D.C. United's Under 17 Academy team earned a historic win on Thursday, May 29, when they defeated Spanish side Sevilla FC at the 'Quixote Trofeo' U-17 Clubs Youth World Cup.
Chris Hegngi scored for United inside the 6yd box off a cross from Matt Oduaran in the 72nd minute. By holding on to end the game 1-0, D.C. became the first American team to tally a win in the history of this international youth competition.
In other matches, United took on RCD Espanyol and suffered a tough 3-2 loss. The team then ended their tournament after dropping their final match against last year's finalist FK Partizan, and returned home Sunday night.
"Overall it was a very valuable football and cultural experience for all of our players, staff and club both on the field and off," said United's Director of Youth Development John Maessner. "It was a great opportunity to see how the game is played at the highest level and for two games we responded very well. We will use this experience to make our program better and look forward to implementing some of the lessons learned to continue making D.C. United the best youth program in the country!"
This prestigious competition brings together the most important youth teams from all over the world, including clubs such as Spain's Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Italy's Torino FC, Mexico's Deportivo Cruz Azul and last year's winner Sao Paulo FC from Brazil. This is D.C. United's second time in the competition, having participated in the Cup in 2006.
