Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown made his debut at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup on Friday with a spot in the starting lineup for the United States' 3-0 loss against Ukraine. The 18-year-old Lee's Summit, Missouri native played the full 90 minutes at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand in the team's group stage finale.
Despite the defeat, the United States advance from Group A in second place and will now face Group C runner-up Colombia in a Round of 16 match-up on June 10 in Wellington, New Zealand.
<strong>Rank</strong> |
<strong>Team</strong> |
<strong>W</strong> |
<strong>L</strong> |
<strong>D</strong> |
<strong>Pts</strong> |
1. |
Ukraine |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
2. |
USA |
2 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
3. |
New Zealand |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4. |
Myanmar |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
Palmer-Brown has appeared in eight matches for Sporting Kansas City across all competition since signing as a homegrown player in August 2013. He made his MLS debut in 2014 at age 17 -- becoming the youngest player to appear in a MLS match in club history -- and already has two regular season appearances in 2015, including the season opener.
A product of the Sporting Kansas City Academy, Palmer-Brown is the third player in Sporting KC's history to represent the U.S. at a FIFA U-20 World Cup while playing for the club along with Francisco Gomez (1999) and Mikey Lopez (2013). Palmer-Brown and Cameron Carter-Vickers, the two youngest players on the U.S. U-20 MNT roster, started side-by-side in central defense on Friday and contributed to a scoreless first half before Ukraine's Viktor Kovalenko completed a second-half hat trick with goals in the 56th, 74th and 79th minutes.
Palmer-Brown first represented the United States Under-20 Men's National Team as a 16-year-old in January 2014. He participated in the 2014 Dallas Cup with the U-20's in addition to three of the team's international training camps in Argentina (September 2014), England (March 2015) and Austria (April 2015) prior to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
In 2013, Palmer-Brown attended the prestigious U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida for the Spring semester. By year's end, he was named one of five finalists for U.S. Soccer's 2013 Young Male Athlete of the Year.
