NOTE: The following appeared in the latest edition of Sovereign, RSL's quarterly program.
Danny Acosta sidled up next to four of his U.S. U-20 teammates on a bench in South Korea and beamed.
“Who would have thought that one day us five would be here in the U-20 World Cup?” he smiled, just hours after the U.S. finished its run in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in the quarterfinals. “Nobody knew each other, but we became brothers. All of a sudden we’re here at the U-20 World Cup.”
That moment of zen left Acosta and his teammates in awe. They had started out as teenagers in Casa Grande, Arizona, all betting on themselves to become pro soccer players at the Real Salt Lake Academy. After hundreds of training sessions together, countless games of soccer tennis and thousands of laughs, Acosta, Brooks Lennon, Justen Glad, Sebastian Saucedo and Aaron Herrera were together again at the world’s premier competition for players their age.
Each took varying paths, but ultimately all of their journeys led them to don the Stars-and-Stripes at the World Cup.
“It was an unbelievable experience having these guys by my side going into a World Cup. It’s an unbelievable achievement for the RSL Academy,” Lennon said. “Five spots is a lot in such a short roster. It shows that RSL is growing as a club and we’re one of the top clubs for producing players.”
The U.S. U-20 National Team made a good run of it in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea, but ultimately, red-hot Venezuela proved too much against the American kids in the Quarterfinal Round and the Stars-and-Stripes had to settle for an early exit.
RSL’s five former Academy players were no mere bystanders either, as Head Coach Tab Ramos leaned heavily on RSL’s contingent of players throughout the tournament.
With high expectations, Lennon proved equal to the task as one of the leaders in the attack, netting two goals and three assists while starting all five matches in the World Cup. Acosta started all five matches at left back as well. Herrera started the first three matches, but was replaced in the lineup once Glad returned to health after suffering a knee injury in the final match of the CONCACAF Championships back in March. Glad started in both knockout round matches, going the distance against New Zealand and Venezuela and finishing the tournament with one goal and one assist. Saucedo started one match and finished with an assist against New Zealand to round out RSL’s representation in the tournament.
For Glad, who returned from injury to star for the U.S., having that experience with his longtime teammates made the journey that much more memorable.
“You can’t really put words on it. It was everything I wanted it to be. Everyone contributed from RSL. It felt like we were back at the academy. The same routine, the same antics. To live that with them was amazing. I was proud of what we did as a group,” he said. “The memories and the camaraderie … that’s something to last a lifetime. I’m grateful to be on that team.”
After the tournament ended, RSL’s four players – Acosta, Glad, Lennon and Saucedo – returned to Utah and resumed their club careers with Real Salt Lake. Herrera, meanwhile, is entering his junior season at the University of New Mexico.
And while they have so many memories of matches they’ve played in, laughs they’ve shared and bonds they’ve formed, few can compare with the journey they all endured to reach the U-20 World Cup.
It doesn’t only cement their brotherhood, but their legacy, too.
“Legends are built by playing for national teams,” Real Salt Lake General Manager Craig Waibel said. “You look back at the most popular players that have created their own image and their own brand … the national team is important. It’s what the whole country watches. That’s where they define themselves. They all helped define themselves for our fans in that U-20 World Cup and that’s a really important part of what we do in this sport.”
