LA Galaxy's Nathan Smith is of the belief that he and his youth teammates are closing in on the likes of Manchester United and Fulham.
The 2013 Dallas Cup has the Galaxy youngsters pitted against the youth of United, Fulham, Brazilian outfit Coritiba, Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt, Mexico's Club America and Japan's Kashiwa Reysol but Smith does not fear the apparent bigger names.
"It's a good opportunity to play against them and show them that we are just as good," said defender Smith.
"They may be at Manchester United, but we play for the LA Galaxy and it's almost at the same level.
"It's a chance for us to prove that we can hang with these guys and show that soccer in America has grown.
"We've been preparing for Dallas Cup the last couple of months, we've been putting this on a pedestal and our goal is not only to play in the Dallas Cup but to win it.
"This definitely means something."
After two matches of the tournament, the Galaxy sit second in Bracket B following their 2-1 win over Frankfurt and 2-1 loss to Fulham. They next meet Coritiba on Wednesday in a bid to finish top two in their group.
