Danny Szetela
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Danny Szetela | ||
| Height | 5'11 | ||
| Position(s) | midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Galatasaray | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 December, 2006 | |||
Danny Szetela (born June 7, 1987 in Passaic, New Jersey), is an American soccer player, currently one of the best young American prospects. He plays for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer.
Szetela graduated from USSF's Bradenton Academy in 2003 and burst onto the world's stage during the Under-17 World Cup in Finland. The second-youngest player on the United States roster, he started every game for the Americans. A number of top European sides, including Everton and Manchester City were interested in signing the youngster, but Szetela decided to sign a Project-40 contract with MLS instead.
Unfortunately for Szetela, his desire to play for his hometown club, the MetroStars, went unfulfilled. Though the MLS accommodated a similar request from another highly-touted youngster, Freddy Adu, they refused to let Danny pick his team, instead putting him into a league-wide lottery, won by Columbus. Joining in midseason, Szetela appeared eight regular season and two playoff games, while recording a solitary assist. Although he did not make a significant impact for the Supporters' Shield winners, his late-season efforts certainly proved that, even at 17, he was an exceptional prospect. Szetela then played an expanded role with the club in 2005, but he is still to score his first professional goal.
In 2005, Szetela struggled to get on the field with the Crew, but was part of the U.S. Under-20 team at the 2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. During 2006, Danny was beset by injury troubles and only saw 4 games for Columbus.
On June 30, 2007, Szetela scored the opening goal in the United States' match against South Korea in the U-20 World Cup.
On 01 July 2007, Szetela's agent (Roy Messing) told that, Turkish Giant Galatasaray SK signs four-year contract with Danny Szetela. (Unproven - No reliable source/link available).
See also