CARSON, Calif. – LA Galaxy Homegrown Players Oscar Sorto and Jose Villarreal will lead the U.S. Under-23’s against their counterparts from Mexico on Wednesday at StubHub Center.
- BUY NOW:Click here to buy tickets
Sorto and Villarreal were among nine Californians and 12 players with MLS ties called into the squad by U.S. U-23 head coach –and former Galaxy player—Andreas Herzog’s squad. The match will be Villarreal’s first with the U.S. U-23 squad this year after he opted to remain with the Galaxy rather than travel with team for a training camp in Europe last month.
For his first game back in the U.S. fold, Villarreal will get an opportunity to face the Americans’ biggest rivals in a game that is always a heated affair.
“It’s always special to play Mexico without a doubt,” Galaxy forward Jose Villarreal told LAGalaxy.com. “I come from a Mexican background and that helps make it special, but at its core, it’s just a game. I know a lot of guys on either side so it’s pretty cool.”
As Villarreal integrates himself back into the fold, Sorto remains one of the squad’s leaders.
A holdover from the 2013 U-20 World Cup—like Villarreal—Sorto is expected to start along the right side of defense when Herzog trots out his team on Wednesday. With qualifying looming later this year, Sorto believes that the upcoming game against Mexico will serve as an important barometer for the group.
“There’s a lot of progress to make but I feel like we’re going to do well in the qualifiers and have a good team. I’m feeling very positive about the team that [Andreas] has established. We learned a lot in our European camp, and while it takes time to build a group, we’ve got a very good squad,” Sorto said. “This game is going to be big for us to see where we are ahead of Olympic qualifying. We’re going to be judged how we compete against Mexico who are one of our rivals. Also, it’ll be a huge confidence booster if we can get a victory.”
While the match will undoubtedly carry extra weight for Villarreal and the rest of the Mexican-American contingent on the U-23 squad, for Sorto the game stirs different emotions.
“When I was growing up, every time El Salvador would play Mexico, the Mexican students in my school came up to me and made fun of me before each match, I didn’t really care because it was just a game, but now that I’m going to play against them, it means a lot. Hopefully my friends from high school and middle school can see me when we beat Mexico.”
Penalty Kick in U-23 #USMNT training: saved or scored? Watch the USA U-23s take on Mexico tomorrow in Carson at 8 p.m. PT on UniMás & Univision Deportes!
Posted by U.S. Soccer on Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at www.LAGalaxy.com/insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
