Ray Hudson, Santino Quaranta watched the U.S. men's soccer team make its unprecedented quarterfinal run in the World Cup with added interest and thoughts of his promising future.
He saw Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, both 20 years old and friends of his, not just survive, but thrive on soccer's grandest stage.
He heard U.S. coach Bruce Arena state the World Cup "is a young man's tournament."
And the 17-year-old Highlandtown native, already in his second professional season with D.C. United, couldn't help but wonder what it would be like representing his country when the World Cup takes up in Germany four years from now.
"Sure, you think about it because it's realistic to say I have a chance to be at the next one, and I hope I'll be there. But I know it'll take a lot of hard work," said Quaranta, a starting forward for D.C. United who is also on the U.S. under-20 team roster.
During ABC's post-game wrap of Germany's 1-0 win that eliminated the Americans in the quarterfinal round, the discussion turned to the U.S. team's future. Quaranta's name came up right away. Analyst Tommy Smyth was quick to describe him as a player to watch. Fellow analyst and former Italian great Georgio Chinaglia also had good words.
Talk to D.C. United's first-year coach Ray Hudson about Quaranta and a friendly warning comes first: an extended conversation full of positives can be expected.
The native of England has been impressed with Quaranta's pace with the ball in tight situations, his fine touch, smart decisions and endurance that allows him to remain as dangerous in the 80th minute as in the first. Hudson acknowledged Quaranta in his early years is a work in progress, with one of the coach's daily tasks trying to get the most of his striker's natural abilities.
"He's mature beyond his years, but more importantly, the abundance of the natural talent that is in him at such a tender age is astounding," Hudson said.
"You just hope he remains hungry, he's never satisfied and he doesn't take the easy way out."
Quaranta, with a solid physical makeup at 6 feet and 165 pounds, has found the situation with D.C. United a strong benefit to his development. He is surrounded by veteran experience, getting constant pushes from the likes of fellow forward Jamie Moreno and midfielders Marco Etcheverry and Richie Williams.
"He has a great future if he wants. It's all up to him," said Moreno, 28. "He has all the talent. He just has to work on it. He still has a long way to go, but he's doing well."
