Tuesday, July 17th, 2018 -- Players from Arizona had an impressive showing in the first day at the 14U International Champions Cup Futures (ICC) in Florida
The Arizona All-Star team, with 17 Arizona players, defeated Tottenham Hotspur FC in penalties...yes, Tottenham Hotspur from England, and the Real Salt Lake team, with seven Arizona players, defeated the Pennsylvania All-Star team 3-1. Scoring in the RSL match was Ethan Calimpong (2) and Blake Bernal.
The ICC Futures pits 24 teams from Europe and the United States in a seven-day tournament. Eight teams are from Major League Soccer's Development Academy, eight are state-represented All-Star teams, and eight are European Academy teams.
The Arizona All-Star team is in Group 5 with Tottenham and New York City FC's (NYCFC) Development Academy team. Real Salt Lake is in Group 3 with the Pennsylvania All-Star team and Bayern Munich.
After Group Play, teams will be seeded and placed into the Championship (first place), Bowl (second place), or Plate (third place) brackets.
Up next for the Arizona All-Star team is the Florida All-Star team at 4:30 p.m. (watch this match) on Tuesday and NYCFC on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. (watch this match). All times local.
Real Salt Lake faces Bayern Munich tonight at 4:30 p.m. (watch this match) and they'll square off against Arsenal on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. (watch this match). All times local.
Arizona All-Star team roster: Jason Zuniga, Jack Baker, David Cardenas, Niall Dunn, Hiriam Leon-Lugo, Christian Lopez, Jesus Lozano, Josh Martinez, Kevin Mearse, Andrew Oh, Joshua Pedroza, Juan Rendon, Adam Rodriguez, Diego Rogel, Pedro Romero, Isreal Roque, Brendan Judson
Arizona players on Real Salt Lake: Julio Benitez, Blake Bernal, Ethan Calimpong, Jonah Kaplan, Jonah Ichilov, Diego Veliz, Phillie Villapudua
Participating Teams
State All-Star Teams: Illinois, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia
Major League Soccer Development Academy: New York Red Bulls, New York City FC, Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy, DC United, Philadelphia Union, Houston Dynamo, Seattle Sounders FC
European Clubs: Arsenal, Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic F.C., Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool