Gale Agbossoumonde -- a hard name to pronounce and an even tougher guy to get past.

USL-1 teams will find that out soon enough.

Traffic Sports announced Thursday it has agreed to terms with Agbossoumonde, a member of the United States' U-20 team, on a 3 ½-year contract.

The central defender is expected to appear briefly this summer with Miami FC, possibly as early as Saturday's match in Puerto Rico, before moving elsewhere within the organization -- with a stop likely at the Traffic Football Academy in Porto Feliz, Brazil.

``We are very excited to add another quality young player to our U.S. player development initiative,'' said Fernando Clavijo, Traffic Sports' director of soccer. ``Gale is an extremely talented player with a lot of upside.''

The Blues, currently sixth in the USL-1 standings, only expect to have Agbossoumonde for a few games. He will not appear with the team if it makes the playoffs.

Born in Togo, Agbossoumonde came to America with his family in 2000. He has developed into one of the nation's best young defenders, and will compete in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt next month.

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