Earlier today, U.S. Soccer named Sporting KC defender Erik Palmer-Brown to the roster for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Palmer-Brown will join the squad in Los Angeles on Monday before departing for Australia later in the week.
While Palmer-Brown is the third player to represent Kansas City at the U-20 World Cup as a member of the club - Francisco Gomez (1999) and
Mikey Lopez
(2013) - he is the seventh player on Sporting KC's current roster to go to the tournament. Defender
Ike Opara
(pictured, right) played for the United States and
Krisztian Nemeth
played for Hungary at the 2009 U-20 World Cup, while
Marcel de Jong
played for Canada and scored a goal against Italy at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup. That same tournament also featured current Sporting KC players
Benny Feilhaber
and winger
Jacob Peterson
and Manager Peter Vermes, who was an assistant coach to Sigi Schmid for the tournament.
WATCH: Palmer-Brown discusses the U-20 roster announcement
The 2005 edition of the tournament was a banner one for the United States. Paired in Group D with perennial giants Argentina and Germany as well as a strong Egyptian side, the United States finished first in the group with wins over Argentina and Egypt. Peterson scored the game-winning goal in the 56th minute of the match against Egypt.
The U.S. could not continue their magic in the Round of 16, however, falling to Italy 3-1. In the four tournament matches, Feilhaber played 90 minutes each match with Peterson playing a total of 150 minutes.
For today's #TBT, we are throwing it back to the above photo of Peterson fighting for a ball against Argentine defender Lautaro Formica - brother of current Cruz Azul striker Mauro Formica. Not only did the 1-0 win set the tone for the tournament, but it also put the rest of the group on notice as Argentina featured a pair of players who have combined to score more than 500 goals in their international and domestic careers: Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi.
It's fair to say Messi got the last laugh, however, as the three-time Ballon d'Or winner netted six times in the tournament - including twice in the championship against Nigeria - en route to a first place finish.
