Sporting Kansas City midfielder Gianluca Busio helped the United States U-17 Men’s National Team to a 2-1 comeback victory over archrivals Mexico on Thursday in the opening game of the 4 Nations Tournament at Sportspark Marsdijk in Assen, Netherlands.
The Americans fell behind early in the second half on a Mexico strike from Bryan Gonzalez, but Borussia Dortmund academy signing Gio Reyna equalized in the 69th minute before Ricardo Pepi bagged a dramatic 88th-minute winner.
Busio, 17, started in an advanced midfield role on Thursday for his 14th international appearance at the U-17 level. He will remain with the U.S. U-17s for their final two matches of the round-robin tournament—an 8 a.m. CT kickoff against hosts Netherlands on Saturday and an 11:30 a.m. CT matchup versus Denmark on Monday.
U.S. U-17 head coach Raphael Wicky has assembled a 23-man squad for the 4 Nations Tournament, which will serve as the team’s final international action before the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The biennial event is slated for Oct. 26 – Nov. 17 in Brazil.
USA Schedule: 4 Nations Tournament
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Matchup</strong> |
<strong>Kickoff (CT) / Result</strong> |
<strong>Venue</strong> |
Thursday, Sept. 5 |
U-17 MNT vs. Mexico |
W 2-1 |
Sportpark Marsdijk; Assen, Netherlands |
Saturday, Sept. 7 |
U-17 MNT vs. Netherlands |
8 a.m. |
Sportpark Marsdijk; Assen, Netherlands |
Monday, Sept. 9 |
U-17 MNT vs. Denmark |
11:30 a.m. |
Sportpark Marsdijk; Assen, Netherlands |
A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Busio has appeared in 21 competitive matches for Sporting this season as an important midfield contributor. The Sporting KC Academy product most notably scored in three straight league games from March 30 to April 14, becoming the youngest player in MLS history to score a goal in consecutive matches. He also started in the MLS Homegrown Game on July 30, propelling the Homegrowns to a penalty shootout victory over the Chivas de Guadalajara U-20s.
