Defending his colors

One of the more intriguing players currently with the United States Under-23 national team is Michael Orozco. The American-born Orozco plies his trade with San Luis of the Mexican First Division.

Orozco is part of a small but potentially growing number of American-born players who made their way down to Mexico to develop and play professionally. Sonny Guadarrama, Jesus Padilla and Edgar Castillo are other examples. But what separates Orozco from the latter two at least is that Orozco is playing internationally with his birth country. Padilla turned down an offer to play for the United States Under-20 national team a year ago while Castillo is trying to help Mexico qualify for the Summer Olympics.

I had the chance to talk to Michael by phone on Wednesday as part of a larger story I'm working on for MLS Magazine. Though I need to save a bulk of that interview for the magazine, I wanted to share part of it with our Sideline Views readers.

Among the things I asked him was how he acclimated himself to the squad and how people in Mexico reacted to his decision to play for the United States.

Here's audio of the interview. As for the rest of it, I'll keep you informed on the progress of the piece.