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The Charleston Battery lost, 2-1, to Scottish Premiership side Rangers FC in a friendly on Wednesday night. That wasn't the big news though. Four Atlanta United teenagers made their Battery debuts in the second half of the match.
The club's first ever Homegrown signing Andrew Carleton was joined by Jeffrey Otoo, Chris Goslin, and Patrick Okonkwo as second half reinforcements for the USL team in their defeat.
Details are sketchy on how exactly the quartet performed in the match. Unfortunately it was only streamed by Rangers and behind a subscription wall so information isn't widely available, however that's really not important. The important thing is that four promising United players are off on the right foot to their careers.
DSS writer and MOTS co-host Eric Quintana was in attendance at the match and had rave reviews for future Atlanta United academy striker Patrick Okonkwo. He praised the youngster's work rate and ingenuity around the goal. Of Carleton, he noticed that he was pushed off the ball rather easily, which is to be expected at such a young age. He has the skills to pay the bills, but will need to get stronger on the ball at this level.
Otoo and Goslin showed glipses of their quality but weren't too visible in their 45 minutes of action. Hopefully we get a longer look at all four in the near future to get a better sense of their level of play.
While Carleton and Otoo are already (or will be in Carleton's case) under contract with the Atlanta United first-team, Goslin and Okonkwo seem to be next in the Homegrown line if logic tell us anything. Both have trained with Charleston before and seem to be on the same schedule as Carelton.
It's exciting times around the United fan base. Players are coming in, young prospects are starting to play in big matches, rumblings of a manager are rolling in. THINGS ARE HAPPENING! 2017 is just around the corner and it can't get here soon enough.