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U.S. U-19, U-20 Men’s National Teams set for Invitational Tournament

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The U.S. Men’s U-19 and U-20 National Teams will be in action this weekend as both teams continue prepping for individual competitions.

U.S. Soccer will host the 2018 U-20 Men’s Invitational Tournament at IMG Academy from Sept. 7th-11th in Bradenton, Fla. Also joining the U.S. U-19 and U-20 sides, will be Jamaica and Venezuela as the four teams will face off in round-robin style.

Sept. 7th, 9th, and 11th will be the match days for the teams which will also see the U-19 and U-20 sides face one another. U-20 head coach Tab Ramos has chosen a 22-player roster while U-19 Dave Van Den Bergh has called in 19 players.

The U-19 battles Venezuela in their opener on Friday, while Jamaica takes on the U-20 team.

Toronto FC’s Ayo Akinola received his first call-up to the U-20 Men’s National Team while 10 players have been called into the U-19 pool for the first time. Also, headlining the pair of rosters is the Philadelphia Union’s Mark McKenzie, Sporting KC’s Jaylin Lindsey, and FC Dallas’ Chris Richards who is currently on-loan with Bayern Munich. Sebastian Soto, Andrew Carleton, Griffin Dorsey, and Ulysses Llanez are also some notable names on the rosters.

Here’s the pair of U.S. Men’s National Team rosters for the competition:

U.S. U-19 MNT Roster by Position:
Goalkeepers: Sam Fowler (Seattle Sounders FC), Johan Penaranda (University of Pittsburgh).

Defenders: Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy), Khai Brisco (Seattle Sounders FC), Jean-Julien Foe Nuphaus (University of California, Berkeley), Nathan Harriel (Chargers SC), Carlo Ritaccio (University of Akron), Akil Watts (Unattached)

Midfielders: Isaac Angking (New England Revolution), Taylor Booth (Unattached), Blaine Ferri (Unattached), Chris Goslin (Atlanta United FC), Declan McGlynn (Seattle University)

Forwards: George Acosta (Boca Juniors), Ulysses Llanez (LA Galaxy), Joshua Penn (Sockers FC), Jacobo Reyes (CF Monterrey), Bryan Reynolds (FC Dallas), Manuel Terrazas (Club Santos Laguna)

U.S. U-20 MNT Roster by Position:
Goakeepers: CJ Dos Santos (S.L. Benfica),  Brady Scott (FC Köln).

Defenders: Sergino Dest (AFC Ajax), Chris Gloster (Hannover 96), Jaylin Lindsey (Sporting KC), Lennard Maloney (Union Berlin), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union), Manny Perez (N.C. State University), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich), Sam Rogers (Seattle Sounds FC), Sam Vines (Charlotte Independence).

Midfielders: Frankie Amaya (UCLA), Christian Cappis (Unattached), Andrew Carleton (Atlanta United FC), Andres Jimenez (Envigado FC), Alex Mendez (LA Galaxy), Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas), Brandon Servania (FC Dallas), Juan Torres (K.S.C. Lokeren)

Forwards: Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC), Shaft Brewer Jr (LAFC), Griffin Dorsey (Indiana University), Sebastian Soto (Hannover 96).

Comments

  1. For anyone interested in the (unattached) kids:
    Taylor Booth = Bayern Munich once he gets his Italian passport
    Akil Watts = rumored to go to RCD Mallorca in the Spanish 3rd Division
    Blaine Ferri = Gruether Fuerth (2 BL – Julian Green’s team)
    Chris Cappis = on trial with Bayern Munich

    These rosters keep getting deeper, with fewer college/amateur players. That’s a positive sign overall. The U-18 team just won a tournament in europe with a roster where almost every player was on a professional contract. Our pipeline is definitely starting to improve. Hopefully all this activity leads to more players making the real jump to great professional players that is so crucial in the 19-23 ages.

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  2. Why is Gianluca Busio (16 y.o Sporting KC) The kid is already playing with grownups so I think he can hang with U-19 or U-20 year olds.

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  3. Poor U19s… That U20 team is loaded and has a couple of prospects who should be higher rated than Tim Weah, who is apparently considered a senior team player already.

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    • Still holding onto that belief that Carleton is currently better than Weah, I see. I give you credit for holding strong. Really wish Tata would bench Barco for Carleton, given his price he’s been a bust.

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      • I would welcome this debate any day of the week! Weah is overrated. I will be very surprised if he factors into PSG in any sort of meaningful way this season. Carleton has shown in his limited chances that he is an absolute top class talent. Weah, not so much, despite the hype and fluke goal early this season. If Carleton had been given the chances that Weah has with US senior team and PSG, people would be drooling right now. Carleton is the most creative player US soccer has ever produced and he has a lethal combination of being able to play the killer ball and good finishing ability. Weah has good pace, decent finishing ability, and ok technical ability. Carleton is easily the better and it’s not even close!

      • Then why can’t Carleton find time? I understand not being able to unseat Martinez and Almiron, but Barco and Villalba have not had good seasons. He hasn’t even been able to move Romario Williams from the sub position. He only has 20 more minutes than Vazquez.
        ——————————————————————————————————–
        Carleton 88 league minutes from 27 matches 0 goals and 1 assist, 2 cup matches 92 minutes (90 vs USL opp.) 1 goal.
        Weah 54 league minutes from 4 matches 1 goal, 1 cup match 90 minutes 1 goal against 2nd best club in France Ligue 1 last season.
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        I understand that they do not play the same position and that Weah benefitted from WC vacations of Mbappe, Neymar and Cavani, however, he beat out much more talented players than Romario Williams to get those 144 minutes.

      • ATL apparently think that he has not matured enough physically to play a lot this season. This should take absolutely nothing away from his quality or promise. He is a world class talent and shows it just about every time he’s on the field.

  4. Maloney is another dual national German, I don’t know his quality level but considering he was a German national youth player, why isn’t he being capped and/or one time switched for the senior team to commit him? Ditto Dest, who was born in the Netherlands, Dos Santos who has a Portuguese passport, Reyes, born in Mexico and playing there, and anyone else who we risk losing long term. We’re calling up kids at this phase anyway. Or are we just in the mood to risk more Jonathan Gonzalezes who we bring along up to U-19s and then they flee thereafter. Give them the one cap, kick the tires, and then a la Julien Green come back if/when they are really ready.

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    • This is one reason I worry about Sarachan being caretaker this long is it’s this weird mix of not responsible for the team long term and yet we may have players making career decisions while he squats the position. And it’s not in his short term best interest to take risks as interim coach but it might be in the long term best interest of the program.

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    • Capping every young player who is a dual national just to commit them to the USA is a poor practice. It’s not ethical and will backfire, and young players who have a choice between the USA and another country will hesitate to commit to the USA. Ultimately, the USA national team program will be weakened if we regularly call up undeserving players just to lock them in.

      Nobody knows whether the issue with Jonathan Gonzalez was not getting called up to the U20s or the USA’s failure to qualify. And we need about 5 years before we can say for sure that JG going to El Tri was a “loss”. So far, the evidence is very mixed.

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      • So we should be blase about locking players in because you think it will take years to sort out if the ones we won or lost were worth it? That sounds more like an accountability dodge or scientific posture than a categorical logical approach to the young player. From my perspective, you cap as many as possible and then figure out over time if they should play or start. The part we can control is the selection. We can’t control, except at the margins through coaching, whether they turn out performance wise. Not calling players because we can’t control how they turn out is absurd. I could understand some might not get called again, if they play poorly, but that’s a separate, competitive concern.

        And when my comment is take some of the kids who are nearly simultaneously showing up to U19/U20 tournament camps for the US, and senior cap them, I am not sure what the ethical failing is. They are already interested and showing up for a different age group.

    • Because as I explained to you earlier you can’t cap tie players in friendlies, you can make it harder for them because they will have to file a one time switch to go somewhere else. However, playing for the U20s does the same thing (although it might have to be in a FIFA Tournament anyone know on that?) I know Tim Tillman would have to file a one time switch to join the US U20s, and JGone had to file a switch to join Mexico after only being a US youth.

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      • You didn’t explain anything to me, by rule “a” internationals cap tie, not just tournaments, and there are debates about what constitutes an “a” international since the rules are vague.

      • Simply repeating the wrong thing over and over doesn’t make it true.
        ———————————————————————————————–
        To be cap-tied a player must play in a senior level competitive match. Friendlies (no matter the competition) is not considered a competitive match. Players who have played competitive matches for youth national teams or friendlies for senior teams may file a one-time switch to represent a new nation. At the time they file the paperwork they are automatically tied to the new nation whether they ever play or not.
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        Examples: Jan 31, 2016 Tony Tchani represents the US against Iceland, it is a friendly, therefore he is still eligible to represent another country. He files a one time switch to his birth Cameroon, and is now tied to Cameroon and can only ever play for Cameroon.

        2002: Jermaine Jones represents Germany earns three caps playing 98 minutes, he is not tied to Germany because they were all friendly matches. In 2010 he files his one time switch paper work and is now tied to US for the rest of his career and can no longer represent Germany.

        2017: Tim Weah represent the US U17 team at the U17 WC he has now represented the US in a youth tournament. He can still make a switch to Liberia his father’s birth country. In 2018 he plays in a friendly and is a capped senior player, but is still not tied because he has not played in a senior level competition.

      • IV you are caught in the “A level” part it’s not the A,B,C squad debate fans have or the quality of opponents, it has too do with if all players for a country are theoretically available. Some regions have tournaments for domestic based players only this is then not considered A level. Focus on the word competitive, a friendly as defined by FIFA is not a competitive match whether you are playing Brazil or Burundi. Please google “FIFA cap tied rules” and read any of the articles that explain this they will tell exactly what I’m saying to you.

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