US Under-17 men’s national team head coach Richie Williams named a 20-player roster on Sunday for this week's Nike International Friendlies in Florida, and five MLS prospects are among the squad that will face Brazil, England and Portugal.
MLS academies are represented by defender Hugo Arellano (Chivas USA), defender George Braima (Columbus Crew), defender Matthew Olosunde (New York Red Bulls), forward Haji Wright (LA Galaxy) and midfielder Alejandro Zendejas (FC Dallas).
Midfielder Luca de la Torre of Fulham and forward Joe Gallardo of Monterrey are the only two players attached to foreign clubs.
The US kick off the Nike Friendlies on Monday against Portugal, face England on Wednesday and conclude Friday against Brazil. All three matches are at 5 pm ET and will be streamed live on USSoccer.com. All matches will take place at Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
The U-17s last gathered in mid-November and swept a pair of friendlies against Canada by a combined 5-0 score line in Fort Lauderdale.
The Nike Friendlies have seen a host of current senior US national teamers make star turns, including Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Brek Shea and Eric Lichaj. More recently, Juan Agudelo, Zac MacMath, Jack McInerney, Joe Gyau and Perry Kitchen have been among the partcipants.
COMPLETE US U-17 ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS (2): William Pulisic (Richmond Strikers; Mechanicsville, Va.), Kevin Silva (PDA; Bethlehem, Pa.)
DEFENDERS (7): Hugo Arellano (Chivas USA Academy; Norwalk, Calif.), Daniel Barbir (Unattached; Allentown, Pa.), George Braima (Crew Soccer Academy; Columbus, Ohio), Edwin Lara (unattached; San Leandro, Calif.), John Nelson (Internationals; Medina, Ohio), Matthew Olosunde (New York Red Bulls Academy; Trenton, N.J.), Alexis Velela (San Diego Surf; San Diego)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Eric Calvillo (Real So Cal; Palmdale, Calif.), Luca de la Torre (Fulham; San Diego), Thomas McCabe (PDA; South Orange, N.J.), Logan Panchot (St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri; St. Louis), Brian Zelaya (De Anza Force; San Mateo, Calif.), Alejandro Zendejas (FC Dallas Academy; El Paso, Texas)
FORWARDS (5): Pierre Da Silva (New York Soccer Club; Port Chester, N.Y.), Joe Gallardo (Monterrey FC; San Diego), Joshua Perez (unattached; La Habra, Calif.), Christian Pulisic (PA Classics; Hershey, Pa.), Haji Wright (LA Galaxy Academy; Los Angeles)
