His coaches call him Angelo, his friends call him Gelo, and the crowd at Real Salt Lake Academy HS calls him “Little Neymar”. Due to his “Brazilian-esque style of play, the knack of frustrating his opponent to the point of drawing an unsolicited foul, and his ability to make big plays when they count, Angelo Paolo Dennet, the 15-year-old Utah-born Left Winger has been making a name for himself reminiscent of Freddy Adu in the early 2000s.
This year alone, Angelo has become the first Utah soccer High School player ever to win “Attacking Player of the Year”, “Top Scorer of the Year” and “Player of the Year” simultaneously, all while only being a Sophomore and leading his school to an undefeated season.
Thanks to Peter Lee, Angelo is also part of “Sparta United”, Utah’s most renowned youth fútbol club. Lee discovered Angelo when his team faced off against a smaller rival from the west side of the city which Angelo played for at the time. Impressed with his natural talents, Lee recruited Angelo to Sparta where he was given a full-ride scholarship to participate in the club. This season Angelo had 13 goals and 7 assists in 8 games leading the state in goals as well.
Even with the exponential growth that soccer has been seeing in America, it is yet to produce a star that can captivate and entertain the audience with imagination and creativity like the likes of Neymar but with rumors of Inter Miami already setting their eyes on the young talent, American soccer’s future could be brighter than it’s ever been.
