When Yosef Samuel signed his first professional contract with Bethlehem Steel FC last September, he had only a 29-minute cameo in the last game of the season to introduce himself to the league.
Five months later, the 19-year-old is back with the club in preseason preparing for his first full year in Bethlehem.
“For me it’s different this year, because in the past I’ve been playing with players the same age or younger than me,” Samuel said after the first day of practice last week. “I’m trying to soak it in.”
Samuel spent two seasons with the Union U18 team after joining the Philadelphia Union Academy residency program in 2014 from Atlanta, where he was a standout with the Gwinnett Soccer Association.