CHESTER, Pa. — The Philadelphia Union’s connection with the United States youth national teams grows deeper with every international break.
During the most recent international window, midfielder Derrick Jones joined the newly-formed under-23 squad under coach Jason Kreis, and defender Matthew Real continued his preparations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup with coach Tab Ramos.
If the Union weren’t low on players for their match Saturday against the Columbus Crew, centerbacks Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie would’ve likely joined the U-23 and U-20 sides, respectively, as well.
“From my standpoint, it speaks for the group itself and what we’ve done here,” Real said during Union training Wednesday. “How well we’ve been progressing in training, or in games, whether it’s Trusty, Mark, Brenden (Aaronson) with the first team, me and Anthony (Fontana) with the Steel. Regardless, we’re improving as individuals and it speaks for itself when we’re able to go over there and get results against good teams.
“It speaks for what we’re doing here, and if we continue to progress with all the younger kids as well, we have something good going on here.”
Jones and the U-23s are gearing up to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo after a few failed qualification campaigns by past groups.
“We had a good group that went to the (U-20) World Cup and we had a similar one in camp,” Jones said. “We’re confident that we’re going to go all the way and qualify for the Olympics.”
Real, who has worn the captain’s armband for the U-20s, was part of a group that produced a pair of solid performances against two of the top U-20 sides in the world — France and Japan.
“I thought it was a great effort against France,” Real said. “We had a great result, a 2-2 draw. Even coach told us that was one of the best U-20 teams he’s ever seen in the whole cycle of him coaching. The fact that we were able to get a result against an opponent like that speaks for the quality of the group, as well as how prepared we were going in, and hopefully we can carry that into the World Cup.”
In the short term, Union manager Jim Curtin kept an eye on how two of his growing collection of homegrown players performed on the international stage.
“I watched the games and I thought Matthew did really well, and I thought Derrick had some good moments also,” Curtin said during his weekly press conference Wednesday. “Again, getting good minutes matters.”
In the long term, the Union hope to be one of the top Major League Soccer producers of young talent, and are continuing to work toward that.
“For me, it’s no surprise. They prepare us well,” Real said.
Trusty and Jones played at the 2017 U-20 World Cup and likely will be included in the discussions for Olympic qualifying. Real, Mark McKenzie and midfielder Anthony Fontana were vital cogs to the U-20 World Cup qualifying campaign in October.
It might be too late in the World Cup cycle for Aaronson, who scored during his MLS debut in Week 3 against Atlanta United, to be included in the U-20 World Cup squad, but he definitely has a high ceiling on the international level based off what he’s produced so far.
“They could be big contributors for the Philadelphia Union, U-20s, U-23s and the full national team — and that is how, big picture, the United States gets back where it should be, which is in the World Cup. And not just being in, but pushing and challenging every time and feeling like we can put a team on the field that can go toe-to-toe,” Curtin said.
For Curtin, the journey of every Homegrown player out of the academy carries a personal meaning since he coached some of the players while he was part of the academy staff.
“In some small way, I’ve been with a lot of them since they were 9 and 10 years old,” Curtin said. “To see this now happening and living through it has been something that’s special and something we’re proud of as a club.”
The homegrown players aren’t just making an impact on the youth international stages. Trusty and McKenzie form the first-choice centerback pairing for the Union. Aaronson is pushing for minutes, and Real, Fontana and Jones continue to push their way up the depth chart.
“We recognize it’s not just about the young players, it’s about winning soccer games with the first team, too,” Curtin said. “But I think we can do that with this group of players as well.”
While the Union’s young American players have achieved some success, the club hopes this is just the start of their impact on the entire United States program.
“I hope we can contribute with all of our homegrowns playing a part, . . . not just four years down the road, but six, eight, 10 years down the road,” Curtin said. “And the Philadelphia Union being a team that is known for producing great, young American players.”