Philadelphia Union hosting regional GA Cup matches this weekend

For the second year in a row, the Philadelphia Union will be welcoming youth teams from some of their fiercest rivals for a weekend tournament at the Power Training Complex in Chester.

The Union are hosting the first round of regional qualifiers for the Generation adidas Cup youth tournament on Friday, Saturday and Monday. A total of 18 games will be played over the three game days.

“It’s great for us to host and it gives our boys a chance to get down to Chester,” U17 head coach Gary Lewis said. “We can treat the boys like professionals for four days.”

While traditionally a U17 competition, a U15 age group has been added this year for the two regional competitions – the second will be in Florida in February and the finals (for the U17 age division only) will be played in March. The top two teams out of the regional qualifiers qualify for the champions division while the remaining teams play in the premier division.

Lewis has a roster of 20 players for the weekend, including three 2001 born players from the U19 team in midfielder/defender Michael Pellegrino, goalkeeper Kristopher Shakes and forward Axel Picazo. Holding midfielder Marco Bla will wear the captain’s armband. Matthew Myers, who has shown well in friendlies with the Union’s new U17 development team, will also be part of the roster.

Lewis said competing against other MLS academy teams, especially ones they don’t face on their regular Development Academy schedule like Atlanta United and Orlando City, will be a good test for his group, which is unbeaten (2-0-2) four matches into their league season.

“It’s a matter of pitting our philosophies against each other,” he said. “I want us to put a good show on, be exciting in the final third and represent the Union in the right manner.”

As they did last fall, the Union will open their GA Cup campaign with a game against Atlanta United on Friday at 11 a.m. at Power Training Complex. The U15 team will play Atlanta United at 4 p.m. after D.C. United and Orlando City’s two teams play at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

The Union teams play New England Revolution on Saturday with the U15 game at 11 a.m. and the U17 game at 4 p.m. and after a day off play Orlando City, the U17s at 11 a.m. followed by the U15s at 1:30 p.m.