By FRANCO PANIZO

Tab Ramos still has a little over a month to mull over which players he will take to this summer’s World Cup, but the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team coach already has a “pretty good idea” as to who his 21 New Zealand-bound players will be.

The U.S. finished its penultimate camp before the World Cup this past weekend, one that allowed Ramos to introduce a handful of new faces to the program. Ramos is continuing to assess talent before officially having to round out his roster in May, but already has a pretty clear picture as to who he will take to the tournament that the Americans are expected to do well in.

That is not to say that all 21 spots have been decided on, but Ramos has narrowed things down a good bit and plans to use the upcoming camp in Austria to give one last look to players who are on the fringes.

“This camp we wanted to bring new players in. For the next one we have to revisit players who have been injured and have been out for a while,” Ramos told SBI. “Guys like Zach Pfeffer, who’s now doing well in Philadelphia; guys like Jordan Allen, who’s now doing well at (Real Salt Lake); possibly guys like Cristian Roldan, who is now doing well at Seattle.

“We’re looking at the possibility of bringing some guys in who haven’t been in in a while for various reasons, but guys who we’ve had on our depth chart all along. That may be more the case going into the next camp.”

Ramos may want to see familiar faces again in the group, but that does not mean he wasn’t impressed with the new players he saw in the recently-concluded March camp. In fact, Ramos said he thought they all did well and that they’re in contention to make the World Cup squad.

One newcomer that appears to stand a really good chance of making it to New Zealand is versatile FC Groningen fullback Desevio Payne, who was used all across the back line in the Americans’ two exhibition games in March. It was a surprise to some to see that Payne was used at centerback in the the 2-1 loss to England’s Under-21s this past Sunday, but Ramos wanted to see how well Payne could play there.

“Sometimes when you select a World Cup roster you have to consider players who can play multiple positions,” said Ramos. “I wasn’t going to have much time with Desevio because the next camp is not a FIFA date, so we’re not going to get him. I wanted to see him as much as I could at different positions.

“Against Tottenham (Under-21s) we played him at right back and played him at left back, and against England, we played him at centerback. I was able to see him at all three positions, and he looked very comfortable in all three, so I’m very happy with the camp he had.”

Maki Tall – a forward who plays for French third division side Red Stars via a loan from Lille – was also in his first U.S. camp last month. Like Payne, Tall was used at multiple positions in the games against England and Tottenham, serving as both a right winger and second forward.

You see, Ramos is putting a premium on versatility during these late stages of World Cup preparation. He knows the significance of having players who can provide cover at multiple areas in a tournament that can test depth through injuries and suspensions, especially since it is unlikely that he will have his ideal starters together until the U.S.’s Group A opener against Myanmar on May 30.

“It’s very important because I don’t have much time now,” said Ramos. “I know that going into the first World Cup game, it’s going to be very difficult to even having seen our full lineup together in any games beforehand, just because you don’t get that much time with players, so you want to make sure that you don’t miss (on any roster selections) and that they’re going to be able to contribute in some way to the team.”

With time ticking away and the date drawing closer, Ramos will soon have tough decisions to make with regards to who he will include and leave off of the World Cup roster. Hopeful players will have one last chance to state their case in that camp later this month, but they will have to make quite the impression as Ramos is already pretty close to determining his 21-man squad.

“I’m comfortable with the players I’ve seen, and I’ve said it all along, the difficult part for this group is that it is so competitive,” said Ramos. “There’s going to be guys that don’t get picked for the World Cup that probably deserve to go, but because of the numbers, some of the secondary players that will be selected will be players that can play multiple positions, so some will be left out that deserve to go, and that’s the hardest part.”