Over the course of the past several months, Real Salt Lake’s Academy has become a focal point for the U.S. U-20 National Team and Technical Director Tab Ramos. During the numerous camps that preceded the CONCACAF Championships in February and March, young men that first plied their trades at the remote academy in Casa Grande, Arizona, shuttled in and out of the lineup for Ramos as he sought the best options heading into the crucial tournament.
Now, just two months after the U.S. won the CONCACAF title for the first time in history, RSL will have five academy alums in the squad for Ramos as the U.S. U-20s head to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea.
Current RSL standouts Danilo Acosta, Justen Glad, Brooks Lennon and Sebastian Saucedo will be joined by University of New Mexico defender Aaron Herrera, who toiled in the academy with the RSL foursome before taking the college rout.
“It’s a dream come true. It’s the call that you’ve been waiting for your whole life. So it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Lennon said. “Having four guys from RSL on the team is a great achievement for the club. It just shows how successful the academy has been producing players and I’m really happy for them.”
While different players arrived at the academy at different times, the five players all played together at one point or another, with four of the five winning the USSDA U-16 Championship in 2013. The camaraderie built in the years spent together in Casa Grande and the many experience on and off the field that came with it helped drive each player to greater individual success, while also developing a chemistry on the field that has proven beneficial to both Real Salt Lake and the U.S. National Team setup.
Under the guidance of Freddy Juarez and Martin Vasquez, each of those elements came together to produce tremendous success for the team and remarkable individual players as well.
“It’s amazing knowing how far the academy program has come along,” Saucedo said. “We’ve had a brotherhood – we won a national championship and now we’re going to a U-20 World Cup. It’s crazy to know that nobody let their guard down and everybody has been working for more. It’s a dream to have a bunch of brothers play for the same team and going the same direction.”
Added Glad, “We got lucky with that group of players – that talent in that group and wanting the same goal and being willing to work for it. Especially under the supervision of Freddy - we all knew what we wanted and were all willing to sacrifice for it.”
The four players on RSL’s roster proved critical in the U-20s making history in the CONCACAF tournament in Costa Rica. Lennon was the team’s leading scorer, Saucedo had two goals in the third match of the tournament, Acosta scored the game-winning penalty in a shootout victory over Honduras in the tournament final and Glad was among the top players in the tournament. Herrera, for his part, was injured early in the tournament and was left to watch from the sidelines.
After returning from the tournament, three of the four players were elevated to the starting lineup for Real Salt Lake. Lennon has played all 90 minutes in all eight of his starts, highlighted by scoring the game-winning goal against the Colorado Rapids. Saucedo has five starts on the opposite wing, making eight total appearances and currently sits third on the team with 17 shots. Meanwhile Acosta has emerged as a starting candidate at the right back position, making four starts in that role. Glad, however, suffered an injury in the CONCACAF final and is working his way back to fitness, hoping to be ready to make an impact in the World Cup.
Getting the time with the first team has been a confidence boost for the three RSL players, though.
“The more minutes I’m getting here at my club, the better it is for the national team,” Lennon said. “Me playing a lot of games and getting a lot of minutes lately has helped me and will smooth out the transition when I go with the U.S. team.”
Getting the competition should be helpful for the fitness and sharpness of the players involved.
“It helps us a lot. We are already experienced with the style of play in MLS and that will make us more mature when we go to the World Cup,” Acosta said. “It’s going to be really good and really interesting to see.”
The U.S. opens the tournament on May 22 against Ecuador and goes on to face Senegal on May 25 and Saudi Arabia on May 28 in the Group Stage. Expectations are high for a U.S. team that fought its way through to the CONCACAF title, and it’s a confident team, to boot.
“We have the talent to win the whole thing and I have no doubt in my mind that we can do it,” Lennon said. “I think we can go and win the tournament.”
