Las Vegas youth soccer players bring home Cup, culture from Sweden

They went to Gothenburg in Sweden in late July, seeking Swedish culture and competitive soccer and perhaps an IKEA gift card as a lovely parting gift. Maybe once they were knocked from the bracket, there would be time to see the spectacular Swedish countryside and go for a cruise on a fjord.

As it happened, there wasn’t time for cruising a fjord.

The Las Vegas Sports Academy did not get knocked from the bracket.

During the group stage, the local kids and the kids from Utah defeated sides from Lebanon, Sweden and Spain. In the playoff stage, the Dundalk Schoolboys of Ireland, Hammarby of Sweden, VfL Westercelle of Germany and Leiknir of Iceland were next to fall.

In the semifinals, Las Vegas Sports Academy edged SK Sprint-Jeloy of Norway 2-1. And then, in the championship game, the local kids and the kids from Utah downed E.D. Moratalaz of Spain by the same score at Ullevi Stadium — the same ground where Pele turned the Swedish defense into a giant meatball during the 1958 World Cup.

So the local kids and the kids from Utah won the Gothia Cup in the boys’ 16 division. Besting 185 teams in their division, they became just the fifth U.S. team to win a boys title since 1975.

This was no small accomplishment.

According to the website, more than 1,600 teams representing 80 countries contest 4,500 games on 110 fields to decide the championships at the Gothia Cup — “a meeting place for the world’s youth, irrespective of religion, skin color or nationality, with soccer as the common denominator.”

“Some of these games created lasting friendships between the countries,” said Cassi Wright, whose son, Jeffrey, attends Bishop Gorman High School and played for the winning side. “Learning to communicate, with soccer as the only common language, proved very entertaining.”

Rich Ryerson called it “a once in a lifetime experience.”

Ryerson is UNLV’s soccer coach. When Ann-Margret still was dancing up a storm at the Las Vegas Hilton, Ryerson played in UNLV’s midfield, leading the Rebels to three NCAA tournaments and a No. 4 national ranking. In 1988, Ryerson started his professional career at Kinna IF, a Division 3 side in Sweden that was formed in 1934.

That was where Ryerson learned to speak Swedish and made friendships that continue to this day. He and other Ryersons (brothers Tim and Rob, who also were Rebels — Rob’s in the Hall of Fame, and his jersey has been retired) have been taking youth squads to the Gothia Cup for many years under the Ryerson Soccer International Travel banner.

In July, the Ryerson men chaperoned three teams and a travel party of 105 to Sweden. The Gothia Cup website says it is 8,500 km from Las Vegas to Gothenburg. That’s a lot of km. The logistics of moving that many people in and out of Scandinavia can be difficult, so the Las Vegas delegation booked return passage on July 23 — the day of the finals.

“No one thought they would get that far,” Cassi Wright said.

“Expecting an American boys team to win this age group was beyond the realm of comprehension,” said Cleve Turk, father of left back Vincent Turk, who also attends Bishop Gorman.

But sometimes unexpected success can reduce a well-planned itinerary into little bits of Swedish confetti.

It was a scramble getting home for the local kids and their parents and Rich Ryerson, who went from Gothenburg to Oslo to Newark to Philadelphia to Baltimore — and then to Cancun, for the wedding of Camilo Valencia, UNLV’s director of soccer operations.

The Rebels’ coach said his ability to speak Swedish was invaluable during the travel scramble, but was pretty much useless once he got to Newark and Philly.

“Planes, trains and automobiles,” Ryerson said, which, along with a suitcase full of memories and a golden cup that nobody expected to be declared at customs, is something not soon to be forgotten.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski