Of the 40 players who were recently selected for U.S. Soccer’s U17 Men’s National Team Residency program, defender Mobi Fehr might be the most unique.

From the very beginning he’s always been a diamond in the rough, and chances are you don’t have him on your radar as a top prospect.

From this point forward, you should.

Fehr, who has been crafting his young career in Japan for club Tokyo Verdy 1969, was invited last month by U.S. Soccer to tryout for Residency. He arrived on a flight from Zurich, Switzerland and was expecting to return to Japan the following week.

U.S. Soccer had other ideas.

From anonymous to up-and-comer in American circles, Fehr was quickly identified as a skilled player and was added to the U.S. U17 team which traveled to Madrid, Spain for training and matches from Sept. 5-17.

“I had to stay with the U.S. team without enough of my things – I got some stuff at Wal-Mart, and only after Spain did I return to Japan to gather up my things,” said Fehr, describing his whirlwind few weeks.

The experience, however rushed, was more than worthwhile.

“My most memorable moment in soccer was getting the chance to play against the Spanish National Team,” Fehr said. “I have had no involvement with U.S. Soccer and this was my first international game with them. Spain was very technical and fast and I had a great time playing against them.”

It was just another special moment in the career of a player who has been far from conventional.

Born in New York to Swiss/Japanese/American parents, Fehr and his family moved to Tokyo in his early years where he began playing soccer at the age of six.

When he was in the fifth grade, Fehr tried out for Tokyo Verdy 1969 – one of the top clubs in all of Japan. The club was only taking three players of the 300 who went out and Fehr landed in the one percentile.

The club converted him from a striker to a center back and he’s been growing ever since. As a 2013 graduate, he’s the youngest player on his U18 squad.  
 
Fehr is a quietly confident player who always remains calm and says he never succumbs to nerves.

Joining the likes of U.S. players Marc Pelosi, Andrew Souders, Nathan Smith, Kellyn Acosta and Kellen Gulley for Residency in Bradenton, Florida, will have its challenges for Fehr as the squad moves toward the 2011 CONCACAF U17 Championship and 2011 FIFA U17 World Cup.

While there are 21 players who will be in Residency for the first time, only a few will be experiencing their first U.S. Soccer go-around while transitioning into a completely different style of soccer.

“In Japan, things are very technical,” Fehr said. “Everyone is polite and they don’t know how to say no – so things are a lot more physical in the U.S.”

Of course, Fehr has a little experience when it comes to excelling in new environments. Once upon a time, he was the new American kid who didn’t speak Japanese or understand his new culture.

Now he’s the new Japanese-American kid who appears on the verge of stardom.

“It is an honor to play for the U.S. team,” Fehr said. “I am very excited to play and I will do my best to help the team win the World Cup.”