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64 players invited to U.S. Soccer National Combine

U.S. Soccer centennial crest

By DAN KARELL

With a look to build the future U.S. Under-18 and Under-20 squads, 64 players from across the nation have been invited to take part in U.S. Soccer’s National Combine in Portland, Oregon.

MLS club academies feature 28 of the 64 players invited, which also include previous U.S. youth internationals such as Brooks Lennon of Real Salt Lake AZ, Ben Swanson of the Columbus Crew, and Malcolm Jones of Chivas USA. U.S. Soccer Director of Scouting Tony Lepore and a number of youth national team staff will run the combine.

The combine, which takes place from August 9-13, includes 31 players who had taken part in recent regional combines across the United States during June and July. This event is set to feature players born in the years 1996, 1997, and 1998.

Nearly the entire U.S. U-17 squad from the CONCACAF U-17 Championships this past spring was left off the list, though this is likely because they are all well scouted and potentially have a place on future youth national teams.

Here’s the full list of invitees to the U.S. Soccer National Combine:

U.S. SOCCER NATIONAL COMBINE INVITEES:

West Region (6):

No previous combine:

GOALKEEPERS (1): Avery Miller (Crossfire; Selah, Wash.)

DEFENDERS (2): Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake AZ; Tucson, Ariz.), Quentin Pearson (Colorado Rapids; Longmont, Colo.)

MIDFIELDERS (1): Joshua Doughty (Real Salt Lake AZ; Phoenix, Ariz.)

FORWARDS (2): Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake AZ; Phoenix, Ariz.), Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake AZ; Park City, Utah)

Northern California Region (6):

San Francisco Combine participants:

GOALKEEPERS (1): JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes; Alamo, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (2): David Chavez (De Anza Force; Redwood City, Calif.), Luis Urias (SCC Breakers; Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (1): DJ Villegas (Davis Legacy; Sacramento, Calif.)

FORWARDS (1): Amir Bashti (San Jose Earthquakes; Cupertino, Calif.)

No previous combine:

DEFENDERS (1): Sam Junqua (De Anza Force; Saratoga, Calif.)

Southern California Region (10):

Los Angeles Combine participants:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Justin Vom Steeg (Real So Cal; Santa Barbara, Calif.), Dakota Havlick (Irvine Strikers; Murrieta, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (3): Felipe Liborio (Strikers FC; Chula Vista, Calif.), Alex Ramos (LA Galaxy; Reseda, Calif.), Juan Reyna (LA Galaxy; San Marcos, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (1): Joab Santoyo (Arsenal; Fontana, Calif.)

No previous combine:

DEFENDERS (2): Malcolm Jones (Chivas USA; Chino Hills, Calif.), Pablo Pelaez (San Diego Surf; San Diego, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (1): Amirgy Pineda (Fullerton Rangers; Santa Ana, Calif.)

FORWARDS (1): Alejandro Vergara (Chivas USA; Long Beach, Calif.)

Southeast Region (6):

Chicago Combine participant:

MIDFIELDERS (1): Abuchi Obinwa (Chicago Magic PSG; Gotha, Fla.)

No previous combine:

GOALKEEPERS (1): Marius Heislitz (Georgia United (Cumming, Ga.)

MIDFIELDERS (1): Tommy Redding (FC America; Ovieda, Fla.)

FORWARDS (3): Sebastian Elney (Boca United; Lake Worth, Fla.), DeAndre Robinson (Concorde Fire; Miramar, Fla.), Dembakwi Yomba (Concorde Fire; Lithonia, Ga.)

Midwest Region (13):

Chicago Combine participants:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Carter Richardson (Crew Soccer Academy; Dublin, Ohio), Parker Siegfried (Crew Soccer Academy; Granville, Ohio)

DEFENDERS (2): Shannon Seymour (Chicago Fire; Bourbonnais, Ill.), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bolingbrook, Ill.)

MIDFIELDERS (4): Cameron Lindley (Indiana Fire; Carmel, Ind.), Collin Fernandez (Chicago Fire; Downers Grove, Ill.), Kosti Moni (Crew Soccer Academy Wolves; Grand Rapids, Mich.), Brad Dunwell (Vardar; Grand Rapids, Mich.)

No previous combine:

DEFENDERS (1): Peter Schropp (Omaha FC; Omaha, Neb.)

MIDFIELDERS (1): Ben Swanson (Crew Soccer Academy; Grove City, Ohio)

FORWARDS (3): Mukwelle Akale (Minnesota Thunder; Minneapolis, Minn.), Andrija Novakovich (Chicago Magic PSG; Muskego, Wis.), Mark Segbers (St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri; St. Louis, Mo.)

Northeast Region (10):

Philadelphia Combine participant:

DEFENDERS (1): Brian White (PDA; Flemington, N.J.)

N.Y./N.J. Combine participants:

DEFENDERS (3): Brandon Tetro (New York Red Bulls; Freehold, N.J.), Henry Martin (New York Red Bulls (New York, N.Y.), David Manzinares (Albertson SC; Hempstead, N.Y.)

No previous combine:

GOALKEEPERS (1): Austin Aviza (New England Revolution; Medway, Mass.)

DEFENDERS (1): Miles Robinson (FC Bolts Celtic; Arlington, Mass.)

MIDFIELDERS (1): Declan McCabe (New England Revolution; Weston, Mass.)

FORWARDS (3): Matt Vasquenza (Oakwood SC; East Hampton, Conn.), Brendan Constantine (Oakwood SC; Glastonbury, Conn.), Mohamed Kenawy (FC Bolts Celtic; Boston, Mass.)

Mid-Atlantic Region (6):

Philadelphia Combine participant:

DEFENDERS (1): Chris Gomez (PDA; Jamison, Pa.)

Washington, D.C., Combine participants:

MIDFIELDERS (1): Connor Smith (Baltimore Bays Chelsea; Baltimore, Md.)

FORWARDS (2): Jeremy Ebobisse (Bethesda Olney; Bethesda, Md.), Umar Bangura (Baltimore Bays Chelsea; Sykesville, Md.)

No previous combine:

DEFENDERS (1): Chase Gasper (Bethesda Olney; Alexandria, Va.)

FORWARDS (1): Coy Craft (FC Dallas; Glade Springs, Va.)

 Texas Region (7):

Dallas Combine participants:

DEFENDERS (1): Wilfred Williams (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas)

MIDFIELDERS (1): Martin Salas (FC Dallas; Dallas, Texas)

FORWARDS (1): Christian Ramirez (FC Dallas; Farmer’s Branch, Texas)

No previous combine:

DEFENDERS (3): Alex Radilla (FC Dallas; El Paso, Texas), Jordan Cano (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Sergio Ruvalcaba (Alianza Houston; Austin, Texas)

FORWARDS (1): Christian Lucatero (Houston Dynamo; Pasadena, Texas)

Comments

  1. Wonder why the new SKC defender Eric Palmer-Brown was not invited. At 16 he seems to be the right age. He recently completed his residency and Brandenton.

    Reply
  2. we have a lot of talented u13 player i know one plays for barca another plays for madrid. and another i think hes 14 though trained at man u arsenal real madrid but hasnt signed.

    Reply
  3. I would like to see how many of them have birthdays in Aug and Sept. Until we widen our net, we are stuck with kids who were talk and coordinated when they were six.

    Reply
  4. Great experience for the kids….only 4 more years before they are replaced by a yet to be named son of an American serviceman’s son living in Germany with dual citizenship.

    What ever happened to that technical plan that was part of JK’s $6,000 a day salary?

    Reply
  5. Wouldn’t it make sense to still have the first 23 at the combine to see how they match against the other talent?

    I don’t understand the point of the combine if you’ve already removed the existing starters. Why not force those players to be tested against the best of their peers?

    Reply
      • Vergara should bring chivas USA to El Paso tx. His wife is from the El Paso-Juarez area and vergara is always saying he would love to bring division 1 to the area again. El Paso is like a Hispanic Portland, of course with Caucasians and black people as well but u can feel the soccer love in the air all the time but the city killed our soccer future years back. At this moment our downtown is being renovated from left to right and El Paso tx is the safest city in the US, even though we are next to Juarez. (Juarez is not that bad, Monterrey is worse or Mexico df) the city of El Paso said they will build a soccer stadium in the next 5 to 8 years, but only if a group ownership comes to the table and brings a team. NASL and MLS, we are waiting.

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