Real Salt Lake’s academy continues to dominate youth national teams, and as a result, four first-team players and one further academy graduate have been called up to the United States squad for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
That list reads exactly as you’d expect: Danny Acosta, Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera, Brooks Lennon and Sebastian Saucedo.
It’s certainly a testament to their quality that they were called in, but it does leave Real Salt Lake shorthanded. It’s unusual that all four of the players have played significant first-team roles in the last year; particularly, Acosta, Lennon and Saucedo have been nearly ever-present under new RSL coach Mike Petke.