Sporting Kansas City midfielder Gianluca Busio captained United States U-17 Men’s National Team on Monday in the final match of the 4 Nations Tournament at Sportspark Marsdijk in Assen, Netherlands.
After defeating Mexico and Netherlands in their first two games of the tournament, the Americans were forced to settle for second place after taking a 4-1 loss to Denmark. The Danes raced out to a 4-0 lead before Noah Jones put the U.S. U-17s on the scoreboard in the 65th minute.
Busio also started in the United States' 2-1 victory over rivals Mexico in last Thursday's tournament opener before resting in Saturday's 3-1 triumph against hosts Netherlands.
U.S. U-17 head coach Raphael Wicky assembled a 23-man squad for the 4 Nations Tournament, which served as the team’s final international action before the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The biennial event is slated for Oct. 26 – Nov. 17 in Brazil, with Busio a strong candidate to feature at the competition.
USA Schedule: 4 Nations Tournament
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Matchup</strong> |
<strong>Kickoff (CT) / Result</strong> |
<strong>Venue</strong> |
Thursday, Sept. 5 |
U-17 MNT vs. Mexico |
W 2-1 |
Sportpark Marsdijk; Assen, Netherlands |
Saturday, Sept. 7 |
U-17 MNT vs. Netherlands |
W 3-1 |
Sportpark Marsdijk; Assen, Netherlands |
Monday, Sept. 9 |
U-17 MNT vs. Denmark |
L 1-4 |
Sportpark Marsdijk; Assen, Netherlands |
A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Busio has appeared in 21 competitive matches for Sporting this season as an important midfield contributor. The 17-year-old Sporting KC Academy product most notably scored in three straight league games from March 30 to April 14, becoming the youngest player in MLS history to score a goal in consecutive matches. He also started in the MLS Homegrown Game on July 30, propelling the Homegrowns to a penalty shootout victory over the Chivas de Guadalajara U-20s.
Busio will now rejoin Sporting for the club's last five fixtures of the 2019 MLS regular season. The decisive stretch of games begins Sunday when Manager Peter Vermes' men visit the LA Galaxy in a nationally televised clash on FS1, FOX Deportes and the FOX Sports app at 9 pm. CT. Fans can also catch the action live locally on ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM.
