Cavan Sullivan is currently making a name for himself in the MLS with Philadelphia Union. Now, the 16-year-old is reportedly on the verge of being called up to the US national team.
On Thursday, national team manager Mauricio Pochettino is expected to announce the US squad for the upcoming friendly matches. As is often the case with the DFB, however, some names are already leaking out ahead of time. According to the American sports channel ESPN, 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan is said to have made it into the USMNT squad.
The midfielder has long been regarded as a major talent. At the age of 14, Sullivan made his MLS debut as the youngest player ever. Since then, the youngster has made 39 appearances. Sullivan appears to have used his omission from the World Cup squad this summer – when the USA were knocked out by Belgium in the round of 16 (1–4) – as extra motivation.
Top performances since the World Cup
Since then, the midfielder has been in the starting line-up for every league match. In the last seven matches alone, the 16-year-old has scored five goals, set up four more and is in the running for the play-offs with Philadelphia. This has firmly put him on Pochettino’s radar, who is now apparently rewarding his impressive performances with a call-up to the US squad.
With the USMNT, Sullivan will face Chile, Peru, Mexico and Canada in a total of four friendlies. Should he feature in any of these matches, he will become the fourth-youngest player to take to the pitch in a US shirt. Only record-holder Freddy Adu, Mike Slivinski and Mark Jonas have achieved this at an even younger age.