The U.S. men's national team is currently preparing for friendlies and World Cup qualifiers, but the future of the program is also in action this week. The U.S. Under-18 men's national team kicks off its participation in the Libson International Tournament on Wednesday, the first tournament for new coach Javier Perez.
The U-18s will face U-19 sides from Poland on Wednesday, Slovakia on Thursday and host Portugal on Saturday. Among the players on Perez' 20-man roster are three MLS Homegrown Players (LA's Jack McBean, Chivas USA's Marco Delgado and Philadelphia's Zach Pfeffer), 2011 U-17 World Cup standouts Mobi Fehr, Alejandro Guido and Esteban Rodriguez and 2011 CONCACAF U-17 championship golden boot winner Andrew Oliver.
"It’s going to be a very challenging tournament for us, not only for the age group but also because every team in Europe is extremely competitive," Perez said on U.S. Soccer's website.
The U-18s drew a youth team from Sporting Lisbon 1-1 on Sunday in a tune-up for the match, with Guido scoring from the penalty spot to account for the Americans' goal.
The roster for the tournament is after the jump:
U.S. U-18 LISBON INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS: Ethan Horvath (Real Colorado Academy; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Zackary Steffen (FC Delco Academy; Downington, Pa.)
DEFENDERS: Jordan Allen (Real Salt Lake Academy; Rochester, N.Y.), Robert Michael Amick (De Anza Force Soccer Academy; Sunnyvale, Calif.), Mobi Fehr (FC Basel; Tokyo, Japan), Trevor Haberkorn (Solar Chelsea Soccer Academy; Keller, Texas), Malcom Harriss (Baltimore Bays Chelsea; Damascus, Md.), Jalen Markey (Seattle Sounders FC Academy; Renton, Wash.)
MIDFIELDERS: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas Academy; Plano, Texas), Russell Cannouse (Hoffenheim, Germany; Achtzehn Akademie, Germany), Marco Delgado (Chivas USA; Glendora, Calif.), Matthew Dunn (OFK Belgrade; Dallas, Texas), Alejandro Guido (Club Tijuana, Mexico; Chula Vista, Calif.), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids Academy, Brighton, Colo.)
FORWARDS: Jack McBean (LA Galaxy; Balboa Island, Calif.), Andrew Oliver (Chicago Fire Academy; Indianapolis, Ind.), Zach Pfeffer (Philadelphia Union; Dresher, Pa.), Esteban Rodriguez (Club Tijuana, Mexico; Palmdale, Calif.), Ben Spencer (Chivas USA Academy; Albuquerque, N.M.), Stefanos Stamoulacatos (Empire; Camillus, N.Y.)