Sporting Kansas City Academy forward Gianluca Busio led the United States U-15 Boys’ National Team to a second-place finish at the CONCACAF U-15 Championship last week in Bradenton, Florida.
The 15-year-old Busio tallied four goals across three group stage victories before scoring in Thursday’s 3-0 semifinal win over Panama, helping the United States advance to Saturday’s championship against archrival Mexico. Busio bagged a team-leading five goals in a tournament that saw the U.S. outscore opponents 15-1 before falling 2-0 to Mexico in the final.
Mitch Eise — another member of the Sporting KC Academy — was also named to head coach Dave Van Den Bergh’s 18-man roster for the competition, but the defender suffered an injury and returned to Kansas City before the group stage kicked off.