Updating three rising US Youth National Team players

This week there have been a few notable announcements and achievements for USYNT players in addition to our recent story on Monterrey’s Jonathan Gonzalez so we’ve decided to give you a quick update on several of these players.

Danny Barbir - The towering 6’4” defender signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps USL squad, WFC2, on September 14th. Still only 19, Barbir has previously been involved with the youth set ups of Manchester City, Stoke City, and West Bromwich Albion. He was released by West Brom in June and had a trial with the Philadelphia Union before signing with WFC2.

Barbir started and played the full 90 minutes on Sunday in WFC2’s 2-1 defeat to the Orange County Blues.

WFC2 head coach Rich Fagan was quoted by ESPN, "Danny is a big, strong young center back who has experience in a highly competitive environment in England. We'll continue to push him and evaluate him during the final stretch of our USL season."

Barbir has appeared for both the USYNT U-17 and U-19 teams, highlighted by two matches at the 2015 U-17 World Cup in Chile.

Jaylin Lindsey - On September 14th, Lindsey, 17, was signed as a Homegrown Player of Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer. Lindsey joined the Sporting KC Academy in January 2015 and will be added to the team’s roster in January, 2018.

The native of Charlotte, North Carolina, has made more than 25 appearances for the USYNT U-17 national team over the last two years and has just been added to John Hackworth’s preliminary roster for the upcoming U-17 World Cup in India.

Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said of the young defender, "During his time in our academy, Jaylin has demonstrated incredible progress on the field and a very high level of maturity for a player his age. He has a good understanding of what it takes to be a professional, and we are excited to provide him with the environment and opportunity to realize his potential as a player."

“Frankly, he’s too good for our academy now,” Sporting KC Academy director Jon Parry said, before describing the strengths of Lindsey’s game. “He’s a leader on the field. He’s technically sound. He has a very good soccer IQ. Physically, he’s an absolute beast.”

Lindsey has been playing both centrally and outside at the academy but is projecting currently as a right back.

James Sands - On Saturday, September 16, James Sands made the first Homegrown Player appearance in the brief history of the New York City Football Club. He came on for none other than soccer legend Andrea Pirlo.

Even though Sands is primarily a midfielder he was also the starter and anchor of the backline for the USYNT’s recent run to the finals in the U-17 CONCACAF Championship in Panama that qualified them for the U-17 World Cup in India. Sands has also been added to the preliminary roster for that tournament.

NYCFC head coach Patrick Vieira remarked about Sands’ debut, "I think it was a good first game for him to get involved. It will make him better, and I think it was a good experience for him. He's an important player for our football club and we want to develop him in the right way."

If you have any other USYNT players worthy of a mention then please do so in the comments.