Five Chicago Fire FC and Chicago Fire Academy Players Called up to U.S. Men's Youth National Team Duty
April 21, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release
CHICAGO - Chicago Fire FC today announced that midfielders Javier Casas Jr. and Sergio Oregel Jr., defender Justin Reynolds, and Chicago Fire FC goalkeepers Chris Brady and Patryk Stechnij were called to represent the U.S. Men's Youth National Team for their respective age groups.
Brady and Casas Jr. will join the U.S. U-20 Men's Youth National Team for the team's upcoming domestic training camp in Carson, California from April 22-May 1. Oregel Jr. and Reynolds will participate with the U.S. U-19 Men's Youth National Team, which will run concurrently to the U-20 MYNT camp. Stechnij will be reporting to the U.S. Under-15 Men's Youth National Team for the upcoming Torneo delle Nazioni in Gradisca, Italy and Seáºâana, Slovenia from April 25-May 1.
It will be the second U-20 MYNT appearance for Brady after being called in for a training camp in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from March 21-30. Brady has two starts and a clean sheet so far this season as the starting goalkeeper for Chicago Fire FC II in MLS NEXT Pro. During the 2020 season, Brady played for Chicago Fire FC affiliate Forward Madison in Madison, Wis., where he earned USL League One 2020 Young Player of the Year honors and recorded three clean sheets with the club.
Casas Jr. will get his second look under U-20 MYNT head coach Mikey Varas, who also called him to a training camp in January. The U.S. U-20 MYNT continues preparations for this summer's Concacaf U-20 Championship in Honduras. The tournament will serve as qualification for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2024 Summer Olympics.
This season, Casas Jr. has served as captain of Chicago Fire FC II in three of the team's four matches in MLS NEXT Pro. He made his Major League Soccer debut against D.C. United on May 13, 2021 at Audi Field, making him the second-youngest Homegrown player to play for the Chicago Fire FC.
Oregel Jr., a standout for the Chicago Fire Academy, has been a part of the Club since 2018. He became the 22nd Homegrown signing in Club history in 2021. Additionally, Oregel Jr. led the Fire's U-19 squad to the inaugural MLS NEXT U-19 Championship on July 3, 2021 where he won the MLS NEXT U-19 Golden Ball, which is awarded to the best player of the tournament in each age division. It will be Oregel Jr.'s first appearance under former Fire assistant coach Marko Mitrović, who was named head coach of the U-19 MYNT on April 18.
Reynolds, one of the key contributors for Chicago Fire FC II, has been with the Club since 2014 when he joined the Fire Academy. Reynolds has three appearances and 139 minutes played in MLS NEXT Pro so far this season. A native of Chicago, he's grown into the Fire badge alongside his brother Andre Reynolds II, who is a Chicago Fire Homegrown Player. This will be Reynolds' second appearance for the MYNT, after being called to the U-15 BNT in January 2018.
Stechnij, the starting goalkeeper for the Fire Academy U-15 team, joined the Academy in 2019 after being part of the Chicago Fire Juniors program. Stechnij and the U.S. will be competing against Slovenia and Belgium on April 25 and April 27 before playing in two more placement matches on April 29 and May 1. He will be joining a U-15 squad that has a reputation of producing young U.S. talents including George Bello, Gianluca Busio, Gio Reyna, Joe Scally and current Chicago Fire FC goalkeeper, Gabriel "Gaga" Slonina.
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