A former South African youth international has explained why the believes the quality of football in America is better than in South Africa.
Cade Erickson, who is currently plying his trade at Monroe College in New York, represented the SA national team in his youth while playing for the now defunct Ajax Cape Town.
In 2022, the midfielder made the switch to America where he went on to win the NJCAA Division 1 Championship with Monroe Mustangs Men's soccer team.
Erickson was part of SA's COSAFA U17 Champions Cup squad in Mauritius where he recorded five international youth caps.
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The player has now shed light on how surprised he was by the level of quality in USA.
"There was a big difference in quality surprisingly. Firstly, my mindset which is similar to a South African one which says that their football is not good at all. So when I arrived, I was expecting low quality but I was pleasantly surprised to see that this is above SA quality even at a college football level. While being in America you figure out that Americans do not play football, they get foreigners to come to America from professional teams such as Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and they come to study and play Division 1 football. Just having them there, the quality is really high because you have boys that can play. Not just the quality but the physique and you have boys bigger than you, more disciplined than you," the Cape Town-born player said.
Erickson has also said that he has received a number of offers from universities in America where he hopes to catch the eye of Major League Soccer scouts.
"I will be graduating from Monroe soon and I have got a few offers on the table from Oregon State, University of California and University of Texas Rio Grande. I will be to the latter where I will be coached by Kyle Timm, Orlando Pirates star Miguel Timm's brother," he continued.
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The 19-year-old also spoke on the massive expectation that came with representing South Africa in his teenage years.
"It was tough firstly because I was only 14. There was so much expectation and having one of South Africa's well known coaches, Molefi Ntseki. He demanded a lot from us. He wanted what he wanted and if you do not deliver, you do not make the squad or get picked. So going into camp and representing the country at that age, it forced me to come out of my shell. I knew that I had to standout above the rest."
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