MARIETTA, Ga. -- Atlanta United midfielder Andrew Carleton broke news on Monday when he revealed he has a connection to Tigres UANL, the Liga MX club he and his fellow Homegrowns will take on tomorrow night in the 2018 MLS Homegrown Game presented by Energizer.
“When I was younger, I actually went on trial there when I was 13 or 14, so I know how it works a little bit,” he said. “I should know a few of the players there from whenever I was there. I’m looking forward to the game. They’re a pretty decent team, so I think we’re looking forward to it.”
Carleton will join the other MLS Homegrowns when they take the Tigres U-20 team on Tuesday at the Atlanta United FC training ground in the Homegrown Game (8:30 pm ET | UDN, Twitter.com).
The 18-year-old native of Powder Springs, Georgia, said he was only on trial with Tigres for three or four weeks—not even enough time to learn much Spanish. He’d previously been on trial with the Premier League’s Manchester City.
“When I was at Man City, I made some sort of connection with an agent. I didn’t have a European passport,” he said. “There was no MLS team here at the time, so we were looking for other professional options, and Mexico was one of them, so we kind of got that lined up.”
Asked if he could provide any tips for his Homegrown teammates leading up to Tuesday’s match, Carleton admitted he won’t be able to provide much of a scouting report.
“I’m not sure their names, but I just know their faces playing with the USA against Mexico in qualifiers a couple times.”
When the assembled media mentioned to Carleton that this was the first time they’d heard about his connection to Tigres, he said: “Well, I’m glad to spill it.”
