Sporting Kansas City defender Jaylin Lindsey has been named the No. 11 player on the United Soccer League’s 20 Under 20, a list highlighting the best young talent to play in the USL this season.
The USL began its 20 Under 20 countdown Monday and announced players ranked No. 8-11 today. The USL will unveil No. 4-7 on Thursday and the top three players in the 20 Under 20 rankings on Friday. The annual list is compiled through input from head coaches and technical staffs at all 33 clubs across the league.
Lindsey’s 20 Under 20 honor comes exactly one week after he was named to MLSsoccer.com’s 22 Under 22, where he was ranked No. 20 in a series showcasing Major League Soccer’s best players under the age of 22.
Lindsey has played six USL matches on loan for the Rangers this season, featuring exclusively as a right back under SPR head coach Paulo Nagamura. The 18-year-old boasts a 4-0-2 record as a starter, with the Rangers posting three shutouts in his six appearances. In 540 minutes of USL action, Lindsey has racked up 11 interceptions and nine clearances, completed 87 percent of his passes and created six scoring chances.
In addition to shining for the Rangers, Lindsey has started nine of 10 appearances for Sporting KC during his breakthrough 2018 season. He is the youngest player in Kansas City history to play at least 10 matches for the club, having started in both of Sporting KC’s U.S. Open Cup victories this summer against rivals Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas. The outside back also recorded his first MLS assist on July 14 against Supporters’ Shield contenders New York Red Bulls.
A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Lindsey starred for the Sporting KC Academy from 2015-2017 prior to signing for Sporting KC as a Homegrown Player in September 2017. He inked an Academy contract with the Rangers in the spring of 2016 and debuted for the club on May 7, 2016, becoming the first American player born in 2000 or later to appear in a professional match.
As a youth international, Lindsey has featured for the United States at the U-14, U-15, U-17 and U-20 levels. He played more than 25 matches for the U.S. U-17s from 2016-17 and made his U.S. U-20 debut last month, starting all three games at the U.S. U-20 Men’s Invitational in Bradenton, Florida. Lindsey is in contention to represent the U.S. at the 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship in November, a tournament that serves as the qualifying competition for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.
Swope Park Rangers head coach Paulo Nagamura on Jaylin Lindsey
What makes Lindsey so talented?
"Jaylin has a great engine. He is a tireless worker playing at outside back. He is very good on the ball, as well. His qualities really fit the way that we play and the model of Sporting KC and Swope Park Rangers like his fellow young teammates. They have some specific qualities. For example, with Lindsey, he has a great engine, he’s good on the ball, and he’s a good 1v1 defender. Those qualities are really required to play in that position and are qualities that he does very well."
What’s going to take the player to the next level?
"Like we all saw, he’s very close to that level that we talk about. He’s already had a couple games with Sporting Kansas City, and now it’s just a matter of him being consistent and doing the good work that he did when he played with the first team."
