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U.S. U-20 and U-18 teams call up squads for upcoming matches

Brian Perk (ISIphotos.com)

                                                                            Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team is preparing for a busy summer, but the U.S. youth national teams are also busy in the coming weeks.

The U.S. Under-20 and Under-18 national teams both called up squads for upcoming matches. The U-18 team is traveling to Portugal to take on Finland (May 27th), Germany (May 28th) and Portugal (May 30th) in the Lisbon International Tournament while the U-20 team will begin preparations for next fall's Under-20 World Cup with a mini-camp and friendlies against Costa Rica down in Florida on May 25th and 27th.

The U-20 team is loaded with pro players (including five FC Dallas players) as well as some top college prospects, including Wake Forest star Ike Opara. The U-18 team features Maryland goalkeeper Zach McMath, standout defender Gale Agboussamonde and Sporting Lisbon defender Gregory Garza.

Here are the rosters for both teams' upcoming events:

U.S. Under-20 national team roster

GOALKEEPERS (2): Josh Lambo (FC Dallas; Middleton, Wisc.), Brian Perk (UCLA; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6): Kyle Davies (FC Dallas; Danville, Calif.), Jorge Flores (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.), Aaron Maund (Notre Dame; Dorchester, Mass.), Ike Opara (Wake Forest; Durham, N.C.), Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas, St. Petersburg, Fla.), Sheanon Williams (unattached; Boston, Mass.)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo; Glendale, Ariz.), Dilly Duka (Rutgers University; Montville, N.J.), Jose Gonzalez (Atlante FC; Soquel, Calif.), Jared Jeffrey (Club Brugge; Richardson, Texas), Gerson Mayen (Chivas USA; Los Angeles, Calif.), Alfredo Morales (Hertha BSC Berlin; Berlin, Germany), Brian Ownby (University of Virginia; Glen Allen, Va.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas, College Station, Texas), Guillermo Torres (Longview Lobos HS; Longview, Texas)

FORWARDS (3): Fuad Ibrahim (Toronto FC; Richfield, Minn.), Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas, Rockford, Ill.), Tony Taylor (Jacksonville University; Jacksonville, Fla.)

U.S. Under-18 national team roster

GOALKEEPERS (2): Justin Luthy (Columbus Crew Academy; Dublin, Ohio), Zachary MacMath (Maryland; St. Petersburg, Fla.)
DEFENDERS (6): Gale Agbossoumonde (unattached; Syracuse, N.Y.), Chad Barson (University of Akron; Lewis Center, Ohio), Paolo Del Piccolo (Colorado Rush; Lakewood, Colo.), Gregory Garza (Sporting CP; Grapevine, Texas), Kofi Sarkodie (Akron; Huber Heights, Ohio), Zarek Valentin (PA Classics; Lancaster, Pa.);
 
MIDFIELDERS (6): Jose Altamirano (Del Mar Sharks; San Diego, Calif.), Steven Birnbaum (California; Irvine, Calif.), Miiles Byass (Arsenal FC; Highland, Calif.), Nicholas Millington (Wake Forest; Raleigh, N.C.), Amobi Okugo (San Juan Lightning Crew; Sacramento, Calif.), Dillon Powers (Andromeda; Plano, Texas),
FORWARDS (4): Dion Acoff (Arsenal FC; Upland, Calif.), Will Bates (Richmond Strikers; Chester, Va.), Hasani Sinclair (Schulz Academy; Coral Springs, Fla.), Justin Watson (Bridge FA; Myrtle Beach, S.C.)

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What do you think of these squads? What prospects are you excited to see progress? What players are missing that you would like to see called in? Wondering how FC Dallas will be able to run training sessions without five players?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. A4JG- He doesn’t necessarily play with there reserves…yes hes on the team yes he has accomplished a lot signing a professional contract over there but to say hes playing is a bit untruthful. He has appeared in a few games in the primavera as a late sub but really has done nothing so far to show that he should be part of the squad. Also as far as him being dismissed from a camp…whatever did happen in had to have been very unprofessional to get dismissed. Bottom line…he wasn’t on the WCQ squad you can say its cuz he declined…but he was not playing any REAL games for his club to turn down a WCQ tournament? Make Sense?

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  2. fubar – i doubt that this 1 incident has any lingering effect on their hopes to make the camp (except Arguez, which isnt his first mishap)… Bernardo said it wasnt anything big… TR hasnt stated anything, and that leaves only speculation…

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  3. A4JG, CCF, Eric, et al:

    We seem to have short memories. Bernardo, Nazzani and Arguez were dismissed from camp a few months ago for some type of team violation. I would not be surprised if them being left off this roster is a continuation of punishment for those alleged transgressions.

    And Bernardo is a footballer, plain and simple. The only thing he has going against him is his lack of physical maturation. But that didn’t seem to stop Del Piero, so let’s wait and see…

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  4. CapeCodFutbol – they are consistently playing against better competition then the vast majority of non-pros, and even MLS pros on the list….

    in a squeeze i would take Bernardo’s experience (playing w/ Primavera and practicing with 1st team) over someone with just college experience….

    i agree, Europe doesnt equal better… but Bernardo and Nazzani are playing and practicing at a higher level then most… Rongen seemed pretty high on both in the past, my guess is he either invited them and their teams rejected the offer or Rongen simply didnt invite them b/c they are club commited ATM

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  5. A4JG – Nice ad hominem, but when you are disparaging someone’s intelligence, or intellect, it’s best if you spell it correctly.

    I hope Nazzani and Bernardo do well, but I’m with Eric. It’s endless hype that they are automatically better than what we have seen because of where they are playing. They might be better. They might not. Let’s see.

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  6. Eric, you are smoking crack to expect Bernardo to be playing for Napoli with his size. He is being developed in an evironment that is arguably one of the best in the world. To claim that he is not being called up b/c he isn’t playing is purely comical. He plays with the Napoli reserves and is doing quite well. Even considering the notion that these other players are being called up from high schools, colleges, mls reserves etc… are doing better than him, reflects poorly on your intelect.

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  7. Mark my words now…Bernardo and Nazzani will not make the final U 20 team…everyone seems to like these guys when in reality they truly have not been a part of our youth program…grannit Hackworth was crazy with the previous cycle but Bernardo didn’t make that nor did he make the WCQ in TnT…you can keep sayin club this club that but the kid does not play much with the club at all

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  8. Jose A. V. and Goalscorer24- Felix will join Houston after finishing his HS degree. He is by no means done with soccer.

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  9. Jose A. V. -Felix Garcia kind of dropped off the map after he decided to go back to finish High School. But he seemed like an exciting prospect.

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  10. No offense but its pretty clear that these european academies especially in england don’t produce players at the rate you guys think, if they did england would be king of these youth tournaments but they are not, the best youths out of europe, are from portugal and holland and italy if we aren;t sending them there then they should stay home and get an education.

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  11. Jim- UK work permits are really tough to get. And also, we have plenty of guys in Academies overseas, see Eric Lichaj, Seb Hines etc…They just aren’t as good. Simply put, just because you are overseas does not make you better.

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  12. A nice amount of hispanics on the u20’s. I don’t know much about the u18’s. Nice to see the youngster from TFC, I like his game

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  13. your right Jim…there are scouts everywhere….I almost went to Coventry (championship) when I was 14….and I never was in a US youth team

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  14. I don’t keep track of the U-18’s, but do we really have that few kids in European academies? You’d think more US high schoolers would be snatched up since they can work in places like England by 16. Or is it that players of that talent level aren’t released for the U-18 friendlies?

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  15. SonicDeathMonkey we may have a few players that will make it and be ok, but most other countries U18 national team players are already pro’s. That is the big difference.

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  16. I may be exposing myself, but we got a guy here in Fresno, Paul Islas, who’s wicked quick, and plays a left wing/MF pretty well, resembling a Ronaldo style. It’s folly to says he’s THAT good, of course, but I’d like to see how good some of these other HSers in his age range are to be beating Paul out.

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  17. gmonsoon43, learn to read. thats the u18 team. j-mac will be playing all summer long for the u17s while they prepare for the u17 world cup.

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  18. I am suprised not to see Jack McInerney on the U-17s. Unless they feel like he proved enough(5 goals, 3 assists in 3 CONCACAF Qualifying matches) to be included on the U-17 WC team without having to go on this tour.

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  19. Who is Guillermo Torres? Must be something special as the only high schooler to make the jump to U-20s, right?

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  20. Nazanni and Bernardo, to my knowledge, are more important to their club teams than anybody else on this list and likely refused invitations (or had their club turn them down) to train rather than take part in meaningless friendlies.

    Mix was invited to camp, but Stabæk stepped in and turned it down. Mix said he still is willing to play for the U.S. if they call him, and the decision to turn down the offer was Stabæk’s, not his. Mix also scored this weekend for the first team. Not bad for an 18-year-old American.

    Flores has pretty much always been viewed as a Bornstein-type utility player (though he probably can’t play center back like Bornstein can). He operates as a left wingback for the U-20s.

    Anybody have some insight into Bryan Arguez’s absence? Injury? Club commitments?

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  21. @Sean Monaghan I’m pretty sure Thomas Rongen converted him to a defender haven’t seen him play since was hard for me to believe at first as well.

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  22. I understand where you are coming from goalscorer, but thats not always the case. Ike Opara is arguably the best defender on the U-20’s, and would be starting on a lot of MLS teams right now. And isn’t Brian Perk starting over Lambo at the moment?

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  23. As long as we have players that are coming from college, or local club teams instead of pro team reserves, our players/teams won’t go far.

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