Two standouts from Real Salt Lake's Arizona academy have been called up to the U.S. Under-18 squad for the Copa del Atlantico, a tournament in Spain: attacking midfielder/forward Sebastian Saucedo and goalkeeper Christian Herrera.
Saucedo, from Park City, has long been a standout with the academy and Utah-based youth sides; both have experience with the U-18s in the January squad serving as a run-up to the tournament. During that time, both seem to have impressed enough to make the cup squad.
The U.S. team plays Spain on Feb. 4, Argentina on Feb. 5, and the Canary Islands on Feb. 7.
Spain have won the cup every year since 2007. This is the first time the U.S. has been involved; the tournament began in 1964.
Roster via a US Soccer press release
GOALKEEPERS (2): Christian Herrera (Real Salt Lake AZ; Las Cruces, N.M.), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes; Alamo, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (5): Chase Gasper (Bethesda-Olney; Alexandria, Va.), Shaquell Moore (Unattached; Powder Springs, Ga.), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City; Lee's Summit, Mo.), Tommy Redding (Unattached; Oviedo, Fla.), Tyler Turner (Unattached; Meriden, Conn.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Mukwelle Akale (Minnesota Thunder; Minneapolis, Minn.), Omar Castro (Eintracht Braunschweig; Plant City, Fla.), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham FC; Plano, Texas), Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake AZ; Casa Grande, Ariz.), Ben Swanson (Crew Soccer Academy; Grove City, Ohio), Jackson Yueill (Minnesota Thunder; Bloomington, Minn.)
FORWARDS (5): Andrija Novakovich (Chicago Magic PSG; Muskego, Wis.), Rubio Rubin (Unattached; Beaverton, Ore.), Ahinga Selemani (CSA Wolves; Ann Arbor, Mich.), Alan Winn (Solar Chelsea SC; Garland, Texas), Dembakwi Yomba (Concorde Fire; Lithona, Ga.)