Marky Delgado is making the most of his opportunity in New Zealand.

The Toronto FC midfielder is currently on international duty with the United States at the Under-20 World Cup.

Tab Ramos’ side has advanced to Sunday’s quarterfinal versus Serbia after a stunning 1-0 win over Colombia in Wellington. Delgado is one of five players to start every game thus far in the competition.

“I’ve known Marky for a while since he was at the academy at Chivas,” said TFC head coach Greg Vanney

“We were excited and very fortunate to pick him up the way we did [in the dispersal draft]. I’m not surprised he’s gone down to New Zealand and done as well as he has. This is a great experience for him to play international soccer in a very meaningful event and to pick up minutes. We look forward to when he gets back [to Toronto], but hopefully he can pick up more results down there.”

Delgado is getting big time minutes under Ramos, and with the Gold Cup on the horizon, there will be a chance for the 20-year-old to be a factor in the second half of the season.

“There were times before he left when we wanted to get him out there and get going,” Vanney continued.

“He played in the Canadian Championship matches. For him to go down and pick up this stretch of 90 minutes is going to be hugely important, and when he does rejoin us we’ll be missing guys and we’ll need the depth he brings to us and also I imagine he’ll be in form.”

With Michael Bradley and Jonathan Osorio set to miss at least four games due to the CONCACAF competition Delgado will be part of the group that will slot in to replace their minutes. With that in mind his play in New Zealand is a promising development.

“We look forward to him being an integral part of our group as we push forward through the second half of the season and into the playoffs.”