Union’s Zach Pfeffer Called Up to U.S. U-20s

Chester, Pa. – Philadelphia Union forward Zach Pfeffer has been called up to the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced Friday. Head coach Tab Ramos selected Pfeffer and 19 others to take part in the second foreign training camp this year, which will take place from April 18-26 in Linz, Austria.

This will be the second national team appearance for Pfeffer appearance in 2015. On March 30, he was called up to the Under-23 team to play in a friendly against Denmark. He’s been a fixture on the youth national circuit, including the U-20s, where he most recently called up in September 2014 for a camp in Argentina. He scored the lone goal in a 1-1 draw with the hosts. Earlier in April 2014, Pfeffer was called up to the U-20 team to take part in the Dallas Cup. He played in four out of the five games, scored one goal and handed out two assists.

Pfeffer, who just turned 20 in January, has also played on the U-17 and U-18 National Teams.

For the Union, Pfeffer has played in 14 games and made five starts since joining the team in 2011. He’s played a more prominent role this season and scored his first goal of the year in his first game back after returning from Denmark against New York City FC during the team’s 2-1 win.

He signed as the team’s first Homegrown Player on Dec. 22, 2010 at the age of 15 years and 350 days. At the time, he was also the fourth youngest player ever to sign an MLS contract, behind Freddy Adu, Fued Ibrahim, and Diego Fagundez.

During the camp, the U-20 MNT will play friendly matches against fellow U-20 World Cup side Qatar on April 21, followed by a matchup against Croatia on April 25. Both games will be played at Red Bull Arena, home of FC Red Bull Slazburg in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria.