HERRIMAN, Utah (Tuesday, April 19, 2022) – Real Salt Lake Academy forward Zavier Gozo and defender Luis Rivera have been named to the U.S. U-15 Youth National Team for the Torneo delle Nazioni against Belgium and Slovenia.
The tournament will take place from April 24 to May 1 across Austria, Italy and Slovenia. The United States is one of 12 nations represented at the tournament, with the only other teams from the Americas being Chile and Mexico.
Placed in Group B, the USA will face Slovenia on Monday, April 25 (11 a.m. ET) and Belgium
on Wednesday, April 27 (12 p.m. ET). Both matches will be streamed, with USA Slovenia available via to be announced Slovenian FA platforms and USA Belgium broadcast by the tournament organizers.
Following pool play, the USA will play two more games as part of a four team bracket with teams that finished in the same place in the group stage. The placement semifinals are set for Friday, April 29 and finals on Sunday, May 1.
This is the second call up for Rivera and the third for Gozo. However this will be the first international tournament for both, as the previous call ups have all been domestic camps.
Their selection to the U.S. U-15 Youth National Team comes on the heels of standout performances at the 2022 Generation Adidas Cup during which the RSL Academy U15 made it all the way to the Quarterfinals before falling to Spain’s Valencia CF, the eventual runner-up of the tournament.
While at the GA Cup Gozo recorded two goals and four assists in seven matches, leading the squad in assists, while recording the second-most goals. On the defensive end, Rivera led a backline that only allowed five goals in seven matches for a plus eight goal differential.
The RSL Academy returns to regular season play on Saturday, April 23 when they host LA Galaxy at Zions Bank Training Facility.
