Young defender relishing Brazil trip

Academy defender Cameron Carter-Vickers refuses to be daunted by his latest international adventure.

Our 16-year-old centre-half could find himself up against players seven years his elder on Monday as he lines up in the USA Under-23 national squad for their prestigious friendly against Brazil Under-23s.

Having made his international debut earlier this year when he helped his nation’s Under-18s to victory in the Vaclav Jezek tournament in Czech Republic, Cameron is the youngest player named in the States’ 21-man squad for the match, which takes place at the conclusion of a three-day training camp in Brasilia.

But, having already made an appearance for our Under-21s this season, in addition to scoring once in four Barclays Under-18 Premier League appearances, the rising star isn’t fazed by the thought of playing against older players at Estadio Nacional – an enclosure that merely three months ago played host to the Netherlands’ 3-0 win over Brazil in the World Cup third place play-off in front of more than 68,000 fans and will also be used during the 2016 Olympic Games.

“I’m looking forward to it and it will be a good experience for me,” said Cameron, whose father is American.

“I’ve never been to Brazil before so I’m looking forward to seeing the country for the first time and obviously I’m going to be around older players so in that situation you can learn from them and maybe try to improve yourself.

“We’re playing Brazil and obviously their first team is very good, so they should have some good youth players as well.

“It will be special because we’re playing in one of the new stadiums that’s going to be used for the Olympics, so hopefully there will be quite a few fans there.

“I know it will be difficult but I’m looking forward to it a lot. Hopefully I’ll be able to see new things and learn new things.”