On Tuesday, the U.S. men's national team will play at Allianz Field for the fourth time since 2019, but fans in St. Paul have not yet had the chance to cheer for a Minnesotan on state soil.
Minnesota has produced only a small list of players to wear red, white and blue, and over the past decade Minnesota United has not identified, developed and produced many local players for the MLS level — much less the USMNT.
United's decision to shut down its academy during the pandemic drastically set back its player-development pathway, with top players also exiting the club structure at that time.
But Amos Magee, the Loons' vice president of youth development, said he believes the club is now on the verge of turning a corner in youth development. MNUFC has had five academy players receive youth national team call-ups this year, four with the U.S. and one with Mexico.
"I'm very confident that we're going to produce an elite player," Magee told the Pioneer Press in September. "I don't know if it's in the next one, two, three years — I hope so. But I feel very confident we're situated to do that now."
"I wouldn't have said that when I got into this space," added Magee, who moved into this role in 2022.
The two brightest prospects are 18-year old goalkeeper Kayne Rizvanovich and 19-year-old forward Darius Randell. Both were among 20 players named to the U.S. Under-20 men's national team training camp in Spain over the past week. They are vying for U.S. roles at the 2027 FIFA U20 World Cup.
Younger, promising United prospects include forward Nosa Osagie, who has been called up to a few USYNT camps this year, most recently at the U16 level; midfielder/forward Jose Orta Ruiz to a USYNT U15 camp in February; and mid George Porter to a Mexico U17 camp in August. Goalkeeper Keane Perkins and others also have blipped on the radar.
In years past, the Loons might have had one or two reaching the youth national team level.
In its 10th MLS season, the Loons have generated only five "homegrown" players — defined as an academy prospect who earned a first-team MLS contract. Maplewood native Devin Padelford accounts for 52 of their combined 61 MLS appearances, while homegrown Randell and Rizvanovich appear to be ramping up toward first-team minutes.
Born in Monrovia, Liberia, Randell moved to Brooklyn Park at age 11. He made four first-team appearances last year and has spent this year with MNUFC2, the club's side in the MLS NEXT Pro. He is tied for ninth in the league with 12 goals. Magee said Randell has been "dominating."
Born in Chicago, Rizvanovich played in an academy in Chicago and then FC Cincinnati's system before joining the Loons' U18 team in 2025. For the U.S. this summer, he played significant minutes during a runner-up finish in the CONCACAF U20 tournament.
The Loons' growing number of promising prospects comes after a shift within the club.
Former manager Adrian Heath was more focused on mature players ready to contribute to the first team. But his successor, Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad, started seeking younger players looking for opportunity from within the club's lower levels.
In 2024, El-Ahmad literally had construction workers tear down the wall between the club's first-team and academy office spaces at the National Sports Center in Blaine. Magee had more latitude to move players within the Loons' system.
El-Ahmad abruptly departed for Austin FC in August, but Magee said that shift "may end up being (El-Ahmad's) biggest legacy" at MNUFC.
Magee said the key to player development at the club and national team level is the maxim, "If you're good enough, you're old enough." With the World Cup in the rearview mirror, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino has been following it during this set of friendlies with the likes of 17-year-old Cavan Sullivan of Philadelphia Union and 18-year-old Julian Hall of New York Red Bulls.
The U.S. plays Canada in a friendly at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Allianz Field.
Loons head coach Cameron Knowles might need to play more kids, too, but it's tricky when winning, not development, is the immediate goal. MNUFC has been buried in the Western Conference standings in recent weeks, and experienced players are easier to trust, while results with MNUFC2 aren't easily transferable to a higher level.
MLS NEXT Pro is considered several steps below MLS, with loans to clubs in the USL Championship a more realistic in-between step.
Magee cited studies showing that less than 6% of academy players become professional players. "That's a really, really small percentage," he said.
The Loons' net pulls academy players from the Midwest — North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and parts of Nebraska. They hold tryouts and sometimes pull players from other youth clubs. MNUFC also is trying to uncover prospects in unique places such as local Hmong festivals and Liberian leagues.
MNUFC's academy has developed a collaboration with Spring Lake Park schools for its players to actually attend classes as opposed to doing online requirements.
"The work that we do with player well-being and life-skill building, I think is unique to to our academy," Magee said. "The focus we put on school, we think that is going to sort of reveal character and drive character."
Magee said over the past two years that all 18 academy players who graduated high school are either playing professionally or in college. But the already small number of academy-to-pro players shrinks even more for those who go higher and play for national teams.
As for the list of Minnesotans who have advanced to the USMNT, the first name must be Tony Sanneh, a St. Paul native who was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame this year. He made 43 appearances for USMNT, including all five games at the 2002 World Cup.
Last month, the Pioneer Press asked U.S. Soccer for a list the federation might have in its databases for all Minnesotans who have played for the U.S. In reply, they acknowledged there is no comprehensive list but added three more names beyond Sanneh: Taylor Twellman, Manny Lagos and Caden Clark.
Local soccer aficionados also were consulted and they added a few more names, the most prominent being Bloomington's Jackson Yueill followed by Duluth-born Ethan Finlay.
The list dried up soon after that, but MNUFC is working to add new names in the future.
