Three Philadelphia Union Homegrown Players Receive International Call-Up with United States Under-23
Brenden Aaronson, Matt Freese and Mark McKenzie to represent US U-23s over upcoming FIFA international window
CHESTER, Pa. (Nov. 6, 2019) – Philadelphia Union announced today that homegrown talent Brenden Aaronson, Matt Freese and Mark McKenzie have received international call-ups for the United States Under-23 squad ahead of next week’s FIFA international window. The homegrown trio joins a list of international call-ups, pushing the total to seven Union players called up in November.
Aaronson, Freese and McKenzie are among the group of players called in for a United States U-23 MNT International Tournament held in Spain. The tournament, set to be held from Nov. 7-18, is the United International Football Festival 2019 and includes the following countries: United States, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The U.S. will face Brazil on Nov. 14 and either Argentina or Chile, dependent on the Nov. 14 results. The tournament continues the U-23’s preparation for the 2020 Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Championship this spring.
Earlier this year, all three players were called up by the U.S. U-23 squad from September 1-10 as part of training camp ahead of the 2020 Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Championship. The trio all got the start in a friendly against Japan (Sept. 9). As the second youngest player on the team, Aaronson added an assist in the 2-0 victory for the U.S.
The call-up comes on the heels of the announcement that Aaronson and McKenzie made the Senior Men’s National Team Pre-Camp at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida (Nov. 2-9). The two players will finish out pre-camp with the senior team before joining Freese and the rest of the U-23 team in Spain.
Aaronson previously received his first call-up to the senior National Team on Oct. 2, ahead of a pair of Nations League matches against Cuba on Oct. 11 (7-0 W) and Canada on Oct. 15 (2-0 L).
This is also McKenzie’s second USMNT call-up. He received his first senior team call-up earlier this year to the 2019 January camp. He and Freese most recently joined the U-23’s in a training camp in Miami, Florida, held from Oct. 6-15. During that time the team faced El Salvador in a friendly where both players started in what was a 6-1 victory for the U.S.
