Chicago Fire Academy goalkeeper Damian Las and the United States Under-17 Men's National Team kicked off the 2018 Nike International Friendlies with a 1-1 draw against Portugal on Wednesday.
Las started in goal for the U-17 MNT, and came up big on several occasions to help his team keep a 1-0 lead they earned through Griffin Yow in the 36th minute. The Norridge, Ill. native made a key denial in the 52nd minute, when Portugal's Bruno Tavares put a free kick into the far corner of the six-yard-box. Rafael Brito dove to get his head on the ball, but Las held his position and made a diving save to his right thwart the attempt.
After Tiago Tomas leveled for Portugal in the 81st, Las sprung teammate Giovanni Reyna on a long ball for a late attempt as the U.S. looked to regain the lead, but the final score would remain locked at 1-1.
The U-17s continue the Nike International Friendlies on Friday, Nov. 30 against Turkey at 5:30 p.m. CT, with streaming available at ussoccer.com, Facebook, and YouTube.
Lineups:
USA: 1-Damian Las, 2-Joe Scally, 3-Adam Armour, 4-Axel Aleandre, 5-Kobe Hernandez, 6-Tayvon Gray, 8-Adam Saldana (18-Peter Stroud, 80), 9-Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (19-Ricardo Pepi, 64), 10-Giovanni Reyna (capt.), 11-Griffin Yow (17-Cameron Dunbar, 90), 16-William Reilly
Substitutes not used: 7-André Luiz Costa, 12-Chituru Odunze, 14-Mason Judge, 15-Sebastian Falsone, 20-Daniel Robles, 21-Gianluca Busio
Head Coach: Shaun Tsakiris
POR: 1-Samuel Soares, 2-Rafael Rodrigues (15-Leonardo Buta, 84), 3-Tomás Araújo, 4-Eduardo Quaresma (capt.) (14-Felipe Cruz, 70), 5-Rafael Brito, 6-Joáo Daniel, 7-Henrique Pereira (9-Francisco Conceicão, 70), 10-Paulo Bernardo, 16-Bruno Tavares (17-Gerson Sousa, 55), 18-Tiago Tomás, 20-Daniel Rodrigues (19-Gonçalo Batalha, 70)
Substitutes not used: 8-Tiago Ribeiro, 11-Pedro Silva, 12-Sérgio Dutra, 13-Rodrigo Rêgo
Head coach: Emilio Peixe
