Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By IVES GALARCEP
The 2013 MLS season saw the coming of age of many of the league’s best young prospects, including several who helped lead their teams to better-than-expected campaigns.
The New England Revolution tandem of Diego Fagundez and Kelyn Rowe headline the 2013 SBI MLS Under-23 Best XI after they helped lead the Revs to a run to the playoffs that included a nail-biting series loss to eventual MLS Cup champion Sporting Kansas City.
Darlington Nagbe enjoyed a breakout season of his own, helping the Portland Timbers finish with the best record in the Western Conference.
The criteria to be eligible for the SBI MLS Under-23 Best XI is simple. Any player born on January 1, 1990 or sooner is eligible to be on the team (basically anyone who was younger than 23 when the year began).
Who else made the SBI MLS Under-23 Best XI? Here are our selections:
SBI MLS Under-23 Best XI
(age in parentheses)
—–Darlington Nagbe-(23)—–Diego Fagundez-(18)—–
—Luis Gil (20)– Dillon Powers-(22)—Kelyn Rowe-(22)
————————Uri Rosell (21)————————-
Chris Klute (23)——————–Sheanon Williams (23)
——–Matt Hedges (23)———Amobi Okugo (22)——
———————-Zac MacMath (22)———————-
Honorable Mention:
Bill Hamid (23); DeAndre Yedlin (20), Kofi Sarkodie (22), Andrew Farrell (22), Shane O’Neill (20), Andrew Jean-Baptiste (21), Ethan White (22), Kellyn Acosta (18); Perry Kitchen (21), Gershon Koffie (22), Jonathan Osorio (21), Wil Trapp (20); Deshorn Brown (23), Juan Agudelo (20), Jack McInerney (21), Gyasi Zardes (22), Kekuta Manneh (18).
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What did you think of the selections? Who do you feel should have made the Best XI that didn’t? Who are you happy to see included?
Share your thoughts below.