Under-17s at the GA Cup: Exit after latest defeat

After successive draws against both Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City, and losing both penalty shootouts to miss out on a bonus point, the final defeat against the Florida side saw Marco Ciaralli's side go out of the competition.

"We were better today than we have been in some of the other games, but at the end of the day we conceded and weren't able to respond and that's how things finished," Ciaralli said.

"The shame is that the games are so short that it becomes about who makes fewer mistakes, and when you concede it becomes a bit of a race against time to try and recover."

He added: "But it is not the results that dictate the value of this sort of experience of the players. There are so many benefits, both as players and as people.

"This exposure to different experiences and situations will only help them."