The 2018 Nike International Friendlies are set to kick off on Nov. 28th in Lakewood Ranch, Florida and acting U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team head coach Shaun Tsakiris has named his roster ahead of it.
Tsakiris named 24 players for the annual tournament which will also see Brazil, Portugal, and Turkey take part.
Goalkeeper Damien Las, defender Joe Scally, midfielder Adam Saldana, and forwards Griffin Yow and Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez headline the roster which will see eight players aim to earn their first caps with the team.
Eight players have earned double-digit caps with the U-17’s, and were apart of the team’s trip to England earlier this Fall.
The U.S. kicks off its play on Nov. 28th against Portugal before taking on Turkey on Nov. 30th and Brazil on Dec. 2nd. It will be another set of preparation matches ahead of the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship which takes place next Spring.
“The Nike International Friendlies are another important opportunity to evaluate players who have done well with their clubs,” Tsakiris said. “The reality of the National Team is that the player pool is constantly being evaluated. High-level games like these provide an invaluable opportunity to see the progress of our players and for them to show us that they deserve to be a part of our group moving forward.”
The U.S. U-17’s have compiled an 8-4-2 record in 14 international matches in 2018.
Here’s the entire 24-player roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Trace Alphin (North Carolina FC; Raleigh, N.C.; 0/0), Damian Las (Chicago Fire; Norridge, Ill.; 11/0), Chituru Odunze (Vancouver Whitecaps FC/CAN; Calgary, Alberta; 3/0)
DEFENDERS (8): Axel Alejandre (FC United; Chicago, Ill.; 12/0), Adam Armour (North Carolina FC; Cary, N.C.; 8/0), Sebastian Falsone (Virginia Development Academy; Warrenton, Va.; 0/0), Jonathan Gomez (FC Dallas; Keller, Texas; 0/0), Tayvon Gray (New York City FC; Bronx, N.Y.; 7/0), Kobe Hernandez (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.; 11/1), Mason Judge (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Tampa, Fla.; 10/0), Joe Scally (New York City FC; Lake Grove, N.Y.; 11/1)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Masango Akale (Minnesota Thunder Academy; Minneapolis, Minn.; 0/0), Andre Luiz Costa (Rayo Vallecano/ESP; Madrid, Spain; 0/0), William Reilly (Atlanta United FC; Decatur, Ga.; 2/0), Giovanni Reyna (Unattached; Bedford, N.Y.; 5/1), Adam Saldana (LA Galaxy; Panorama City, Calif.; 14/1), Peter Stroud (West Ham United/ENG; Chester, N.J.; 12/0)
FORWARDS (7): Cameron Dunbar (LA Galaxy; Chula Vista, Calif.; 0/0), Ruben Hernandez (Club Leon/MEX; Manteca, Calif.; 0/0), Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Seattle Sounders FC; Kent, Wash.; 12/5), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas; 3/0), Daniel Robles (Seattle Sounders FC; White Center, Wash.; 5/0), Alex Villanueva (Seattle Sounders FC; Maple Valley, Wash.; 0/0), Griffin Yow (D.C. United; Clifton, Va.; 3/2)