Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown was named to MLSsoccer.com's "24 Under 24" rankings on Tuesday, coming in at No. 17 in a series highlighting the best young players in Major League Soccer.
The 20-year-old center back, who made his first "24 Under 24" appearance in 2015, has played 21 matches for Sporting Kansas City since becoming the club's third Homegrown Player in August 2013. Palmer-Brown has logged nine appearances this season, including two in Sporting KC's run to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title.
A native of Lee's Summit, Missouri and a product of the Sporting KC Academy, Palmer-Brown has thrived this year as captain of the United States U-20 Men's National Team. He guided the side to the CONCACAF U-20 Championship title in March, earning Golden Ball honors as the player of the tournament, before helping the U.S. reach the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in June.
Palmer-Brown made his Sporting KC debut as a 17-year-old in 2014, becoming the youngest player in MLS history to start a match as a defender. After two seasons with his hometown club, he spent 2016 on loan with Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto, where he helped FC Porto B win the LigaPro championship.
This year's "24 Under 24" countdown will culminate on Thursday when the top 10 players are revealed on a special edition of ExtraTime Live at 1 p.m. CT. Players who are 23 and younger as of Oct. 22 – the final day of the 2017 MLS regular season – are eligible for the ranking in 2017.
