After tons of little threads about the USA U-20s, I figured I'd make a general thread for them..so here it is. They're participating in a 4 team international tournament in Peru, September 1-13. Here's the roster: G: Samir Badr - Porto Cody Cropper - Ipswich Town D: Gale Agbossoumonde - Braga Anthony Brooks - Hertha Berlin Bryan De La Fuente - Chivas USA Christian Flores - Club Tijuana Greg Garza - Estoril Emilio Orozco - Tigres Korey Veeder - Crystal Palace Baltimore M: Victor Garza - Tigres Kevin Huezo - Pachuca Francisco Navas Cobo - Houston Dynamo Ernest Nungaray - Morelia Moises Orozco - Tigres Conor Shanosky - DC United Cesar Zamora - Chivas USA F: Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls Jerome Kiesewetter - Hertha Berlin Adrian Ruelas - Santos Laguna Omar Salgado - Portland Timbers Some similarities to the Milk Cup roster. No college players as they'll all be starting their seasons and classes and the like. That cuts out six players. Fuad Ibrahim is also out as he is playing for Toronto FC on a somewhat regular basis.
just watched veeder play against portland...while its only one game he was not impressive and got sent off(2 yellows)
Here's who to watch for when you're thinking about the US playing in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship and the next U-20 Cup in Colombia next summer. Yanks Abroad with the list of 21, if you want to check out some details on these guys. Pack your bags: 1 - Gale Agbossomounde - Defender - Braga 2 - Dillon Powers - Midfield - Notre Dame University 3 - Zac MacMath - Keeper - University of Maryland 4 - Amobi Okugo - Midfield - Philadelphia Union 5 - Tristan Bowen - Forward - LA Galaxy Nearly a Lock: 6 - Sebastian Lletget - Midfield - West Ham United 7 - Alex Molano - Midfield - Dinamo Zagreb 8 - Juan Agudelo - Forward - New York Red Bulls 9 - Jack McInerney - Forward - Philadelphia Union 10 - Adrian Ruelas - Midfield - Santos Laguna 11 - Samir Badr - Keeper - FC Porto 12 - Zarek Valentin - Defender - University of Akron Fairly Safe Bet: 13 - Greg Garza - Defender - GD Estoril Praia 14 - Alexander Zahavi - Defender - Maccabi Haifa 15 - Perry Kitchen - Defender - University of Akron 16 - Kofi Sarkodie - Defender - University of Akron In a Battle: 17 - Omar Salgado - Forward - MLS Draft 18 - Ethan White - Defender - Unversity of Maryland 19 - Fuad Ibrahim - Midfielder - Toronto FC Work to do: 20 - Cody Cropper - Goalkeeper Ipswich 21 - Victor Garza - Midfielder - Tigres In the mix: Conor Shanosky, Francisco Navas Cobo, Joseph Gyau, Luis Gil, Ernest Nungaray, Bobby Wood, Bryan De La Fuente, Parker Walsh, William Packwood, Moises Orozco Some of those guys are in the mix because they'll be eligible in 2013. Personally, I'd bring Luis Gil regardless of him being eligible again in 2013 as he'll be a strong player. And I'll continue pushing for Marlon Duran. He'll be at Dayton in the A-10, which isn't one of the big soccer conferences. I'm hopeful that he'll still draw some attention as I think he can be a very strong player.
So the Peru experience sucked a lot. Enough of that. Gustavo Adrian Ruelas has joined Glasgow Celtic for training as a part of a potential partnership deal Celtic are developing with the similarly hooped Santos Laguna of Mexico. The speculation referred to in the Celtic press release relates to the conflicting reports that came out about this. Sky Sports had Ruelas on loan as a part of this agreement that already existed, while others had a trial. What's important is that another top US youth is getting attention from a top European club.
Rongen released most of the roster for the Torneo de las Americas taking place at the end of November at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. The team will face Colombia on the 26th and Mexico on the 28th. No clue if video will be available, but I hope that it will be. Here's the squad: GOALKEEPERS (2): Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town; Athens, Ga.), Eduardo Fernandez (Real Salt Lake AZ; Casa Grande, Ariz.) DEFENDERS (7): Gale Agbossoumonde (G.D. Estoril Praia; Syracuse, N.Y.), Bryan De La Fuente (Chivas USA; Bell, Calif.), Greg Garza (G.D. Estoril Praia, Grapevine, Texas), Korey Veeder (Crystal Palace Baltimore; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Parker Walsh (Karlsrucher SC; Roanoke, Va.), TBD, TBD MIDFIELDERS (7): Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United; San Francisco, Calif.), Alex Molano (NK Dinamo Zagreb; Grapevine, Texas), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), Moises Orozco (Tigres; Oxnard, Calif.), Conor Shanosky (D.C. United, Sterling, Va.), Alex Zahavi (Maccabi Haifa F.C.; Lisbon, Portugal), Cesar Zamora (Chivas USA; Sylmar, Calif.) FORWARDS (4): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.Y.), Tristan Bowen (Los Angeles Galaxy; Van Nuys, Calif.), Fuad Ibrahim (Toronto FC; Richfield, Minn.), Omar Salgado (Unattached; El Paso, Texas) Two TBAs in there for defenders. I'm really not sure why that is. I don't think they'll take any college kids and there aren't any eligible MLS players still going. As for the roster that has been called, there are a couple of exciting developments. Alex Zahavi and Sebastian Lletget will be getting their first youth caps for the US U-20. Zahavi bounced around the some of the top clubs in Europe with stops at Benfica, Barcelona, Arsenal, and Sporting before signing a pro contract with Maccabi Haifa. Zahavi has three caps and as many goals with the Portugese U-17 and took the opportunity offered by FIFA to switch and join the United States, while he also had eligibility with Israel. Lletget left the IMG Academy to join West Ham and recently signed his first professional contract on his 18th birthday. He has not yet made his debut with West Ham, but early reports indicate that he's heading in the right direction with the reserve side. Lletget also has eligibility with Italy, but recently vowed his future to the United States. Lletget was found by West Ham during a tournament appearance with the U-17 side and started playing with the West Ham U-18s as a 16 year-old. As for the rest of the roster, the forwards look particularly interesting and are a good sign of the future. Bowen and Ibrahim have some MLS experience at their young age. Bowen, in particular, seems to be well regarded. Salgado was a huge star in the Milk Cup, and at just 16 is probably the youngest player on the roster. At 6'4", he's also the tallest field player available. Agudelo was another star of the Milk Cup and, more recently, his two playoff starts with New York Red Bulls gave us a bit of an indication as to why his club seems so willing to let Juan Pablo Angel walk. Rather than looking like inexperienced 17 year-old he is, he was giving the Earthquakes defense fits in both matches as he hit the woodwork a couple of times and set up Angel in the second match. Agudelo went from youth prospect to a guy who could be getting a call to Bradley's January camp.
Five days away from the tournament. Squad is looking pretty good, as said already. Agudelo won his first cap and scored the winner against South Africa earlier this week. Agbossomounde also picked up his first cap in the match. Here's a little interview with Sebastian Lletget. Nothing particularly informative, but its worth a look. [video=youtube;ftNgmh-kqwk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftNgmh-kqwk&feature=player_embedded[/video] Only thing I got out of that clip is really the structure of the tournament. Its just Colombia, Mexico and the US U-20 sides. Best results in the matches wins. Its also a very interesting choice of sides as the US are likely to feature Agudelo and Salgado as forwards. They're eligible for Colombia and Mexico respectively. Of course, Americans being eligible for Mexico is nothing new as Orozco, Molano, de la Fuente, and Zamora are eligible. Ibrahim, Zahavi, and Lletget also have dual citizenship.
He hasn't made an appearance for them yet. Still with the reserves. The worse they do, the closer he probably gets to playing time.
Fabien Hurzeler has, somehow, been convinced to join the United States national team. He was born in Houston before moving to Germany. He has served as captain of the German U-17 and is the youngest player on Bayern's reserve team. This seems to be a part of Thomas Rongen's efforts to apologize to the United States for the departure of Neven Subotic from the US National Team. Since Yanks-Abroad seems to be a bit of a failure of late, here's the quote from Rongen in the article: "We got a commitment actually today for Fabian Hürzeler, the captain of the German [U17] team and he plays for Bayern Munich," Rongen told YA in Atlanta. "He's going to be part of our January camp. That's pretty nice news." "Like Alex Zahavi, Hürzeler is fluent in English," he continued. "These guys, they're excited about the opportunity. They're honored. But these aren't easy decisions. This guy played for the German youth teams from U15 to U19. We'll keep pushing the envelope. We'll keep finding players that hopefully can help us." He'll have to file the one time switch that FIFA rules now allow. He'll join Alex Zahavi as U-20 players taking advantage of that rule. Now he just has to go get Michael Hoyos and we might get over Subotic.
Action has wrapped up in Georgia. The US played two 1-1 draws and lost both on penalties. Zahavi scored the goal against Colombia on his debut and Agbossomounde drew the US level against Mexico. There were also a few roster changes. Sporting KC's John Kempin replaced Cody Cropper in goal as Cropper was pulled back by Ipswich. No word if he played for them this weekend or not. The two TBAs in defense were filled by Sebastien Ibeagha and Dillon Powers after Duke and Notre Dame were knocked out of the NCAA tournament.
Thomas Rongen has called in 24 for a camp starting tomorrow and going for a week. The US will play twice against Canada during the camp. GOALKEEPERS: Zac MacMath (Maryland), Kevin Piedrahita (America de Cali) DEFENDERS: Gale Agbossoumonde (Estoril Praia), Greg Garza (Estoril Praia), Sebastien Ibeagha (Duke), Perry Kitchen (Akron), Eric Schoenle (West Virginia), Ben Sweat (South Florida), Zarek Valentin (Akron), Kory Veeder (Unattached) MIDFIELDERS: Steven Evans (Portland), Joshua Gatt (SC Rheindorf Altach), Joe Gyau (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Alex Molano (Dinamo Zagreb), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame), Kelyn Rowe (UCLA), Conor Shanosky (D.C. United) FORWARDS: Conor Doyle (Derby County), Dylan Mares (Louisville), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Adrian Ruelas (Celtic), Soony Saad (Michigan), Omar Salgado (Unattached) Looks like the camp is to see the college kids as most of them were not available for the tournament in Georgia. Among them, Ibeahaga, Kitchen, Valentin, and Powers have been involved with the U-20s before. Saad could be the one with the best chance of joining the team on a regular basis as he scored 19 times for Michigan this NCAA season.
As if on cue, Soony Saad opened the scoring in the 33rd after Canada controlled the opening minutes. Jack McInerney scored in the 49th for a 2-0 scoreline. Serge Ibahaga assisted on both goals. USA Starting XI: Kevin Piedrahita; Ben Sweat, Sebastien Ibeagha, Eric Schoenle (Perry Kitchen, 68'), Kory Veeder; Steven Evans (Joshua Gatt, 78'), Conor Shanosky (Amobi Okugo, 78'), Dylan Mares (Alex Molano, 64'); Jack McInerney, Adrian Ruelas (Omar Salgado, 75'), Soony Saad (Joe Gyau, 78'). Canada Starting XI: Roberto Stillo; Ashtone Morgan, Doneil Henry (Chris Suta, 89'), Darrick Bassi, Sean Hart, Roger Thompson (Jonathan Osorio, 61'); Jaineil Hoilett, Kevin Cobby (Matt Stinson, 68'), Ethan Gage; Niall Cousens (Jerome Baker, 75'), Nicholas Lindsay. In the match on Saturday, we can probably expect the rest of the guys to start, including some regulars in Agbossomounde, Molano, Okugo, and Salgado.
They put the boots to Canada today. 5-0 win. Three goals by Joseph Gyau and two by Joe Gatt. Gatt assisted all three of Gyau's goals. United States' lineup: Zac MacMath; Zarek Valentin, Gale Agbossoumonde, Perry Kitchen, Greg Garza (Korey Veeder, 60'); Amobio Okugo, Dillon Powers, Kelyn Rowe, Joshua Gatt, Joe Gyau; Conoy Doyle. Canada's lineup: Julien Latendresse-Levesque; Ashtone Morgan, Derrick Bassi, Sean Hart (Sven Arapovic, 45'), Roger Thompson (Kevin Cobby, 50'); Nicholas Lindsay, Ethan Gage, Jonathan Osorio, Matt Stinson (Jerome Baker); Massimo Mirabelli (Niall Cousens, 45'), Jaineil Hoilett.
Thomas Rongen announced the participants in the US U-20 camp scheduled for January 2-13 in Florida. As of yet, there are no associated friendlies as there are with the USMNT camp. GOALKEEPERS- Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town; Athens, Ga.), Zac MacMath (Maryland; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Brian Sylvestre (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Hollywood, Fla.) DEFENDERS- 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- 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- 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.) Juan Agudelo will be leaving camp on the 6th to join the senior squad in California. The highlight here for me is that Fabian Huerzeler will be making his first appearance in a US camp after switching over from Germany. Brian Sylvestre and Kelyn Rowe appear to be the only new-comers to the roster.
Soccer By Ives had a ton of coverage of this camp. There were two friendlies and an intra-squad scrimmage scheduled. January 6 - Friendly vs. Miami Select: 0-0 Draw USA's first half XI (4-2-1-3): Zac MacMath; Zarek Valentin, Gale Agbossoumonde, Perry Kitchen, Greg Garza; Amobio Okugo, Fabian Huerzeler; Sebastian Lletget; Juan Agudelo, Conor Doyle, Alex Zahavi. USA's second half XI (4-2-1-3): Zac MacMath; Sebastien Ibeagha, Ethan White, Sacir Hot, Moises Hernandez; Kelyn Rowe, Moises Orozco; Alex Molano; Bobby Wood, Omar Salgado, Joe Gyau. McMath made a save on a penalty after a foul on the box was called on Ethan White. January 9 - Intra-squad scrimmage: Live Commentary - Summary - Post Game Commentary Line-ups: U.S. White Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Zarek Valentin, Gale Agbossoumonde, Perry Kitchen, Moises Hernandez; Amobi Okugo, Moises Orozco; Joe Gyau, Kelyn Rowe, Omar Salgado; Conor Doyle. U.S. Grey Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Cody Cropper; Ethan White, Sebastien Ibeagha, Sacir Hot, Greg Garza; Conor Shanosky, Korey Veeder; Alex Zahavi, Alex Molano, Fabian Huerzeler, Bobby Wood. White wins 3-0, goals by Doyle and Wood (2). I know Wood is listed as a starter for Grey, but there was a lot of swapping between squads during the match. January 12 - Friendly vs. Miami Select: 3-1 win USA starters in first period (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Zarek Valentin, Gale Agbossoumonde, Perry Kitchen, Moises Hernandez; Moises Orozco, Amobi Okugo, Joe Gyau, Kelyn Rowe, Omar Salgado; Conor Doyle. USA starters in second period (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Zarek Valentin, Gale Agbossoumonde, Perry Kitchen, Greg Garza; Moises Orozco, Amobi Okugo, Joe Gyau, Kelyn Rowe, Omar Salgado; Conor Doyle. USA starters in third period (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Korey Veeder, Gale Agbossoumonde, Sebastien Ibeagha, Greg Garza; Dillon Powers, Perry Kitchen, Conor Doyle, Kelyn Rowe, Joe Gyau; Omar Salgado. The match was played in periods due to the heat (MLS Combine matches featured water breaks) and to get different looks on the pitch. Agbossomounde scored a half-volley to open the scoring in the first period. Moises Orozco set up Kelyn Rowe, who fired a shot past Bryan Sylvestre (also in the U-20 camp, but playing for Miami) in the second, and Omar Salgado knocked in the third goal in the third period after a shot was deflected by the Miami defense. Lots of profiles and videos from SBI as well: Gale Agbossomounde Joe Gyau Fabian Huezler Perry Kitchen Zac MacMath Omar Salgado (video, writing) Zarek Valentin Coach Thomas Rongen delivers his final thoughts. Juan Agudelo left the U-20 camp early to join the senior camp in California. And Josh Gatt will be joining Norwegian side Molde, managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while Agbossomounde left Miami for Sweden, where he's on trial with Djurgardens.
Bobby Wood was promoted to the senior squad with 1860 Munich, from the looks of it as a replacement for Kenny Cooper. Not sure if its a replacement as a reserve forward or token American.
Interesting article in the USA Today about the US players coming through the pipeline with eligibility for other countries. It focuses on guys in the senior camp (Bunbury, Agudelo, Diskerud, Starikov) who have been courted by other nations or appeared with other nations' youth teams. There's also mention of the U-20 camp with Huerzler and Salgado who appeared for Germany and Mexico respectively. The fun part are the comments in the middle from U-20 coach Thomas Rongen: And some comments at the end about how Diskerud and Starikov joined the United States:
Looks like some dual (or tri) nationals are having second thoughts about going with the United States. Connor Doyle is probably taking a look at what's around him and thinking twice about playing with his native land. He's also eligible for Ireland and Northern Ireland and has been invited into an Irish U-21 camp for a friendly against Cyprus. He would not be cap-tied by playing in this friendly. Looks like we have a combo of competition and Irish teammates and nearby family having Doyle thinking twice. Competition comes from fellow U-20 campers Bobby Wood, Omar Salgado, and Juan Agudelo, while full NT players Altidore and Bunbury are 21 and 20 respectively. That's all in addition to Tristan Bowen, Stefan Jerome, Jack McInerney, Adrian Ruelas, and Soony Saad who have U-20 caps of their own. Alex Zahavi has U-17 experience with Portugal and might be eligible for Israel, but I can't find anything to verify that. Zahavi seems pretty diplomatic about his chances with some strong prospects emerging in Josh Gatt and Joe Gyau, but ability to play on either wing or behind the striker makes him a pretty solid choice for the U-20 squad. Doyle is currently a US player with FIFA and would need to file a switch to play for Ireland, while Zahavi (and Fabien Huezler) needs to file to switch from Portugal to the US.
Update on two at Hoffenheim - Joseph Gyau and Charles Renken Both signed last summer. At the time, Renken was the better prospect but has been blowing out ACLs like it was his job for a few years now. I'm pretty sure he's out for this U-20 cycle, but there's still hope that he can live up to the potential as a player. As for Gyau, there's been some speculation that he could make some appearances with the full side at some point this year, but next year is looking much more likely.
