Category: Soccer/Union

It was only a matter of time.

On Thursday, Union forward Cavan Sullivan earned his first call-up to the senior U.S. men’s national team. If the 16-year-old phenom makes his debut in one of the team’s four autumn friendlies, he will become the second-youngest player ever to play for the USMNT, behind just Freddy Adu.

Sullivan is widely regarded as one of the next faces of U.S. soccer. The Philadelphia native signed a contract with the Union at just 14 and is set to transfer to the Premier League’s Manchester City at the end of 2027. While his call-up seemed inevitable to most onlookers, Sullivan did not feel it was.

“I don’t think it was necessarily expected, in all honesty,” Sullivan said after practice Thursday. “I never really like to think about what may come. Obviously, it’s something every kid works toward and dreams of. But to finally get it, it made my year.”

Added Sullivan: “This is a really exciting next step. It’s your first; I feel like I’ll always remember this one.”

Sullivan has been on a tear since the MLS resumed its season following the World Cup break. In 12 appearances, he has logged six goals and five assists, second only to Lionel Messi over that same span. His contributions have helped the Union to an 11-game unbeaten streak in league play. The team is currently in playoff position at seventh place in the Eastern Conference after a 1-10-4 start and the dismissal of manager Bradley Carnell.

Playing against older and more developed players is nothing new for Sullivan. However, the opportunity to play alongside some of the best players the United States has to offer is not lost on him. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who declined to reveal in past media engagements if he would call up Sullivan, selected 14 MLS players to star on his 28-man roster. The team also features players from the Premier League, the German Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, and Spain’s LaLiga.

“[Playing up] sort of teaches you, you’re not always going to be like the fastest, strongest, biggest. [It’s] sort of cliche, but you got to learn how to manipulate defenders and pass and move and learn to combine with your teammates,” Sullivan said. “Just develop a relationship with the ball that’s more close to [your] feet. You won’t always be able to just touch it by a guy and sprint faster than him.”

Sullivan, whose older brother and Union teammate Quinn previously played for the USMNT under Pochettino, will have some familiar faces with him at camp. Union teammates Neil Pierre and Frankie Westfield also made Thursday’s roster. Like Sullivan, both players are products of the Union Academy and will be making their senior national team debuts.

On Thursday, Pierre noted that he was texting Sullivan and Westfield “nonstop” while they awaited the decision.

“[I] can’t even lie, me and the boys, like Cav and Frankie, were checking our emails 24/7,” Pierre said.

“We’ve been talking about this since we were 14-15, starting to go into national team camps,” he later added. “Like, how would it feel for all of us to go at the same time and individually going to like the men’s, that’s what you kind of dream for and try to get to. To do it is a great accomplishment and then also to do it with your brothers is just another level.”

Pierre, an 18-year-old centerback, towers over most of his MLS competition at 6-foot-7. Through nine appearances this season, he has scored four goals. However, he is being called up to the national team for his defense.

Next to Pierre on the Union’s back line has been Westfield, the team’s starting right back and, like Sullivan, a Northeast Philly native. His brother, Rocco, starred for Father Judge in basketball. Westfield has eight assists in 21 starts this season. He noted it was “nothing but happiness” for him and his teammates when they received the news, but he is not looking to slow down.

“I also don’t want to stop here. Always, the final goal is to make the roster for your national team, but I know I don’t want to stop,” Westfield said. “I want to keep going, keep trying for more, and stay there and produce.”

The three selections are just the latest for the Union Academy. The club saw four homegrown stars play for the U.S. men’s national team in the World Cup this summer: Brenden Aaronson, Matt Freese, Mark McKenzie, and Auston Trusty.

“We think it’s very well-deserved,” Union sporting director John Scheer said. “So happy for the players and their families who worked so hard over the years. I’d say it’s a proud moment for not only our first team, where they’re having really big roles and they’re high performers for our group, but for our entire club.”

It’s expected that in about 72 hours from the time of this report, U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino will announce his 26-man roster for a series of four upcoming friendlies in the first FIFA international window since this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Here’s hoping Pochettino was watching Sunday because Cavan Sullivan not only made a serious case to earn what would be his first call-up to the senior squad, but it looks like at just 16, he’s arguably got the tools to become a mainstay on Pochettino’s roster.

Take the two goals he scored that day out of it, even though the first was pretty fantastic.

Sullivan’s runs off the ball to put himself into positions to score were arguably equally as impressive, especially the run in behind San Diego’s backline to score his second of the night. The kid has been a disruptor and it’s been a major catalyst behind the Union’s 10-game — that’s right, 10 — unbeaten streak since the MLS break for the World Cup, a break the club limped into with just one win in 15 matches.

“For all of the special things that Cavan does, these are the areas we’re asking him to get into,” said Union interim head coach Ryan Richter postgame. Richter, who for weeks has preached the Union “not getting ahead of ourselves” when it comes to priding the long unbeaten streak, couldn’t help but creep a smile when asked about the performance of Sullivan to date. “He can be effective and score a lot of goals. And he’s been committed to that, running into cutback spots, getting himself in the box … over the last few weeks, he’s been really efficient and it’s nice to see the confidence that he’s playing with.”

It’s a collective confidence, however, as this Union team looks undeniably different from the one managed by former boss Bradley Carnell a few months prior. Milan Iloski, playing in his customary spot as the team’s out-and-out No. 9, has delivered to the tune of a team-high 13 goals on the season. The midfield collective, spearheaded by Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukić, and the tireless runs of Indiana Vassilev, is fueling chances on goal at a higher clip.

Now, this team has the opportunity to do what no one who watches it would’ve thought possible before the World Cup break when it travels to Sporting Kansas City this Saturday (8:30 p.m., Apple TV). The group can tie the franchise’s longest unbeaten streak at 11 with a win or draw against a Sporting side sitting in the basement of MLS’ Western Conference.

It’s a stat line that undoubtedly matters very little to this current Union team, which appears laser-focused on getting results and climbing higher up the table, but it’s certainly another notch on the belt and a true turning point for a squad that many people counted out — in June.

There’s also the argument too, that the Union have prided themselves on sticking to their guns and not chasing big names to bolster their roster. Four players directly from the club’s youth academy contributed in Saturday’s 5-0 rout of San Diego, with Sullivan, of course, the highlight. Sullivan and left back Frankie Westfield assisting on Bruno Damiani’s fourth goal in two matches in the 67th minute, followed by a goal off the bench from Malik Jakupovic in the 86th, showcase that the team feels confident it can get results with the young guns it employs night after night.

It should be noted that the goal for Jakupovic was his first.

“The homegrown players have done great, but the team has done great,” said Richter, who was the club’s developmental coach at Union II before taking on his interim role. “I think everyone has [bought in] to being a part of this group and being a part of this team, and it doesn’t matter if they’re 16 or they’re 39.”

In the same breath, however, Richter added:

“This is a part of our club strategy, and you’ve seen the great players that have come out of our academy, and now this is a group that is making a difference in a lot of games, and they need to make sure that they continue to stay focused and to keep pushing to get better and better because it’s what makes our club great.”

With potentially a week in which Richter could see one of the club’s best young players shuffle off to join the U.S. men’s national team in Atlanta later this month for a series of matches, how do you plan around that?

“He’s excited, we’re excited, the club is excited,” Richter said of Sullivan’s potential call-up. “But we need to make sure that we focus on the day-to-day, keep his feet on the ground, keep training and working in the way that he is because he’s already getting rewarded for that work that he’s putting in. That’s where I’m going to keep the focus, and I know that’s where he’s going to keep the focus as well.”

Odds and endlines

With all this talk about the offense, it’d be remiss not to note that the recent run of form from Union goalkeeper Andre Blake has been nothing short of remarkable. In Saturday’s shutout of San Diego, Blake made five saves to fuel his third consecutive shutout and his fourth since the end of the World Cup break … The backline of Kai Wagner, Nathan Harriel, Westfield and 18-year-old Neil Pierre has allowed just nine goals in 10 MLS matches. Conversely, in that same span (since July 22), the Union have accounted for 28 goals, with 12 coming in the last three matches.

Players face their old teams all the time in every sport. So Milan Iloski knows there’s nothing new about what he’ll go through this Sunday when the Union visit San Diego FC (9 p.m., Apple TV).

But this one does mean a lot, and not just because it’s his first game against San Diego since leaving there to come east just over a year ago. Or even factoring in that he’s from Escondido, Calif., a northern suburb of San Diego, which should make for a lot of Iloski jerseys in the stands.

“I talked to the team administrator over there, and I talked to our guys here and told them to send me whatever you got,” he said regarding finding tickets for folks. Both teams agreed, Iloski expects a final total “anywhere from 75 to 100.”

They will show up to watch a player who feels he has a point to prove, after a somewhat fractious departure. Iloski was initially in San Diego on a four-month loan from Denmark’s FC Nordsjælland, a team with the same owner through the Right To Dream player development network.

Negotiations took place regarding a full deal, but the sides couldn’t agree on terms. So Iloski departed and arrived in Chester soon afterward.

“I loved my time there and I have nothing but positive things to say about most of the people,” he said, particularly players who took him in and a coaching staff with many San Diego-area natives. “It’ll be nice to see them. But also, I’m there to show some people that they made a big mistake. I think I have a big chip on my shoulder, and I’m looking forward to the challenge, and they’re a good team that’s playing well.”

That will be one storyline on Sunday. The Union’s resurgence since the World Cup will be another — and it will certainly put Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre, and Frankie Westfield in the spotlight, in the weekend before Mauricio Pochettino picks the U.S. roster for the upcoming friendlies.

Perhaps Quinn Sullivan will get some attention too, and he deserves it. His all-around game against Cincinnati on Wednesday showed that while he isn’t quite fit for a full 90 minutes yet, he’s back to his pre-injury quality.

If he continues, he might also get calls for a national team return down the road. He hasn’t forgotten walking down the hall at Subaru Park with Mauricio Pochettino last October, a few months after making his senior U.S. debut.

Quinn Sullivan met Mauricio Pochettino at the mixed zone to walk (gingerly) toward the #USMNT locker room, which is the Union locker room.

Nathan Harriel and Alejandro Bedoya followed a few steps later.

[image or embed]

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@jtannenwald.bsky.social) November 15, 2025 at 7:56 PM

“I think everyone’s excited for an opportunity,” Sullivan said. “That was such a special honor to represent the team, and I want to do it again. I know the coaches watch all the games, and all we can do is continue to perform. And I know if the opportunity presents itself, everyone will be ready.”

San Diego is also great at developing young players. Recent examples include 20-year-old left back Luca Bombino, just sold to English second-division club Stoke City for $5 million; 21-year-old centerback Manu Duah, who just signed a contract extension; and 20-year-old former Union midfielder David Vazquez. He’s now in his second year out west, and will face his old club for the first time.

In a league so often headlined by veteran stars — Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Antoine Griezmann, and so on — it will be fun to see two teams that value homegrown talent get center stage.

“It’s a similar business model, I would say, similar team model, to have a lot of young guys mixed in with some older guys who they can lean on and gain some experience with,” Iloski said. “It says a lot for them, and for us as well, that there’s a lot of good players in America, and there’s a lot of players that slip through the pipeline. And hopefully this new era coming up, with the Bombinos and the Sullivans, and Frankie and Neil, and the Manu Duahs and those kinds of guys, hopefully it’s a stepping stone for the future, and more teams see that success can be found in a lot of young players.”

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Philadelphia soccer fans may want to brush up on their dragon lore.

The Union are hosting a Fourth Wing theme night on Wednesday at Subaru Park, based on the popular romantasy (fantasy romance) book by Rebecca Yarros that’s part of the Empyrean series.

The “Wing Leader” package costs $90.51 and comes with a ticket to Wednesday night’s game against FC Cincinnati (7:30 p.m., FS1, Apple TV), scarf, tote bag, book, and a Yarros-autographed bookplate. A “Dragon Rider” package that includes a ticket and scarf already is sold out.

“It’s an opportunity to attract a new audience and maybe get some people out to a Union soccer match that have never been before,” said Greg Imming, the club’s vice president of group and inside ticket sales. “A lot of these people, north of 70%, are new to our database. So that tells me a lot of these people have probably never been to a Union match before.”

A portion of the proceeds from each ticket will go toward supporting the Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicide and provide crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth around the country.

Though Yarros will not attend Wednesday’s game, it’s one of several Fourth Wing nights taking place across professional sports this year, after the series took the adult fiction genre by storm.

The dedication of Yarros’ fan base has certainly been felt by the Union.

“If you read Fourth Wing, you are really into Fourth Wing, for sure,” Imming said with a laugh. “Once Yarros puts out a tweet or an Instagram post, we definitely saw an uptick in sales coming through, which is great.”

Other teams hosting Fourth Wing or Empyrean nights includes MLB’s Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers; the NWSL’s Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit, and Seattle Reign; MLS’s Colorado Rapids; and the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.

The series, which features a dragon riding school and, of course, a tumultuous love triangle, isn’t the first to branch out into the sports market to connect to fans. The Phillies are hosting Harry Potter night on Sept. 24 vs. the Milwaukee Brewers, and the first 3,000 fans to buy a ticket will receive a Phillies-themed Harry Potter house banner.

The Fourth Wing partnership is the first of its kind for the Union, according to Imming, who’s been with the club since its inception.

“We’ve definitely never done any type of book deal, but obviously with ‘BookTok,’ the romantasy genre is really popular, I’ve come to learn,” Imming said.

“We’ve been working on this for many, many months, and it’s hard to believe that [Wednesday is] the night where it all comes together.”