(Photo: U.S. Soccer)

On April 30 the United States Under-19 National Team bested Russia’s U-19s 2-1, putting the finishing touches on a triumphant run through the 2016 Slovakia Cup. Rebounding from a difficult Copa del Atlantico tournament in Spain this past January, the U.S. U-19s were tenacious in Slovakia, defeating Georgia and Ukraine in the group stage before topping Russia in the final.

Cosmos youngsters Alexis Velela and Eric Calvillo were each selected by U.S. U-19 head coach Brad Friedel to make the trip to Slovakia, and both players saw action in the tournament. Upon returning to New York, they spoke to NYCosmos.com about the competition and what’s next.

NYCosmos.com: What were your overall impressions of the Slovakia Cup?

Eric Calvillo: I think it was great. All of the guys came in with the mentality to play hard and win. Working hard is what really got us in that position to win.

Alexis Velela: We didn’t have a lot of time to work together. There were a lot of new guys. With less than a week before game time, we all banded together and worked hard. We got the results we wanted, and we won the tournament. We obviously did something right.

Alexis – What was it like working with Brad Friedel for the first time?

Velela: I felt great over there. He’s a great coach. It was the first time I’d seen him and spoken to him. He’s a great guy, too, and I felt like he was good for us.

Eric – You competed in the past two U.S. U-19 international competitions. What changed between the Copa del Atlantico tournament and this one?

Calvillo: I think it was the group that we brought. It was completely different from the first group, because most of the guys that we brought to Spain were academy players. There were a lot of new guys making their first international trips and playing their first international games.

The group that we had in Slovakia was all returning guys. They were guys that already competed with the U.S. U-17s, and guys that played in professional environments. I think that helped us a lot.

Which of your teammates impressed you in Slovakia?

Calvillo: I’m going to say everybody. Everybody worked really hard, and it felt like nobody was playing for himself. We were playing for each other. We were playing for the United States.

My roommate was Weston McKennie, who ended up being the tournament MVP. Knowing him for a very long time and seeing the process of his improvement has been incredible.

(Photo: U.S. Soccer)

Velela: To me it was cool just playing with all these guys I haven’t seen in a few months. They’ve all still got it, and have made some big improvements. I’ve seen a big improvement in Weston McKennie, too. It’s good to watch all these guys play. You go there and see everyone getting better.

Calvillo: Especially the new guys. I feel like they came in with a lot of confidence and performed well. That really helped us win games.

What was the level of competition like for this tournament?

Calvillo: I’d say all the games were really good. All of them were competitive and had high intensity. We were battling every game. Looking at the score, some people may say the first game was easy for us, but it absolutely wasn’t. Georgia is a good team. We just knew what we had to do to get the result.

With Ukraine, Russia and Slovakia, those guys were also tough. They were competing for every ball, working and running up and down the field. But we matched their intensity, and I think that’s how we got the wins.

Velela: I think the coaches did a great job preparing us tactically before games. They came in and knew what each team was like, then told us what to do to deal with them. We would press teams that had difficulty dealing with the pressure. We worked on our fitness as well. We were running hard.

Now that this is behind you, what do you have your sights set on next?

Calvillo: I want to play minutes here, and get into games with the Cosmos. I want to train well and keep working hard to get my debut. I want to be the best player I can be.

Internationally, I’d like to be with the national team at as high a level as possible. I’m trying to make that U-20 team to go to the World Cup. Then the long-term goals are to make the U-23 team for the Olympics and the senior national team.

Velela: I’d also like to make my Cosmos debut and get some minutes in with the team. The U-20 World Cup is coming up and it’s really important. I want to prepare for that, and hopefully earn a position on that team.