Orange County SC’s Aaron Cervantes called up to USMNT U-17s for 4 Nations Tournament

Orange County SC goalkeeper Aaron Cervantes has emerged as a starter for the USL Championship outfit, but the player will be heading out on international duty, as he was announced as a call-up to Raphael Wicky’s U.S. Men’s National Team U-17 squad for the upcoming 4 Nations Tournament, taking place in the Netherlands on Sept. 5-9.

The USMNT will play Mexico on Sept. 5, followed by the Netherlands on the 7th, and then Denmark on Sept. 9.

Coincidentally, the U.S. will also play the Netherlands in the 2019 U-17 World Cup in group play, which will take place in Brazil in Oct-Nov. They’ll also take on Senegal and Japan in that tournament. So the 4 Nations Tournament will be the final international match prep before the World Cup.

Cervantes is one of three goalkeepers called up for this roster, alongside Damian Las, who formerly played for the Chicago Fire academy, and Chituru Odunze, who was just transferred from the Vancouver Whitecaps’ academy to Leicester City. Even though Cervantes has emerged this year for OCSC, he’ll have stiff competition for playing time.

And Orange County SC have found cover for Cervantes’ absence, recently signing Danish GK Frederik Due, who will presumably be the starter for the Sept. 8 game at Portland Timbers 2.

Congrats to Aaron and best of luck on international duty.

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