MLS Homegrown Team head coach Brian McBride and assistant coach Mike Mageehave named their 18-man roster for the 2017 MLS Homegrown Game presented by Energizer®. The roster features some of the league’s most accomplished young stars, including Rapids rookie defender Kortne Ford, who will take on the Chivas de Guadalajara Under-20 Team in the fourth annual MLS Homegrown Game on Tuesday, August 1 at 6 p.m. MT at Toyota Park.
Ford became the fourth Homegrown player in Rapids history on January 6 following a tremendous three-year career with the University of Denver, leading the Pioneers to the program’s first ever College Cup appearance in 2016. At Denver, Ford was a two-time All-Summit League First Team selection, adding an offensive punch with five goals and three assists over his collegiate career. Before that he represented the Rapids on their U-16 and U-18 Development Academy teams.
The 21-year-old became the first Rapids Homegrown player to earn a spot in the Starting XI on his professional debut when he took the pitch against Western Conference Rival, Sporting Kansas City on April 9. Since then he has made eight league appearances, scoring his first professional goal on May 27 to give the Rapids a 1-0 win against Sporting Kansas City.
The MLS Homegrown Game provides an annual platform in which to showcase MLS’ burgeoning young talent and demonstrate the growth of the league’s youth development system. MLS academies continue to attract and cultivate topflight prospects and have now produced over 170 Homegrown Players who have signed professional contracts with MLS clubs.
Tne Homegrown Team will take on famed U-20 side Chivas de Guadalajara, the defending Liga MX U-20 champions, which features a roster with five players who represented Mexico at the U-20 World Cup. Several of the players have also received time with the Chivas reserve team along with the first team side that captured its record 12th Liga MX title in May. The Chivas U-20 travelling roster will be named at a later date.
MLS Homegrown Players aged 22 or under were available for selection.
Tickets, starting at $10, can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com and include entrance to the 2017 MLS Homegrown Game presented by Energizer® and the Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star soccer match held immediately prior at 4 p.m. MT at Toyota Park.
As part of a week of festivities surrounding the MLS All-Star Game presented by Target, Toyota Park will host a full day of events on August 1 beginning with the adidas ESP game at 1:30 p.m. MT. In addition, MLS WORKS and ESPN will be hosting the Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star soccer match immediately prior to the MLS Homegrown Game.
MLS Homegrown Game assistant coach Mike Magee will host a live Q&A session on the Chicago Fire Facebook page tomorrow, July 13 at 12:30 p.m. MT to talk about the young Homegrown talent, coaching in his native Chicago, and answer questions about the match.
2017 MLS Homegrown Team Roster
Goalkeepers: Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas), Evan Louro (New York Red Bulls)
Defenders: Marco Farfan (Portland Timbers), Kortne Ford (Colorado Rapids), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake), Auston Trusty (Philadelphia Union)
Midfielders: Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls), Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Derrick Etienne Jr. (New York Red Bulls), Derrick Jones (Philadelphia Union), Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake), Djordje Mihailovic (Chicago Fire), Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas), Ballou Tabla (Montreal)
Forwards: Andrew Carleton (Atlanta United), Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Hamilton (Toronto FC), Bradford Jamieson IV (LA Galaxy)
