The United Soccer Leagues -- and South Florida in particular -- is the last place you expect to find one of the most talented young soccer players in the country.

Yet that's where a 17-year-old phenom from West Africa via upstate New York has spent the past month.

Gale Agbossoumonde signed with Traffic Sports in early August and has played sparingly for Miami FC. He will continue training with the club through this week before flying to Egypt to compete in the Under-20 World Cup with the U.S. national team.

No matter how short, Agbossoumonde's stay with Miami FC -- one of the worst teams in the nation's second-division soccer league -- would be beneath most players of his stature.

But when your formative years are spent in a refugee camp in a foreign country because your homeland has been ripped apart by civil war, you gain a perspective for the bigger picture.

``It was very hard,'' Agbossoumonde said of his time in Africa. ``I was young, so I really didn't understand. But I can't imagine. I had nothing really. I played with no shoes.''

Born on Nov. 17, 1991 in Togo, Agbossoumonde was just a baby when violence forced his family to flee to neighboring Benin.

His father, Kouko, was an officer in the Togan military and stayed to fight after sneaking Gale, his five brothers and their mother across the border. They lived in near destitution for nearly a decade. All they had were each other -- and soccer.

After Kouko died of natural causes in the late 1990s, the family knew it would never return to Togo. Instead, they had Catholic Charities facilitate a move to Syracuse, N.Y., which was a world away -- both literally and figuratively.

``We arrived on Feb. 23, 2000, and I had sandals on,'' Agbossoumonde said. ``It was cold.''

Even Northeast winters give way to spring, and when the weather improved, 8-year-old Gale returned to soccer. His English was a work in progress, but his athletic talent was clear. He hooked up quickly with a local club, the Syracuse Blitz, which developed his raw ability and size into a formidable package.

Always bigger than his contemporaries, Gale moved up an age group and played alongside brother Mawuena, now a member of the Syracuse University men's team.

His big break came at age 15. He earned a spot in the U.S. U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton. That's when he made the move from forward, which he played most of his life, to center-back. While it took some time to adjust to the speed of the game, he emerged as one of the best -- albeit youngest -- players.

Two years later, he's again ahead of the curve, playing for the U-20 team with young men a year or two his senior. At this rate, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Agbossoumonde play at the nation's top level -- and compete for a World Cup -- in four years.

``[The national coaches] all say I have a lot of potential,'' Agbossoumonde said. ``I just have to work at the little things.''

That's why his choice of a pro team was so important -- and signing with Traffic Sports was so puzzling on the surface. Both MLS and teams abroad coveted his services, but Agbossoumonde felt like he was getting low-balled. So he signed with Traffic, which he said will help him secure a better deal from a La Liga team when the transfer window opens in January.

``He's a young player with a very promising future,'' Miami FC coach Zinho said. ``He's physically very strong and for a center-back, he's also very technical.''

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