Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown was named the No. 2 player on the United Soccer League’s 20 Under 20 list, the league announced on Thursday. The exclusive designation recognizes the USL’s best young talent and is compiled through input from head coaches and technical staffs across the league.
Palmer-Brown, who celebrated his 20th birthday on April 24, started five matches on loan for the Swope Park Rangers this spring. During his successful loan spell, he amassed 17 clearances and 13 interceptions while winning 87.5 percent of his tackles and completing 92.2 percent of his passes — the best mark among USL players with at least 30 pass attempts.
A native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri and a product of the Sporting KC Academy, Palmer-Brown has started each of Sporting Kansas City’s last three matches in all competitions. He made his 2017 MLS debut on July 6 against the Philadelphia Union and landed MLS Team of the Week honors for the first time in his career the following day. He delivered another colossal performance against FC Dallas in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on July 11, anchoring a back line that defended a man down for 86 minutes en route to a 3-0 extra-time victory.
The first half of 2017 saw Palmer-Brown captain the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Costa Rica and the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea Republic. The center back led the U.S. to the CONCACAF U-20 Championship title in early March, notably receiving the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player. Two months later, Palmer-Brown guided the Americans to the quarterfinals of the U-20 World Cup before falling to Venezuela 2-1 in an extra-time heartbreaker.
Palmer-Brown has played 16 matches in all competitions since signing for Sporting KC’s senior team as the club’s third Homegrown Player in August 2013. He became the youngest defender in MLS history to appear in a game when he made his Sporting KC debut as a 17-year-old in May 2014.
Palmer-Brown returned to Sporting Kansas City ahead of the 2017 campaign after a year-long loan at Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto. While in Europe, the center back played 17 games for FC Porto B en route to winning the LigaPro title last May and scoring his first professional goal against the Leicester City U-23s in the Premier League International Cup last November.
In addition to featuring regularly for the U.S. U-20s, Palmer-Brown has previously represented the U.S. at the U-15, U-17 and U-18 levels.
