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Ramos finalizes U.S. U-20 roster with addition of Serna

U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos rounded out the roster that will attempt to qualify for this summer’s 2013 U-20 World Cup on Wednesday, summoning midfielder Dillon Serna as the 20th member of the squad.

Serna will join the U.S. team in Puebla, Mexico ahead of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship after recently signing a homegrown deal with the Colorado Rapids. He played in three matches for the U.S. U-20s in 2012, and his inclusion gives Ramos six midfielders to choose from for the upcoming competition that will send four teams to the U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

Here is the complete 20-man roster:

Goalkeepers: Cody Cropper (Southampton FC; Maple Grove, Minn.), Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.), Zackary Steffen (FC DELCO Academy; Downington, Pa.)

Defenders: Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (C.D. Guadalajara; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), Javan Torre (UCLA; Santa Monica, Calif.)

Midfielders: Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (Sporting Kansas City; Mission, Texas), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg; Holly, Mich.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio)

Forwards: Brandon Allen (Georgetown; Old Bridge, N.J.), Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Daniel Garcia (North Carolina; Dallas, Texas), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), Mario Rodriguez (1. FC Kaiserslautern; North Hollywood, Calif.), Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)

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What do you think of the addition of Serna? Would you have preferred to see someone else get the call?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. well the team that didnt qualify last cycle had Gyau, Salgado, Wood, Boss, Doyle, Lletget, Okugo, Orozco, Cropper, Garza, Kitchen, Hernandez and Veeder who were all professionals. Its funny because I keep hearing how the US needs more professional players for these tournies and yet when we have had the most professionals we didnt even qualify for the U-20 Worldcup or the olympics.

    How good can this mexican team be if they lost to a college team?

    Reply
  2. Serna is a legit prospect. I was looking forward to him this year with the rapids. Not sure if he will impact this team at but still good pick up.

    Looking our roster we only have 1-2 players with significant first team experence. Take a look at Mexico’s their starting xi will be mostly LMX starters (for a few years; Abujo, Davila, Ibañez, Torres, Pulido) and some guys even have El Tri caps; Reyas, Eniquez Garcia. MLS needs to catchup and get more Gil’s, Serna’s and Villareal’s out there!

    Reply
    • I think that’s Mexico’s 2011 U20 roster.

      Davila was bought by Chelsea and Reyes by Porto.

      Enriquez, Pulido, Ibanez and Araujo are LigaMX starters, for the most part.

      Their current U20 squad has a lot of pro experience but mostly in the attack and midfield.

      Only half of their starting defense has significant pro experience. They may suffer in that regard.

      Reply
      • Thats scary! If Mexico will suffer in their defense what will our defense do with 20 college games per season under their belt and 2 MLS reserve squad players (10 games a year)?

  3. Looks like Ramos is going all out attack in his squad. There is a lack of defensive depth with this squad. If one or two Defensive players get injured; things could turn south in a hurry.

    Reply

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