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Morris, Rubin among U.S. U-23 roster for Brazil friendly

RubioRubinUSU20sCelebrates1-FluDallasCup (DallasCup)

By RYAN TOLMICH

Fresh off call-ups to the senior side, Jordan Morris, Rubio Rubin, Emerson Hyndman and Cody Cropper are set to join up with the U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team for an October camp.

U.S. Soccer announced the U-23’s full 21-man squad Friday as the team prepares for next week’s trip to Brazil, where they will train for three days before taking on Brazil’s U-23’s Oct. 13 at Estadio Nacional in Brasilia.

Next week’s camp in Brazil marks the U-23’s third gathering of the season, with the most recent resulting in a 5-1 victory over the Bahamas senior national team on Aug. 6. The current roster features nine players who featured in the win, including Morris and Dennis Flores, each of whom scored a goal in the victory.

The roster also features 16-year-old defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, who currently is currently a member of the Tottenham academy. Carter-Vickers previously featured for the U.S. U-18 Men’s National Team in their run to the championship at the 21st International Tournament of Václav Ježek in the Czech Republic.

Though there is no official indication, it’s likely that MLS regulars Wil Trapp, Shane O’Neill, Luis Gil, and DeAndre Yedlin were not made available for the training camp by their clubs.

Check out the rest of the U-23 roster below:

GOALKEEPERS: Charlie Horton (Cardiff City; Cleveland, Ohio), Cody Cropper (Southampton; Maple Grove, Minn.)

DEFENDERS: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur; Westcliff on Sea, England), Christian Dean (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; East Palo Alto, Calif.), Matthew Miazga (New York Red Bulls; Clifton, N.J.), Eric Miller (Montreal Impact; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Alebrijes de Oaxaca; Riverside, Calif.), William Packwood (Birmingham City; Concord, Mass.), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS: Dennis Flores (Club León; Pasadena, Calif.), Marlon Hairston (Colorado Rapids; Jackson, Miss.), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham; Dallas, Texas), Benji Joya (Chicago Fire; San Jose, Calif.), Esteban Rodriguez (Dorados de Sinaloa; Bell Gardens, Calif.)

FORWARDS: Alonso Hernandez (Monterrey; El Paso, Texas), Jordan Morris (Stanford; Mercer Island, Wash.), Sean Okoli (Seattle Sounders FC; Federal Way, Wash.), Mario Rodriguez (Borussia Mönchengladbach; North Hollywood, Calif.), Rubio Rubin (Utrecht; Beaverton, Ore.), Ben Spencer (Indy Eleven; Albuquerque, N.M.)

What do you think of the U.S. U-23 roster? Which players stand out to you? Who do you expect to shine in next week’s friendly?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

      • “kid should have gone to college”

        Great solution. I’ve never heard of a college athlete with an attitude problem. College athletics produces nothing but perfect people.

        Sagado’s problems probably have more to do with his injuries.

  1. Surprised benji and spencer made it. Don’t get me wrong I like them both but benji hasn’t seen much pt in Chicago and since Spencer’s recovery he hasn’t gotten much pt. Where as Pineda has played pretty much every game all games since going on loan with Indy XI. Shocked he wasn’t called up but figured he wasn’t called bc he’s getting consistent pt. But not sure

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      • Perhaps luke means “too old” for Rio 2016. Which is the whole point of the U-23 side, really (not that I feel like going through the whole squad and confirming this is the rule of thumb used). But I would agree that playing any sort of soccer anywhere would probably be good for him, assuming he is alive.

      • DM,

        That depends on whether you think this Under 23 Camp is for Rio or also for the more immediate needs of the Senior team.

        One would think as you say that Juan could use any PT he can get at this point.

    • just cause he’s healthy doesn’t mean he’s back to the level he needs to be to make this camp. if he impresses i’m sure he’ll be back

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    • Makes me wonder if they made a mistake. Would have preferred to see Serna against Ecuador and Honduras but my guess is that Klinsmann doesn’t want any competition for Green and Gyau spots.

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    • Serna is a midfielder. Being able to play as a defender adds to his value.

      The Under 23 team is a good place to see if he can do it at a higher level.

      Reply
    • This is a complete guess, but they may have left off players who are important to their MLS teams, who are still in the playoff race. Yedlin, Gil, Trapp would be there if it was a full first team.

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      • You may be right but Vancouver is in a race just to qualify for the play-offs yet Jamaica called up Darren Mattocks for a Oct. 10 friendly, he’ll miss their match against Seattle

      • I don’t know which are FIFA-mandated dates and which aren’t, but could it be that this camp is optional (thus, club won’t release Trapp), but the Oct 10 friendly is mandated (thus, tough luck for Vancouver)?

      • The FIFA dates are for everyone not just the senior national team so everyone thats called in has to be released.

      • And I’m of the opposite opinion. That’s why Euro YNT play most of their tournaments and friendlies on FIFA dates. It applies to everyone.

        I took a look at the FIFA Regulations on the Status and
        Transfer of Players and it is deliberately vague, saying only that:

        Clubs are obliged to release their registered players to the representative teams of the country for which the player is eligible to play on the basis of his nationality if they are called up by the association concerned.

        No mention of the level of team, which is usually mentioned if there is a differentiation.

      • “Though there is no official indication, it’s likely that MLS regulars Wil Trapp, Shane O’Neill, Luis Gil, and DeAndre Yedlin were not made available for the training camp by their clubs.”

      • GoogleyEye, I don’t remember reading that line in the article before. Not 100% it wasn’t always there, but enough of us missed it that I would bet it was an edit to the original article since I’ve noticed other things that are now different about the article.

      • I really wish they would time stamp their edits here so we could more confidently point and laugh at people for their ignorance.

      • This is only a FIFA data for senior internationals. Hence, either you get a senior call-up, or you have to have the club’s permission. Ives touched on this in his Q&A (the one last week, I believe).

      • I would love to see his reference, because the only FIFA rules on the subject I can find are silent on youth vs. senior and simply say federations are allowed to call up players during allowed windows.

        If there were a difference, usually FIFA rules would say so.

  2. I really dont see why they keep calling in Ocegueda. Kid got burned in the U20 WC and I really don’t see anything special from him. Good CONCACAF player but other than that, nothing special.

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    • I’m glad we don’t give up on players after one poor youth tournament performance. Considering little is on the line for this squad, bringing him up isn’t the end of the world.

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      • Away with your rational thinking and logic. If you are questioning the sense of completely giving up on a teenager for making a couple mistakes, then you might as well question the entire fabric of the Interwebs which are founded on hyperbole, over generalizations and irrational snap judgements based on ludicrously small sample sizes.

      • It is based on every time he steps out on the pitch. He has never shown he belongs and the only reason he is there is because of lack of depth at his position. So it wasn’t one poor tournament or a couple of mistakes, watch him play and then you’ll see what I mean.

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