In the long arc of American soccer's search for its own identity, few moments carry as much symbolic weight as the elevation of a teenager to the national stage. Sixteen-year-old Cavan Sullivan of the Philadelphia Union has been called into the U.S. Men's National Team, becoming the youngest player summoned since the era of Freddy Adu — a name that still echoes with both promise and caution. His selection, paired with the quiet omission of Christian Pulisic, suggests a national team navigating the tension between its present and its future, choosing, at least for this moment, to lean toward wh