A pair of standouts from Sounders FC 2's second USL season - midfielder/defender Jordy Delem and forward Victor Mansaray - have been named to their respective national team squads for competition this month. Delem, a 23-year-old versatile player from Martinique, joins his country in the Third Round of 2017 Caribbean Cup qualifying. Mansaray, a 19-year-old Homegrown Player from Fife, Washington, earned an invite to join the U.S. U-20s for the 2016 U-20 Men's Four Nations Tournament in Manchester, England.
Delem and Martinique visit the Dominican Republic for a match on October 8 before hosting Trinidad & Tobago - a squad that includes Sounders FC defender Joevin Jones - October 11. The winner of this group earns an automatic qualification to the 2017 Caribbean Cup and 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, while the runner-up is sent to a fifth-place playoff to earn potential advancement. Delem, who made 19 appearances in his first USL campaign, has 29 caps for Martinique.
The U.S. U-20s kicked-off the tournament's action with a 1-0 defeat to Germany on October 5 in Leigh, U.K. The Stars and Stripes play the Netherlands in Manchester on October 7 before facing England on October 10 in Rochdale, U.K. Mansaray, who also competed for the U.S. U-18 side in 2015, scored five goals and added two assists in 19 matches for S2 this season. The second-year Homegrown Player was named to the top spot of USL's "20 Under 20" in August.
Currently amidst a four-match winning streak, Sounders FC (13-13-5, 44 points) returns to action next Wednesday with a mid-week matchup against the Houston Dynamo on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field (7:30 p.m. PT / JOEtv, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM). Brian Schmetzer's club currently occupies the fifth position in the Western Conference with three matches remaining in the 2016 MLS regular season. With a win against Houston, the Rave Green would clinch a spot in the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
