US U20s get final chance to impress boss before qualifying begins
On Wednesday, US U-20 Head Coach Thomas Rongen announced a 25-man roster for a twelve-day training camp (January 2-13) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The camp will serve as the final chance for the coaching staff to look at players before the CONCACAF U20 Championship, which begins on April 3. The regional event is the qualifier for the U20 World Cup with the semifinalists receiving a bid to the intercontinental tourney.Of the 25 called in, 11 play abroad, seven in NCAA, five in MLS, and two out of contract. The duo without a club is defender Korey Veeder and striker Omar Salgado. The latter has already signed a professional deal with MLS and will be among the top picks in the 2011 SuperDraft.
Among the MLS contingent is Juan Agudelo, the Red Bull New York striker was also called into the full national team camp in January. He will spend the first four days in Florida before flying to California to join Bob Bradley’s camp.
The majority of the college players are defenders with four out the playing on the backline, Zarek Valentin, Perry Kitchen, Sacir Hot, and Sebastian Ibeagha. Valentin and Kitchen were members of the 2010 NCAA Champion Akron Zips.
Perhaps a surprise addition to the camp roster was Pac-10 Freshman of the year, Kelyn Rowe. The UCLA youngster from Federal Way, Washington only received his first appearance with the U20s earlier this month.
Rounding out the group were the abroad players coming with just under half of the total. Joe Gyau, recently added back into the U20 mix, leads the way after his hat trick against Canada on Saturday during a 5-0 thumping. The other star of that game, Josh Gatt, was not called into this camp as his club, SCR Altach begins training on January 7. Gatt along with others will still be under strong consideration for spots on the qualifying roster.
U.S. U-20 MNT Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (3): Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town; Athens, Ga.), Zac MacMath (Maryland; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Brian Sylvestre (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Hollywood, Fla.)
DEFENDERS (9): Gale Agbossoumonde (GD Estoril Praia; Syracuse, N.Y.), Greg Garza (GD Estoril Praia; Grapevine, Texas), Moises Hernandez (FC Dallas; Dallas, Texas), Sacir Hot (Boston College; Fair Lawn, N.J.), Sebastian Ibeagha (Duke; Missouri City, Texas), Perry Kitchen (Akron; Indianapaolis, Ind.), Zarek Valentin (Akron; Lancaster, Pa.), Korey Veeder (Out of Contract; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Ethan White (D.C. United; Kensington, Md.)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), Fabian Huerzeler (Bayern Munich; Munich, Germany), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United; San Francisco, Calif.), Alex Molano (Dinamo Zagreb; Grapevine, Texas), Moises Orozco (Tigres; Oxnard, Calif.), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame; Plano, Texas), Kelyn Rowe (UCLA; Newport Beach, Calif.), Conor Shanosky (D.C. United; Sterling, Va.), Alex Zahavi (Maccabi Haifa; Los Angeles, Calif.)
FORWARDS (4): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Conor Doyle (Derby County; McKinney, Texas), Omar Salgado (unattached; El Paso, Texas), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich; Irvine, Calif.)
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
