Lake Grove's Joe Scally continues his way up through soccer ranks with trip to FIFA U-17 World Cup

When a 13-year-old Joe Scally originally took the field with New York City FC’s academy teams, club sporting director Claudio Reyna immediately was impressed with the LIer’s competitive drive.

“From the first day he came to practice with our academy when he was 13 years old, he was there to make the team and play,” Reyna said. “He’s just a competitor.”

Still just 16, Lake Grove’s Scally is ready to take that enthusiasm to a global stage. NYCFC’s second ever homegrown player is in Brazil representing the United States in the men’s FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he’s expected to feature at right back. The U.S. opens group play against Senegal at 4 p.m. on Sunday in Cariacia, Brazil.

“Everything’s been great from the minute we took off, we’ve all felt ready to go since the beginning,” Scally said. “This week of preparation has been great. We’re all clicking together and we’re all feeling good, we feel very prepared for the tournament and can’t wait to begin.”

Scally, who’s been playing with U.S. Soccer since the U-14 level, is one of three NYCFC academy products on the U-17 roster, along with Tayvon Gray and Andres Jasson, however he’s the only one of those three on a professional contract and the closest to contributing to the first team. Scally made his professional debut in a U.S. Open Cup game last June, but didn’t appear during NYCFC’s club-record season in 2019 following hip surgery in May that kept him on the injury report until September. Still, that didn’t stop him from helping when he could in training and enjoying the ride with his teammates.

“It’s been an amazing year, even with the injury, that didn’t hold me back from being with the team, I was still with them every day,” Scally said. “So being there to witness what we did this year was unbelievable. I know we can do the same next year.”

Scally is just two years into his professional career, but according to Reyna, head coach Domènec Torrent and Scally’s NYCFC teammates, the only thing holding him back from already contributing to the first team was the injury.

“Was a pity for Joe when he was injured because in my mind, I wanted to give him opportunities because he has the quality to play,” Torrent said. “Next year I’m sure he can play with us many, many games, because he is ready. In the preseason he showed us he’s ready. It’s not about if he’s 16 years old, 17 years old, soccer for me is about the quality. If you have quality you can play, if you don’t have quality, you have few opportunities to play. It’s not about the age, the age for me isn’t important.”

Age may not be important to Torrent, but playing alongside older players has made a difference in Scally’s development, helping him in competitions in his age group such as the World Cup.

“Physical attributes are much different when we have grown men on our first team, and then when I’m here everyone is around the same size, so that’s a lot better,” Scally said. “Just playing with the first team at NYCFC and coming here, it helps you out a lot because they help you play quicker and more just more physical of course, so it gets you prepared for what’s coming here.”

Big for his age at 5-10, Scally is working to become a prototypical modern fullback. He prides himself in his stellar defense while continuing to develop an offensive game. NYCFC captain Alexander Ring praised his crossing and work ethic, and fellow homegrown player Justin Haak said Scally’s ability to get forward in attack often becomes a problem for the opposition.

“I try and be a leader on the field and help my teammates in every which way. I’m a very athletic player, it’s probably my biggest part of my game, my athletic attributes and my speed and my physicality,” Scally said. “On the field, I like to play high and I’m a good defender. What I can bring is basically helping guys create chances up top, hooking up with guys like [Valentín Castellanos] hopefully next year.”

While Reyna said Scally still has much to learn about the sport, the youngster’s confidence has been key in his development.

“He feels he can play already, he wants to play. He’s obviously very athletic up and down in a right wing back position, has a very good delivery, he attacks well,” Reyna said. “He still obviously has so much to learn but there’s no doubt next year he’ll play, he’ll make that next step.”

Scally agrees that his time will come next season, but his focus remains on the World Cup in front of him. While his team qualified for the World Cup in the CONCACAF U-17 championships, the U.S. fell short of winning the tournament with loss to Mexico in the final. Mix that defeat with Scally’s competitiveness and you get his new goal — winning it all.

“Of course we want to win the tournament,” said Scally. “Some games we all know it’s not going to be the best soccer while we’re here. The nerves play a big part into it and everything, so we’ve just got to control our emotions, and we’re all brothers here so know we’ve got to dig deep and just stick together to pull out victories.”

Said Reyna, “Joe’s a fighter, you know when he steps on the field he’s going to give 100 percent, and I think that’s the Long Island in him.”