大的荣誉。我激动、紧张，说实话还有点说不出话。”巴尔加斯和乔纳斯下半场替补登场，表现足以赢得卡利吉里和米卢蒂诺维奇的赞誉。不过，这一时刻似乎完全被媒体忽视了；《足球美国》等足球专业刊物注意到斯利文斯基成为美国男足史上最年轻出场球员（米娅·哈姆1987年以15岁首秀女足），但报纸从未提及此事。
“This experience is indescribable,” Slivinski told the local paper after the match. “It’s just a massive honor. I am thrilled, nervous and a little speechless, honestly.”Vargas and Jonas entered the match in the second half, doing enough to draw praise from Caligiuri and Milutinovic. The occasion, though, seemed entirely lost on the press; soccer-specific publications like Soccer America noted the fact that Slivinski had become the youngest-ever US men’s player (Mia Hamm debuted for the women at age 15 in 1987), but newspapers never made mention of the fact.
“如果这事发生在今天，那绝对是件大事，”瓦尔加斯说。“但当时美国足球根本不是现在这个样子，完全没有社交媒体，也没有报道。但这就是现实。”首秀后，这三名年轻球员错失的不仅仅是关注度——对于乔纳斯和斯利文斯基来说，那也是他们仅有的两次国家队出场机会。
“If it would have happened today, it would have been a big deal,” says Vargas. “But soccer in the US just wasn’t what it is now, at all, there was no social media or coverage back then. But that is what it is.”The attention isn’t the only thing that eluded the trio of youngsters after their debut, which for Jonas and Slivinski served as their lone appearances with the US.
“我赛后留着球衣，湿漉漉地穿回了酒店，”斯利文斯基说。“心想也许他们会让我留着。但这也能看出时代有多不同——美国足协大概当时没钱搞这个。”三位美国首秀球员都曾梦想着未来的征召，甚至入选1994年世界杯大名单。对斯利文斯基和乔纳斯而言，这些梦想最终落空；伤病毁掉了斯利文斯基的国家队前程，尽管他后来在弗吉尼亚大学赢得了NCAA冠军，并随DC联队夺得美职联冠军，于2000年挂靴退役。他再也没有为国家队出场过。
“I kept my jersey on after the match, I wore it back to the hotel soaking wet,” says Slivinski. “Thinking maybe they’d let me keep it. But that shows you how different a time it was – [US Soccer] probably didn’t have the money to do that.” ll three US debutants had dreams of future call-ups, of maybe even making the 1994 World Cup squad. For Slivinski and Jonas, those dreams proved fruitless; injuries derailed Slivinski’s national team ambitions, though he’d go on to win an NCAA championship at the University of Virginia and MLS Cup with DC United before hanging up his cleats in 2000. He never played with the national team again.
“伤病，我想，毁了我，”斯利文斯基说。“但我觉得我也没拼够劲。心态上，我就是没到位。”乔纳斯也遭遇了自己的挫折。1992年，他前往北卡罗来纳州立大学，获得了体育奖学金。当时这看似是个不错的选择，但他很快发现大学教练不愿放他去参加青年国家队集训。很快，乔纳斯就从米卢蒂诺维奇的视野中消失了，沉入了90年代末美国低级别联赛的茫茫野蛮生长中，先后效力于克利夫兰猛兽、费城奇克斯和弗吉尼亚海滩水手等队。
“Injuries, I guess, did me in,” Slivinski says. “But I also didn’t try hard enough, I don’t think. Mentally, I just wasn’t there.”Jonas, too, faced his own frustrations. In 1992, he departed for North Carolina State, where he’d earned an athletic scholarship. It seemed a decent move at the time, but he quickly found himself with a college coach hesitant to release him to attend youth national team camps. Quickly, Jonas disappeared from Milutinovic’s radar and disappeared into the wild world of late-’90s US minor league soccer, featuring for the likes of the Cleveland Crunch, Philadelphia KiXX and Virginia Beach Mariners.
“令人沮丧，”乔纳斯说。“完全是苦差事。大学里有些比我年轻的家伙，我明明比他们强——他们却比我获得更多机会，仅仅因为年龄和环境的变化。国家队之后，如果不再被征召，你基本上就得靠自己了。我记得给教练打冷电话争取试训机会，球队每年都在解散。跟现在简直是天壤之别。”瓦尔加斯过了三年才再次披上美国队战袍，最终在1994年底的三场友谊赛中出场，就在米卢蒂诺维奇被迫下课前夕。
“It was frustrating,” Jonas says. “A total grind. There were guys that were younger than me in college that I was definitely better than – they got more opportunities than I did just because of their age and the way the landscape changed. After the national team, if you weren’t getting called up any more then you were essentially on your own. I remember cold-calling coaches trying to get tryouts, teams were folding every year. It was just night and day to what it is now.”Vargas would go three years before pulling on the US shirt again, eventually featuring in a trio of late-1994 friendlies just before Milutinovic was forced out as US boss.
瓦尔加斯对接任主教练史蒂夫·桑普森印象不错，但桑普森从未给过他机会。不过他还获得最后一次代表美国队出战的机会，代表奥运队参加1996年亚特兰大奥运会。瓦尔加斯在美职联也算有一段不错的经历，先后效力迈阿密融合队和坦帕湾暴徒队，这两支球队在他2000年退役后不久相继解散。
Vargas remembers incoming head coach Steve Sampson warmly, but Sampson never gave him a look. He’d get one more chance, though, to represent the US, featuring for the Olympic team at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Vargas did manage a decent run in MLS, featuring for the Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny, both of whom folded not long after Vargas retired in 2000.
瓦尔加斯还曾最后一次登上球场：他在电影《The Game of Their Lives》（中文片名《生死较量》或《1950年的较量》）中饰演前美国国脚约翰·索萨，该片改编自美国队在1950年世界杯上震惊英格兰的真实故事。
Vargas did hit the pitch once more, though: he played former USMNT player John Souza in The Game of Their Lives, the film dramatization of the US’s shock victory over England at the 1950 World Cup.
下周就满17岁的卡万·沙利文，有望在本期国际比赛日窗口期入选美国男足国家队最年轻首秀球员名单。
Cavan Sullivan, who turns 17 next week, could put his name on the list of youngest players to debut for the USMNT during this window.
摄影：Taylor Banner/USSF/Getty Images 三人此后均转型为青训教练，或许能为沙利文以及波切蒂诺本期大名单上的其他少年球员的潜在命运提供一些独特洞见。不过，将这些孩子成长的环境与他们当年经历的环境相比，颇为困难。
All three have since transitioned into youth coaching, perhaps offering them some unique insight into the potential fate of Sullivan and the other teenagers on Mauricio Pochettino’s roster for this international window. Comparing the environment those kids came up in with the one they navigated, though, proves difficult.
“当我还是卡万这个年纪时，那是35年前的事了，”乔纳斯说。“看到事情在改变真好。我现在在MLS Next执教；这些球队受到的待遇实际上等同于国家队。有集训营，所有费用全包，他们乘坐大巴和飞机出行，一起飞行，穿着统一装备。这简直难以置信，完全不同于我们成长的环境。那时候根本没有真正的支持。”
“When I was Cavan’s age, that was 35 years ago,” Jonas says. “It’s good to see things changing. I am coaching in MLS Next right now; these teams are treated like national teams, practically. There’s residency, all of their expenses are taken care of, they travel in buses and planes and they’re flying together, wearing the same stuff. It’s insane, it is nothing like what we came up in. There was just no real support back then.”
“这些孩子能获得这些机会真是太好了，”巴尔加斯补充道。“这个孩子卡万，他具备所有条件。为什么不让他去和最好的球员、年长的球员较量一下呢？有时候学会如何应对烈火的唯一办法，就是被扔进火里。”
“It is great that these kids get these opportunities,” Vargas adds. “This kid Cavan, he has all the tools. Why not let him test himself against the best players, the older players? The only way you learn how to deal with the fire sometimes is to get thrown into it.”