The U.S. Under-20 men’s national team will take the field for its final preparation window ahead of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup this summer.
Gabriel Slonina, Paxten Aaronson, and Kevin Paredes headlined Mikey Varas’ 19-player roster for upcoming friendlies against France’s U-21 side, England’s U-20 team, and Serbia’s U-21 squad. The Americans will face the French on March 22 before taking on England on March 25 and Serbia on March 28 respectively.
All three friendlies will take place in Marbella, Spain.
Slonina joins the squad after recently appearing for Chelsea’s U-21 squad in England’s PL 2 Division. The Chicago Fire homegrown goalkeeper has registered three clean sheets in four appearances for Chelsea’s U-21 squad.
Paxten Aaronson and Quinn Sullivan headline the attacking options for Varas’ squad after both excelled at the Concacaf U-20 Championship last year. Aaronson won the tournament’s Golden Ball award as the best player, and the Golden Boot after contributing seven goals. Sullivan added six goals in the tournament.
Kevin Paredes, Darren Yapi, and Diego Luna are also creative attacking options that will be fighting to make the final roster. Louisville City’s Joshua Wynder is a rising talent in the USL, after previously been linked with a reported move to Benfica. Jonathan Gomez has previously featured with the USMNT in 2022.
Following the training camp, Varas will head to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia for the FIFA U-20 World Cup draw.
Here is the full USMNT U-20 roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Antonio Carrera (FC Dallas), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea/ENG)
DEFENDERS: Brandan Craig (Philadelphia Union), Mauricio Cuevas (Club Brugg), Marcus Ferkranus (Los Angeles Galaxy), Jonathan Gomez (Real Sociedad), Michael Halliday (Orlando City SC), Thomas Williams (Orlando City SC), Joshua Wynder (Louisville City FC)
MIDFIELDERS: Alejandro Alvarado Jr. (Vizela/POR), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union), Rokas Pukstas (Hajduk Split/CRO), Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders FC), Owen Wolff (Austin FC)
FORWARDS: Paxten Aaronson (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg/GER), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union), Darren Yapi (Colorado Rapids)
What do you think of the roster? Who are you happy to see included? Who are you disappointed to see missing?