FRISCO – U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team head coach John Hackworth has called FC Dallas U-17 Academy midfielder Beni Redzic and 23 other players for a nine-day training camp at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center from Feb. 24-March 4. During the camp, the USA will play a pair of games against older birth year players from LA Galaxy (2000, 2001), and mix of youth players from Liga MX side Club Tijuana (2000, 2001, 2002).
Redzic leads the FCD U-17s with 13 goals through 11 US Soccer Development Academy games this season and is ranked fifth in the nation with a 1.18 goals per game average.
“This camp allows us the opportunity to continue to teach our objectives as we build this pool of players,” Hackworth said in U.S. Soccer's camp release. “We will be focused on providing these young men with a quality training environment and games against older players that will challenge them to execute our principles of play.”
The U-17 age group, consisting of players born on or after Jan. 1, 2002, recently moved up from the U-15 level and will spend two years as the U-17 MNT before moving on to the U-19 level. The group is taking part in its third National Team camp of the 2018-19 cycle, after the player pool got an early start to the two-year slate of programming at the 2017 Men’s Nike International Friendlies, followed by its inclusion in the first ever Men’s Youth National Team Summit at the beginning of the year.
U.S. U-17 MNT Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (4): Aaron Cervantes (Pateadores; Chino Hills, Calif.), John Tyler Harms (Shattuck- Saint Mary's; Whitefish Bay, Wisc.), Damian Las (Chicago Fire; Chicago, Ill.), Marzuq Puckerin (FC Greater Boston Bolts; Cambridge, Mass.)
DEFENDERS (8): Axel Alejandre (FC United; Chicago, Ill.), Michael Barragan (Atlas FC; Guadalajara, Mexico), Amir Daley (New York Red Bulls; Elmont, N.Y.), Tayvon Gray (New York City FC; Bronx, N.Y.), Owen Guske (Portland Timbers; Saint Johns, Fla.), Kobe Hernandez (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), Mason Judge (Chargers Soccer Club, Tampa, Fla.), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls, Chatham, N.J.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Joshua Atencio (Seattle Sounders; Bellevue, Wash.), Luis Flores (Shattuck- Saint Mary's; Half Moon Bay, Calif.), Gilbert Fuentes (San Jose Earthquakes, Tracy Calif.), Benjamin Redzic (FC Dallas; Carrollton, Texas), Adam Saldana (Real So Cal; Panorama City, Calif.), Peter Stroud (Chester, N.J.)
FORWARDS (6): Julian Gaines (Lonestar Soccer Club; Austin, Texas), Andres Jasson (New York City FC; Greenwich, Conn.), Diego Lopez (Atlanta United FC; Chino, Calif.), Daniel Mangarov (Atlanta United FC; Duluth, Ga.), Giovanni Reyna (New York City FC; Bedford Corners, N.Y.), Ray Serrano (Seattle Sounders FC; Graham, Wash.)
