NYCFC Academy teams to face Valencia, Red Bulls in Generation adidas Cup

Once again, New York City FC Academy teams will participate in the most important youth tournament in North America.

The Generation adidas Cup tournament is back after a two-year break, and it’s bigger than ever. Not only will the U15 and U17 competition include heavy-hitters from MLS and Liga MX such as FC Dallas, Philadelphia Union, Club America, and Tigres UNAL, it will feature the Academy teams of international giants such as Manchester United, AS Roma, Valencia, Porto, Flamengo, River Plate, and Celtic. A total of 80 academy teams have descended on Frisco, TX, to participate in the tournament that begins today and will finish on April 17.

“In the form of a world-class competition, Generation adidas Cup provides the stage to introduce and showcase the next generation of stars from MLS academies and top clubs around the globe,” MLS Vice President of Player Youth and Development Fred Lipka said in a release. “The expansion of the field to 80 teams will only heighten the level of competition, and we are excited to see our MLS academies competing head-to-head with many of the top international programs.”

NYCFC Academy teams will participate in both the U15 and U17 age groups. The NYCFC U15 team is in Group I, and will play Valencia, Houston Dynamo, and DC United. The NYCFC U17 team is in Group E, and will play New Jersey Red Bulls, Vancouver Whitecaps, and CM Rayados.

The NYCFC U17 squad is considered one of the better teams in the tournament. Attacking midfielder Mateo Ponce-Ocampo was in preseason training with the NYCFC Senior Team, and left-back Christian McFarlane is a top prospect. Right-back Diego Rossi is a Puerto Rico U20 international who took the field for NYCFC II along with Albanian U17 international center-back Klevis Haxhari.

The NYCFC U17 will try to avenge their 2-3 loss to the Red Bulls in March.

The NYCFC U15 will feature 14-year-old hotshot Maximo Carrizo, the youngest signing in MLS history.

One strange feature of the tournament is that games will consist of two 30-minute halves— except for select matches that will consist of two 35-minute halves and be played in Toyota Stadium, home to FC Dallas.

Over 30 games will be streamed live on Twitch and YouTube, but none of the NYCFC Academy U15 or U17 group stage games will be broadcast.

NYCFC U15 matches

NYCFC U15 vs Houston Dynamo, Saturday, April 9, 7 pm ET

NYCFC U15 vs D.C. United Academy, Sunday, April 10, 2 pm ET

NYCFC U15 vs Valencia, Monday, April 11, 6 pm ET

NYCFC U15 roster

Chris Arias

Drew Baiera

Andres Mauricio Becerra cobeña

Justin Blanco

Adonis Omar Campos

Maximo Carrizo

David Duque

Xavier Egurbide

Dino Klapija

Julien Lacher

Nicholas Lam

Jeffery Lopez

Brayden O’Boyle

Gianluca Rizzo

Jonathan Shore

Axel Vazquez-Molotla

Langston Wennerlind

Harrison Wolfrom

NYCFC U17 matches

NYCFC 17 vs Vancouver Whitecaps, Sunday, April 10, 12 pm ET

NYCFC 17 vs New York Red Bulls U17, Monday, April 11, 10 am ET

NYCFC 17 vs Rayados, Tuesday, April 12, 12 pm ET

NYCFC U17 roster

Kamran Acito

Gianluca Armellino

Mark Cajamarca Tenemea

Gabriel Chavez

Kelvin Da Costa

Francesco Di Ponzio

Dren Dobruna

Cooper Flax

Nathan Gaviser

Tyler Glassberg

Alexander Hauschild

Klevis Haxhari

Christian McFarlane

Tyler Morck

Khaled Daoud

Max Pfaffman

Kaden Pollard

Mateo Ponce-Ocampo

Diego Rossi

Oliver Stafford

Yahir Tafoya

Kaief Tomlinson

Jeffrey Vanegas

Alexander Yagudayev

Mikhail Zaretser