Richie Williams Names 28 Players to U-17 MNT 2015 Spring Residency Roster
Residency Program Group Features 24 Players from 2014 Fall Semester; USA Prepares for Qualification Process Toward 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup
Head coach Richie Williams announced the squad, which includes FC Dallas Homegrown forward Alejandro Zendejas and 10 additional players from Major League Soccer youth programs or affiliates, on Tuesday. The US are preparing for the CONCACAF U-17 Championship, to be played Feb. 27-March 15 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The top four teams will qualify for the 2015 U-17 World Cup, which is set to take place Oct. 17-Nov. 8 in Chile.
The US Under-17 National Team has included 11 players with MLS ties among the 28 players named to the roster for the spring semester of the U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida. Several other players come from top youth soccer clubs around the county such as Alexis Velela from San Diego Surf SC and Eric Calvillo from Real So Cal.
MLS Academy player Zendejas was signed as a Homegrown Player on Oct. 1, 2014, while the roster also includes LA Galaxy II goalkeeper Eric Lopez, who became the youngest player ever to sign a USL PRO contract on Nov. 3, 2014, aged 15. Joining Lopez in the goalkeeper pool is Richmond United goalkeeper Will Pulisic, who signed an amateur contract with USL PRO’s Richmond Kickers last year but did not make an appearance.
“This is an important semester for us and an important year for this cycle,” Williams said in a U.S. Soccer statement. “With World Cup qualifying at the beginning of March, it will be important for us to continue training well and performing well. We also need to find a balance with this group and some of the players who are not with us on a regular basis to form a 20-man roster that will head to qualifying to compete and get results.”
Players from MLS academies named to the roster include defenders Tyler Adams and Matt Olosunde from the New York Red Bulls, Hugo Arellano from the LA Galaxy, Tanner Dieterich from Real Salt Lake’s Arizona residency program and Nikkye De Point from New England affiliate Revolution Empire in upstate New York; midfielders George Braima from Columbus Crew SC and Giuseppe Barone from Crew affiliate CSA Wolves in Michigan; and forwards Pierre Da Silva from Orlando City and Elvir Ibisevic from Kansas City affiliate Sporting Iowa.
US U-17 Roster by Position:
| PLAYER | POS. | HT. | WT. | BIRTHDATE | HOMETOWN | CLUB/COLLEGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Adams | D | 5-9 | 145 | 2/14/99 | Wappingers Falls, New York | New York Red Bulls Academy |
| Hugo Arellano | D | 6-0 | 158 | 3/5/98 | Norwalk, Calif. | LA Galaxy |
| Giuseppe Barone | M | 5-7 | 140 | 6/17/98 | Grandville, Mich. | Crew Soccer Academy Wolves |
| George Braima | D | 6-3 | 135 | 2/1/98 | Columbus, Ohio | Crew Soccer Academy |
| Eric Calvillo | M | 5-5 | 129 | 1/2/98 | Palmdale, Calif. | Real So Cal |
| Matthew Constant | D | 6-5 | 177 | 8/17/98 | Carrollton, Texas | Dallas Texans |
| Pierre Da Silva | F | 4-9 | 126 | 7/28/98 | Port Chester, N.Y. | New York Soccer Club |
| Nikkye De Point | D | 5-10 | 142 | 9/10/98 | Rochester, N.Y. | Empire Revolution |
| Lucas del Rosario | F | 5-8 | 122 | 4/30/99 | Durham, N.C. | Capital Area RailHawks Academy |
| Tanner Dieterich | D | 6-0 | 150 | 5/4/98 | Nashville, Tenn. | Real Salt Lake |
| McKinze Gaines | F | 5-9 | 136 | 3/2/98 | Austin, Texas | Lonestar S.C. |
| Joe Gallardo | F | 5-7 | 127 | 1/1/98 | San Diego, Calif. | Monterrey (Mexico) |
| Elvir Ibisevic | F | 6-1 | 162 | 2/10/98 | Urbandale, Iowa | Sporting Iowa |
| Keegan Kelly | F | 5-8 | 138 | 12/8/98 | Baltimore, Maryland | Baltimore Celtic |
| Eric Lopez | GK | 6-1 | 165 | 3/5/99 | Westminster, Calif. | LA Galaxy |
| Eric Matzelevich | F | 6-0 | 155 | 11/28/98 | Washington, D.C. | Bethesda-Olney |
| Thomas McCabe | M | 5-10 | 151 | 4/4/98 | South Orange, N.J. | Players Development Academy |
| John Nelson | D | 5-8 | 145 | 7/11/98 | Medina, Ohio | Internationals |
| Matthew Olosunde | D | 6-1 | 145 | 3/7/98 | Trenton, N.J. | New York Red Bulls |
| Logan Panchot | M | 5-7 | 130 | 7/8/98 | St. Louis, Mo. | St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri |
| Josh Perez | F | 5-5 | 135 | 1/21/98 | La Habra, Calinornia | Unattached |
| Luka Prpa | M | 5-7 | 126 | 7/27/98 | Wind Lake, Wis. | Chicago Magic PSG |
| William Pulisic | GK | 5-11 | 165 | 4/16/98 | Mechanicsville, Va. | Richmond United |
| Elijah Rice | D | 5-8 | 135 | 2/18/98 | Highland Park, Ill. | Chicago Magic PSG |
| Kevin Silva | GK | 6-0 | 175 | 1/5/98 | Bethlehem, Pa. | Players Development Academy |
| Nick Taitague | M | 5-8 | 138 | 2/17/99 | Midlothian, Va. | Richmond United |
| Alexis Velela | D | 5-8 | 140 | 4/17/98 | San Diego, Calif. | San Diego Surf |
| Alejandro Zendejas | M | 5-4 | 127 | 2/7/98 | El Paso, Texas | FC Dallas |
The U-17 Residency Program roster features 24 players who were with the team during the 2014 fall semester. The four newcomers to the group are defender Matthew Constant, midfielder Giuseppe Barone and forwards Elvir Ibisevic and Josh Perez.
The Residency roster also includes 25 players currently registered with Development Academy clubs, and 27 in all with ties to the Academy.
