Folarin Balogun travels to Florida, meets with US team

Folarin Balogun traveled from Europe and met with U.S. interim coach Anthony Hudson as the Americans try to persuade the 21-year-old midfielder to commit to their national team over England and Nigeria.

The U.S. trained in Orlando, Florida, this week ahead of Friday night’s CONCACAF Nations League match at Grenada, and hosting El Salvador at Orlando on Monday.

“We’ve had dialogue. We’ve spoken. He’s out here having a bit of a break and some training and we’ve had some discussions,” Hudson said Thursday after the U.S. team arrived in Grenada. “Now it’s about him just enjoying the rest of his trip.”

Balogun was born in New York to Nigerian parents and grew up in England. He has played for England’s Under-21 team.

“It’s been an opportunity for us just to share about our program and who we are and what we do,” Hudson added. “I hope we get the chance to speak to him again. It’s been good to me. And I know a few of the guys have spoke to him, as well.”

Balogun attended the Orlando Magic’s game against the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Balogun has 17 Ligue 1 goals for Reims this season during a loan from Arsenal, tied for third in scoring behind Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé and Lille’s Jonathan David, who have 19 goals each. Wissam Ben Yedder of Monaco and Alexandre Lacazette also have scored 17.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports