Lansing teen soccer standout Amalia Villarreal shines for U.S. in U-17 World Cup qualifiers

Phil Friend
Lansing State Journal
Amalia Villarreal celebrates a goal during the CONCACAF U-17 World Cup qualifiers in the Dominican Republic in April/May 2022. The Lansing native scored eight goals across seven matches as the U.S. won the tournament.

When your team scores 59 goals and only concedes one over the course of seven tournament games, there are going to be plenty of players who get a piece of the pie in the goal-scoring department.

And in the CONCACAF U-17 World Cup qualifiers, which took place in the Dominican Republic in April and May, Lansing soccer standout Amalia Villarreal took one of the biggest slices.

Villarreal scored eight goals and tallied five assists over the course of seven matches as the Americans won the tournament and qualified for the U-17 World Cup in India in October.

“It’s one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had,” Villarreal said. “There’s nothing I can relate it to because it’s totally different from anything else I’ve ever done. I’m just so thankful to have been there and done as well as we did.”

Villarreal’s eight goals were tied for the team high and were good for fourth overall in the competition. Her five assists were third-best on the team and sixth overall among all players.

“I had no expectations for that,” Villarreal said. “I was just really excited to be on the team, get to play and have fun while I was down there and compete at the highest level. Once the goals started happening, it felt surreal and you just wanted to keep that feeling the entire time.”

RELATED:Lansing's newest soccer star, 16-year-old Amalia Villarreal, ready to shine for U.S. in CONCACAF U-17 World Cup qualifiers

The 16-year-old’s standout performance came in the U.S.’s second group stage match against Puerto Rico on April 25. In that game, Villarreal scored five goals in 62 minutes of action, including a second-half hat trick. She also added an assist for good measure.

At that point, Villarreal was a serious contender for the Golden Boot as the tournament’s leading scorer.

“That was one of my favorites because of how the whole team worked together and how well everything went to plan,” Villarreal said.

Lansing's Amalia Villarreal played for the United States U-17 national team in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers in April and May in the Dominican Republic. Villarreal tallied eight goals and five assists in seven matches.

Villarreal played in all seven matches and started four of those, including the final, a 2-1 win over Mexico on May 8.

In the leadup to the Mexico match, the Americans beat Grenada, 20-0; Puerto Rico, 13-0; Costa Rica, 5-0; Curacao, 11-0; Jamaica, 4-0; and Canada, 3-0.

Villarreal scored once each against Grenada, Costa Rica and Jamaica, and added assists against Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Curacao, Jamaica and Canada.

“We all just have a really good family feel to the team, where we’re all comfortable around each other and know how we all like to play,” Villarreal said. “And we’re comfortable enough to change a couple things, or just say, ‘Hey, we can maybe do this next time,’ to where it’s not as much as a competitive feel, it’s just more of putting each other up.”

Her favorite goal was her third-minute header against Jamaica – it was the first time the 5-foot-1 forward had ever scored on a header.

“I think I was more surprised than anything that it went in because I had no clue where it was actually going to go,” Villarreal said.

Lansing's Amalia Villarreal celebrates during the CONCACAF U-17 World Cup qualifiers in the Dominican Republic, which took place in April and May. The U.S. won the competition, and Villarreal scored eight goals in seven matches.

This summer, Villarreal will continue playing with her club teams, the Michigan Jaguars and Solar (based in Texas). And if she gets called into a U-17 camp between now and October, she’ll do that, too.

The U-17 World Cup would be the next major step in her U.S. career if she were named to the roster.

“I don’t really think that’s my choice at the end of the day, but I think that just working hard and making it hard for them to not pick me is what I can do,” Villarreal said. “It’s just keeping up the work rate and making sure I’m doing the things that they ask me to do so maybe I’ll get that call-up in October.”

Contact digital sports reporter Phil Friend at 517-377-1220 or pfriend@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Phil_Friend.