The MLS 2017 College Combine is underway and the first round of exhibition matches will kick off on January 8. The players involved are, for the most part, those who have spent time at college, and so they tend to skew a little older than is traditional for amateur soccer prospects hunting the chance to turn pro.
One player skews a lot older:
Oldest player at the @MLS Combine? Wuilito "Totti" Fernandes, who turns.... 27 (!!!!) in 2.5 monthshttps://t.co/MCyAX7zXyb
— Matthew Doyle (@MLSAnalyst) January 8, 2026
That is...not young.
To put this into perspective: He is just 4 months younger than Jozy Altidore.https://t.co/b1Tb2dYbZL
— Matthew Doyle (@MLSAnalyst) January 8, 2026
Yep. Not young. Still, like Jozy Altidore, Mr. Fernandes is in the prime of his football-playing years. Perhaps he has a better-than-average combine and lands himself a contract in MLS via the SuperDraft.
As it happens, this is not Fernandes' first crack at MLS. Back in 2010, when he was 20, he was reportedly a mid-summer trialist with the New York Red Bulls. It didn't work out for him at RBNY, but he has clearly used the time since wisely and is back on the radar of MLS after some time at college (he attended UMass Lowell), majoring in Business Administration.
The former RBNY trialist has been allocated to Team Control at the Combine. He will be a teammate of goalkeeper Eric Klenofsky and defender Austin Ledbetter - each identified as potential RBNY draft picks by recently published mock drafts.
Watch Team Control's opening game of the MLS Combine via mlssoccer.com. The match against Team Chaos kicks off at 4:15 pm, Eastern, on Sunday, January 8.
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