Fagundez Gets Uruguay U-20 Call, Bengtson Set for WCQs

It appears Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez is one step closer to making a decision on his international future.

On Thursday, the Revolution Homegrown Player was called up by Uruguay U-20 National Team head coach Juan Verzeri for a pair of friendlies against Chile’s U20s on Tuesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 11.

Prior to Thursday’s announcement, Fagundez, who was born in Uruguay before moving to the United States when he was five years old, appeared non-committal on his international allegiance.

He played as a member of the U.S. Under-14 National Team from 2008-2009 and was also called into camp with the U.S. Boys Under-15 squad in 2010.

But after he became the second-youngest player in MLS history to sign a professional contract at age 15, questions swirled whether he would continue with the U.S. youth program or join the Uruguayan youth teams instead.

Since joining the Revolution first team in the 2010 offseason, the 17-year-old has scored three goals and added three assists in 23 games over two professional seasons.

Fagundez is one of two Revolution players who received National Team callups on Thursday. Forward Jerry Bengtson received a call from Honduras for two FIFA World Cup Qualifier matches against Panama on Friday, Oct. 12, in Panama City, and Canada on Tuesday, Oct. 16 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Both will depart following the Revolution’s Oct. 7 game against Philadelphia. Neither player is expected to miss any MLS action as a result of their call-ups.

2 Comments

1. 

   Brian

   October 5, 2012 at 6:31 pm

   I don’t understand some Revs fans tepid response to Diego’s call-up or Jerry’s repeated call-ups. While certainly I get the inherent risks and that it takes away from the here and now with these players and this current season, the potential benefits over the longer term, particular in terms of development of their players far and away outweigh these in my opinion. I am not certain how much development of players the Revs actually do. Rick’s observations particularly when it comes to shooting and practice that can help young players have me concerned for players like Diego’s future. Even Jay Heaps’ comments (from the Revs website) seemed a bit shallow to me and seemed to focus on the here and now rather than the future:
   “I think it’s good for him to get international exposure at the right time; he’s not missing first team action to do it,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “I think where we’re at it would’ve been a tough one to send him to the U20 camp when he would’ve been playing first team minutes, but because we have the international weekend, it fits in perfectly for him to get some exposure and some experience.”

   I mean this is Uruguay, not Guam, should the Revs and their fans be actively encouraging this to provide Diego or Jerry with opportunities to experience a different styles, different pace, etc, even if they were to miss first team minutes? For that matter, should they be considering opportunities for players like Diego, Tyler, Rowe, etc to go out on loan or train other places in the offseason?

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2. 

   Brian

   October 5, 2012 at 6:46 pm

   Sorry to answer my own comment but I wanted to take it one step further, what progress have ANY of their young players shown this season? I suppose an argument could be made for McCarthy’s improvement over the course of the season, but what about all the others? I would argue they were either stagnant or regressed. How much of that is on the players and what they can do based upon their talent and how much is related to coaching? Could all the young players be what they are with no room for improvement, seems unlikely to me…

   Reply