7 Union Academy Members Called into Youth National Teams

Report From Philadelphia Union

CHESTER, Pa. – The Philadelphia Union announced today that seven academy members have been called into U.S. National Youth Camps in January. Yosef Samuel and Abu Winter were called up for the U.S. Under-20s; Auston Trusty for the U19s; Anthony Fontana, Mark McKenzie and Matthew Real for the U18s; and Rayshaun McGann for the U17s.

“We are very proud that our young players are being selected to attend the U.S. Soccer National team camps and invitational tournaments,” Academy Director Tommy Wilson said. “To be selected for your country is the ultimate honor and we are delighted that so many of our players are being recognized in this way. This speaks to the success of the Philadelphia Union Academy and we hope this will only drive our younger boys to reach a similar level as they progress through the system.”

Samuel and Winter, both 18 years old, will join the U.S. U20s. Samuel has spent time training with the Union first team sporadically throughout 2015 and currently has three goals in 11 games for the Philadelphia Union Under-18’s. Winter has played in five games for the U18s. That camp ran from Jan. 4-13 and was held in Miami, Fla.

Trusty, a 17-year-old defender, will join the U.S. U19s from Jan. 27-Feb. 6 in the Canary Islands. Trusty was a member of the United States Under-17 team that participated in the FIFA 2015 World Cup in Chile. Upon returning from that tournament in mid-November, Trusty started four games and scored one goal for the Union U18s.

McKenzie, Real and Fontana were called up to the U.S. U18s. McKenzie and Real, a pair of 16-year-old defenders, currently play for the Union U18s. Fontana, also 16, has scored four goals in 12 games for the Union U16s. That camp runs from Jan. 17-23 in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.

Finally, Rayshaun McGann, a 15-year-old defender for the Union U16s was called into the U.S. U17s for a camp that ran Jan. 6-13. McGann then made the official roster for the 2016 Aegean Cup in Izmir, Turkey, where they went 2-0-1 in group play wrapping up on Jan. 21. They’ll play host Turkey in the final.

The Philadelphia Union Academy finished up their fall portion of the 2015-16 schedule on Dec. 7 at the Academy Winter Showcase in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. Regular season games are slated to start again on March 5. The U-18s are 8-3-4 and sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, while the U-16s are 9-3-3 and sit in second place in the Atlantic Division.