These days, the U.S. player development system appears to be a veritable assembly line of talent. U.S.-based academies are cranking out players at an impressive rate. Some of those players, such as Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie have made considerable headway in Europe. And for the third year in a row, the number of players who have represented or are eligible for the United States men’s side and are on teams in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League has reached double digits. The idea that talents are missed seems to be receding into the mists.
But closer inspection of that group reveals that there are still some soft spots in the U.S. pipeline where a player can slip through the cracks. That is evident when one considers Maccabi Haifa goalkeeper Josh Cohen, the ultimate late bloomer.
For much of his career, Cohen has flown under the radar. He played four years at the University of California-San Diego, a Division II school where he studied bioengineering. After a season in the USL Premier Development League (now League Two) with the now-defunct Burlingame Dragons, he spent parts of five campaigns in the USL Championship with three different clubs, and despite winning plaudits with the Sacramento Republic he received nary an offer from Major League Soccer.
But then in 2019, Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Premier League came calling, and he quickly won the starting goalkeeper job. The Greens won a 2021-22 title, and Cohen claimed the league’s Player of the Year award. This season, Maccabi Haifa reached the group stage of the UCL for the first time in over a decade.
Placed in a daunting group with Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, Cohen says he and his teammates are relishing the opportunity on a stage he could have scarcely believed four years ago. Not even a 2-0 defeat to Benfica in the group stage opener could dampen his enthusiasm for the challenge ahead.
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“It’s something I’ve dreamed about, but never in a tangible way, more like superpowers than dreaming of a new car,” Cohen said about playing in the Champions League. “I think this made it take a little longer to actually process when we first qualified. I was disappointed in the result, but I thought that we played with confidence and rose to the occasion rather that running from it.”
As for why Cohen went unnoticed for so long, he said, “I kind of was a little bit of an outsider.”
