Nine players from the Sporting KC Academy were among 27 members of the United States first-ever boys youth futsal national teams which traveled to Toronto, Canada for three games from Dec. 29-31.
Under-14: David Merola (Overland Park, Kan.), Luke Rafanan (Overland Park, Kan.), Max Rugova (Overland Park, Kan.)
Under-16: Steven Tekesky (Raymore, Mo.), Fernando Borges (Olathe, Kan.), Alex Kaddah (Blue Springs, Mo.), John Leisman (Kansas City, Mo.), Andrew McLeod (Overland Park, Kan.), Paul Whitener (Kansas City, Mo.)
"It is an historical event in our country's futsal history," said U.S. Youth Futsal technical director and U.S. Men's National Futsal Team head coach Keith Tozer. "We have been waiting a very long time for this to happen and are making history for futsal in North America."
Rafanan (U14) and Leisman (U16) captained each of the two squads, which went unbeaten in six international matches against top Canadian teams at the brand new, $205 million Toronto Pan American Sports Centre. The U.S. Youth Futsal teams were selected after a year-long sequence of regional and national identification camps.
The Under-14 U.S. Youth Futsal National Team opened with a 5-5 draw, followed by emphatic victories to the tune of 14-3 and 20-3. Rugova scored in all three matches, amassing seven goals in total, while Rafanan contributed five goals of his own.
The Under-16 U.S. Youth Futsal National Team was a perfect 3-0-0 in their inaugural competition, winning by 16-3, 9-3 and 7-5 scorelines. Leisman led the way with three straight two-goal performances and was one of five SKC Academy players on the U16 side to score in the series along with Kaddah (4), Whitener (2), Borges (2) and McLeod (2).
U.S. Soccer also announced this week that Sporting KC Academy defender Cameron Duke is one of 36 players selected to the U.S. Under-14 Boys' National Team for a training camp from Jan. 3-10 in Bradenton, Florida. The U14's will play two matches (versus France's FC Metz and the U.S. Soccer Development Academy's Weston FC) at the IMG Academy stadium field on Jan. 7 before concluding with an intrasquad scrimmage on Jan. 9.
Duke joined the U.S. Under-14 Boys' National Team in October for a training camp in Carson, California and started in a 2-1 loss to the U14's from Arsenal FC (England). The Olathe, Kansas native was a member of the Sporting Kansas City U14's that won Kansas State Cup and the United States Youth Soccer Region II Tournament in 2014 en route to appearing at the 2014 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Maryland.
The United States U14's are led by head coach Brian Johnson, a member of KC's 2000 MLS Cup team during a five-year MLS career spent in Kansas City from 1997-2001. Follow @ussoccer_ynt on Twitter for updates from the upcoming training camp.
