On Wednesday night at San Jose’s Avaya Stadium, a team of Homegrown stars of Major League Soccer will take on the Mexico U-20 National Team in the 2016 Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game. With five players in the match, Real Salt Lake will be well-represented as the spotlight shines on the exhibition to showcase some of the bright young talent the league has to offer.
Four of those players – Jordan Allen, Justen Glad, Phanuel Kavita and Danilo Acosta – were selected by MLS and U.S. National Team legend Landon Donovan to suit up for the MLS side and Donovan himself spoke about each player in announcing the squad two weeks ago. Here’s a look at what he had to say.
On Phanuel Kavita: “A young kid who has played a lot for the Monarchs, RSL’s USL team, and has done very well.”
On Justen Glad: “He has done very, very well in the RSL backline. He’s done a tremendous job next to Aaron Maund most of the year and he’s doing a great job with RSL.”
On Danilo Acosta: “He’s a young kid that is hoping to get more minutes. He’s a young kid that not a lot of people know about that you should pay attention to.”
On Jordan Allen: “He’s made a very, very big impact on RSL’s frontline this year and has played significant minutes in big games.”
Donovan went on to stress the importance of the Homegrown Game as an opportunity for players to make a name for themselves with the eyes of technical staffs from around the league and abroad watching.
“At the end of the day, the game doesn’t mean anything as far as results, but you never know who’s watching and who’s paying attention and it’s a really good opportunity to showcase themselves,” Donovan said, adding that he relishes the opportunity to coach them. “These are young men who are still impressionable and still have so much to learn and I want to be able to share some of my experience with them, so I think it’s a great opportunity for everyone.”
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