Sporting Kansas City homegrown forward Gianluca Busio and the United States U-17 Men's National Team slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat to England in their opening game of the Nike International Friendlies on Wednesday at Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
Making his U-17 international debut, the 15-year-old Busio started and played the full 80 minutes as the U.S. and England exchanged multiple scoring chances over the course of the night. The contest would be decided in the 79th minute when Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed home a corner kick from Benjamin Knight to give England a last-gasp winner.
Busio was one of two MLS homegrown players to feature for head coach John Hackworth's side, joining captain George Bello of Atlanta United FC. The result gives the U-17 MNT its first loss in the annual Nike International Friendlies since 2015, as Sporting KC homegrown defender Jaylin Lindsey the USA rolled to three consecutive wins last December.
The U.S. U-17s will continue their Nike International Friendlies campaign on Friday when they face the Netherlands at 6 p.m. CT. Their final game will take place Sunday against Brazil at 4 p.m. CT. Both matches will stream live on ussoccer.com.
