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Corona among 31 called in for combined USA U-23/U-20 training camp

Corona (Getty Images)

Joe Corona will get his chance with the United States after all. 

The Tijuana attacker and one-time Mexican youth international is among 31 players called into a United States Under-23/Under-20 combined training camp by new U-23 coach Caleb Porter.

The players will train in Duisburg, Germany, from Nov. 7-16, with U-20 coach Tab Ramos leading those age players and U.S. Soccer youth technical director Claudio Reyna leading the U-23s while U-23 coach Caleb Porter tends to his responsibilities as University of Akron coach. Recently named U-18 coach Richie Williams will also be part of the coaching staff at the camp.

Here is the combined U-23/U-20 roster for the camp:

USA U-23/U-20 NOVEMBER CAMP ROSTER

GOALKEEPERS – David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes; Pleasanton, Calif.), Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town; Athens, Ga.), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire, Lilburn, Ga.), Jon Kempin (Sporting KC; Leawood, Kan.).

DEFENDERS - Gale Agbossoumonde (Eintracht Frankfurt; Syracuse, N.Y.), Anthony Brooks (Hertha Berlin; Berlin, Germany), Sean Cunningham (Molde; Troy, Mich.), Royal-Dominique Fennell (Stuttgarter Kickers; Göppingen, Germany), Greg Garza (Out of Contract; Grapevine, Texas), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United; Indianapolis, Ind.), Will Packwood (Birmingham City; Concord, Mass.), Zarek Valentin (Chivas USA; Lancaster, Pa.), Ethan White (D.C. United; Kensington, Md.) 

MIDFIELDERS - Joe Corona (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Mixx Diskerud (Stabæk; Oslo, Norway), Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew; Montville, N.J.), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz; Richardson, Texas), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United; San Francisco, Calif.), Tyrone McCargo (Nürnberg; Nürnberg, Germany), Charles Renken (Hoffenheim; Edwardsville, Ill.), Caleb Stanko (Freiburg: Holly, Mich.), Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.). 

FORWARDS - Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund; Berlin, Germany), Conor Doyle (Derby County; McKinney, Texas), Josh Gatt (Molde; Plymouth, Mich.), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), Jerome Kiesewetter (Hertha Berlin; Berlin, Germany), Omar Salgado (Vancouver Whitecaps; El Paso, Texas), Tony Taylor (Atlético Clube de Portugal; Jacksonville, Fla.), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich; Irvine, Calif.), Andrew Wooten (Kaiserslautern; Worms, Germany).

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"The goal was to put together a comprehensive group of players to further evaluate the pool while building towards Olympic qualifying," Porter said in a U.S. Soccer release. "By having a mix of domestic and overseas-based professionals, we can develop a clearer picture of who can help us in qualifying and hopefully the 2012 Olympic Games."

Other roster notes:

  • Josh Gatt was included for the camp but won't participate on the field because of his recent hamstring injury.
  • Age-eligible senior national team players such as Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo and Bill Hamid are not included in this camp and will most likely be part of the team that goes up against France and Slovenia later this month, but they are still under consideration (and are likely shoo-ins) for the Olympics. 
  • Eight MLS players (White, Kitchen, Valentin, Salgado, Duka, Johnson, Kempin and Bingham) will take part in the camp, and more could be added based on how the MLS playoffs unfold.
  • Three players (Agbossoumonde, Diskerud and Johnson) have senior national team caps to their names.
  • Bayern Munich youth product Fabian Huerzeler, who was part of the U.S. U-20 World Cup qualifying team, was not included on the roster.
  • The six players who hail from Germany represent the most from any one area/state. California is next with five players, followed by Texas with four, Michigan with three and Maryland and Georgia with two apiece.

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What do you think about the roster? 

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. we need to stay grounded and remember, names are good on paper..let’s not forget, a lot of these players played in the U-20 Collapse in Guatemala City. Having said that, I’m happy to Lletget, Renken, Gyau, Hatt, Mixx, and a few other names.

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  2. A couple other forwards missing like Jann George and Issac Acuna, but with that list of player already called in, it will be tough to get into the lineup

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  3. Good point. Although, to be honest, he’s got a task getting in the lineup. Gatt, Diskerud, Gyau, Renken, and Duka are all competition, for sure.

    I hope Porter looks at chemistry closely, because that’s the main thing that could make a roster like this fail.

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  4. Very excited to see the next wave of U.S. players for the first time (for a lot of them). Many of these overseas kids rarely play for the U-20s b/c of club commitments so we never get to see them. Finally, a big enough tournament to get all of these guys together.

    Gatt is more of a right mid/wing than a forward, from what I understand.

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  5. funny how the article leads with Joe Corona and NOT one comment about him after all the moaning about losing another player to Mexico, etc… flavor of the month I guess…

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  6. You are forgetting we also get 3 over aged players. Most likely a CB and a couple of mids. I believe the U23 golie will do just fine whomever that may be. I just don’t see Williams playing fullback

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  7. who would i start when all the players are eligible to participate?
    Zack Macmath in goal, Daniel Williams as lb, Gale and Perry kitchen as cb, Chandler at rb Mix at cm, Joe corona at rm, Gyau at LM, Luis gil as an attacking midfielder with Agudelo and Altidore up top.

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  8. Right now JA Brooks is probably our highest rated players in Europe at the moment. He wa projected to be starting for Bertha this season but a calf injury kept him out, along with some good play from their CBs. My point is that Hurzeler has only started to consistently play with the Bayern U23s, so there is plenty of time for future call ups.

    Same goes for Boyd who is 18 as well. Playing well for the u23s and scoring bunches. It’s apples to oranges.

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  9. We have to remember, that like out national team, we have a lot of good players, but 24 good players = 11 good players on the field, nothing GREAT. We always get excited about how many we have, but in the end 11 play, and it isn’t how many good players on the bench you have, it is how exceptional is your 11 on the field. Edu, Feilhaber, Torres, Kljestan.. they never became greats. Even Holden and MB also added huge numbers, but in the end we could only put 2 out there, and none were world class (although Holden and MB play at a pretty high level).

    That is why it is important to get the 3 best overage players we can. I say Donovan, Dempsey, and either Guzan, Lichaj, or Bradley.

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  10. knews is his one time switch isnt through yet, idk if he has filled it yet. He vebally committed to the us and germany concurred he is ours. He is a very exciting prospect for the future but he just graduated high school so we have time.

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  11. I dunno. If it were just a U-23 camp, then I’d be with you. But there are plenty of U-20s who probably won’t be in any serious consideration for 2012, and Hurzeler’s still not there.

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  12. Let me tell you something,…25 years ago it would have unimaginable that the USA would have one,…let alone two youth national team POOLS (!) made up of entirely professional players! And all three coaches (in camp) are former professionals and internationals.

    It is amazing how far we have come!

    Reply

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