The two Norwegians were both picked out at the end of the night’s SuperDraft. Skage Simonsen Lehland (23) was chosen by DC United, while Sivert Haugli (22) was chosen by Portland Timbers. The two will now take part in the MLS clubs’ season run – up in the hope of getting a contract.
Both Simonsen Lehland and Haugli have previously played at level three in Norway, for Fana IL and Bærum, respectively.
Simonsen Lehland joined the SMU Mustangs in 2020, while Haugli went to Virginia Tech University in 2018.
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Team Leader in College Scholarships USA, Nicolay Netskar, had great faith that Haugli would be selected. Discovery spoke to him before the draft.
– He has actually done very, very well there. Virginia Tech is a very strong team and it is not a given that you go straight into the team and play a lot right away, but he has actually done quite well from day one. He has developed year by year and become captain of the team. He is a big midfielder of 196 centimeters, so he is very exciting, Netskar said about Haugli.
Morten Bjørshol was also on the candidate list. However, he was not drafted.
A very important period now awaits Simonsen Lehland and Haugli.
– Then they are called in to training camp before the season and have been training with the team for a while, then they get to a point where they are either signed on contract or not. If they do well enough, they are often signed on a one-year contract for the rest of the season, Netskar explained about the way forward.
Both DC United and Portland Timbers have made Norwegian contributions in recent years. Ola Kamara has played for DC United since 2019, while Adam Larsen Kwarasey and Pa Modou Kah visited the Portland Timbers a few years ago.
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