Matthew Olosunde’s soccer journey started just a few miles up Interstate 95 from Talen Energy Stadium. Now the 20-year-old defender is on the verge of making his senior U.S. national team debut there.
Born in Philadelphia and raised in Trenton, Olosunde has been in Manchester United’s academy system since he turned 18. He played for a youth team in Princeton, and spent some of his early teenage years at the New York Red Bulls’ academy. That’s where he was spotted by U.S. national team scouts, who invited him to the now-defunct full-time residency program in Bradenton, Fla.
In 2015, Olosunde was part of the U.