Sporting KC’s Erik Palmer-Brown will play in the under-20 World Cup

Sporting Kansas City homegrown defender Erik Palmer-Brown is headed to another World Cup.

Palmer-Brown, a graduate of O’Hara High School, was named Tuesday to the United States under-20 men’s national team roster for the U-20 World Cup in South Korea. The tournament starts this month.

Palmer-Brown is one of three American players who also played in the 2015 U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. The U.S. lost in the quarterfinals.

“I learned a lot from the tournament two years ago, and I look forward to sharing those experiences with the rest of my teammates in Korea,” Palmer-Brown said. “We have a strong group of players and are entering the tournament with a lot of confidence.”

Palmer-Brown captained the U-20 team earlier this year, and it won the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in March.

In this month’s U-20 World Cup, which includes 24 teams, the United States is slotted into Group F with Ecuador, Senegal and Saudi Arabia. The Americans open with Ecuador on May 22. The tournament will conclude on June 11.

Palmer-Brown, who has already departed for training camp in Japan, has not yet appeared in a match for Sporting KC this season.

This story was originally published May 9, 2017 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Sporting KC’s Erik Palmer-Brown will play in the under-20 World Cup."