It's hard to be a teenage saint in the city: despite learning on the job, Santino Quaranta, United's 17-year-old prodigy, should be the U.S.'s next star - Cover Story

Soccer Digest, Jan, 2002 by Joseph D'Hippolito

TURNING 17 CAN MEAN CONFRONTING a battery of life-altering questions: What kind of career should I pursue? Should I go to college? Where and how should I live? What kind of values should dictate my decisions?

Seventeen-year-old Baltimore native Santino Quaranta already has answered some of those questions. Quaranta is preparing for his second season as a professional soccer player, and hopes to make an even greater impact in 2002 than he did this year.

Despite his age, Quaranta--the youngest player to ever sign an MLS contract--excelled, and was selected as a finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year honors. He played in the All-Star Game and finished the season with five goals and an assist in 16 appearances--10 of them starts--for D.C. United.

The forward also played a vital role for the U.S.'s U-17 team that competed in this year's FIFA World Championships. As a starter, Quaranta scored 17 goals and passed for 11 assists in 32 games for the U-17s last year. Against international competition Over the past two years, Quaranta scored eight goals in 24 appearances. "I definitely gained a lot of experience last year, and I just want to keep going, keep working hard, and play like it's my rookie year again," says Quaranta. "Hopefully, everything will go smoothly."

Former United coach Thomas Rongen feels optimistic about Quaranta's future as well. "He's grown tremendously in all areas," says Rongen. "He's getting better at service and he's getting a better understanding of how to defend. He's obviously got a nose for the goal, but what he really brings to the table is a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and a love for the game that is contagious. He comes to play with a smile on his face."

That joy began early in a home in which soccer was a tradition. Quaranta's grandfather and uncle played soccer professionally, and his father, Thomas, was a Junior College All-American. Thomas eventually would coach his son on the Soccer Club of Baltimore Bays. "My family really helped me a lot," says the younger Quaranta. "They taught me the basics and always told me to have fan."

Quaranta first learned to play soccer on a sandy field across the street from his home in Highlandtown, a working-class Italian neighborhood in Baltimore, and played against children much older than himself. He joined the Bays when he was seven and helped ,them win six consecutive Maryland State Cup championships (1994-99)and three successive Region I titles (1996-98).

The forward continued his career at Baltimore's Archbishop Curley High School, where he started on the varsity as a freshman and sophomore. He joined the national U-16 program in 1998, then moved the following the U-17 squad's training center at the Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

While with the U-17s, Quaranta became the youngest player ever drafted by an MLS club, at 16 years, 4 months of age. He was chosen in the first round of the 2001 SuperDraft by United. Quaranta was the eighth selection overall and United's third first round pick behind All-American midfielders Mark Lisi and Ryan Nelsen.

To have a chance to grab all three, the Washington club made eight trades in three days, unloading veterans such as Jeff Agoos, Carlos-Llamosa, Richie Williams, and Tom Presthus. "The last thing on my mind was going to D.C.," says Quaranta. "I didn't have a clue until the night before when they made all the trades."

"We wanted to get two solid players, which we did in Lisi and Nelsen, and we had a chance to get Santino," says Rongen. "We had a feeling that Santino might drop a little bit because not very many teams are willing to take a risk on a 16-year-old in a place in the draft where they're looking for a player who could contribute immediately."

But how would a team with veterans such as Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, Abdul Thompson Conteh and Mike Ammann accept Quaranta? With open arms. During an interview after the rookie's first practice, Ammann filled a coffee filter with shaving cream and jammed the "pie" into Quaranta's face. Quaranta took the practical joke in stride. As the season wore on, Quaranta roomed on the road with the 31-year-old Conteh.

The veterans even interceded with Rongen when Quaranta wanted to attend his girlfriend's prom the night before a match in Columbus. Rongen eventually gave his blessing. After the prom, Quaranta caught a morning flight off game day, arrived in time for the pregame meal, and scored his first MIS goal "Teammates only accept you when you can play, and one thing that really stands out is that Santino can play--even at his age," says Rongen. "If you enter this level at that age and you need three years to get an understanding of the game, you probably won't make it because your peers are going to make life very rough on you.

"When Santino walked in that locker room after the first day of practice, he was totally accepted by the team. It was, for me, the most important thing because you want a kid to be accepted. You don't want him to fail at that young age."