The U.S. Under-20 men’s national team has been forced into one roster change ahead of the U-20 World Cup.
Gavin Beavers has replaced Diego Kochen on Marko Mitrovic’s roster, U.S. Soccer announced Saturday. Kochen has been recalled by his parent club Barcelona following the injury to goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
The Miami-born Kochen was slated to be Mitrovic’s No. 1 goalkeeper for the competition, but is now set to Barcelona’s No. 2 behind veteran Wojciech Szczęsny. Garcia was Szczęsny’s backup but his injury forced Barcelona to make a decision.
Kochen joined Barcelona in 2019 and has been alternating between the first and second teams over the past two seasons. He has yet to make a competitive appearance for the first team, but did sign a contract extension earlier this year.
Beavers joins Duran Ferree and Adam Beaudry in the USMNT U-20 goalkeeping corps for the start of the U-20 World Cup in Chile. A former Real Salt Lake academy player, Beavers has previously represented multiple U.S. youth national teams.
He is currently at Danish club Brondby and made his competitive debut for the club earlier this year.
The USMNT U-20’s will take on New Caledonia in their group stage opener on Monday.
Bummer, but good for Kochen. This age group is deep in talented GK’s. Eyestone is in this age group as well. Will be interesting to see who becomes the #1 for our Olympic team in 2028. And who breaks into the USMNT in the 2030 cycle. Dont forget Chris Brady and Slonina are still young too.
The disappointing parts are one he isn’t going to play for Barcelona he’s just going to be the backup and two he’s the best keeper we have with his feet. It would have been a chance to see proof of concept with skilled field players and a GK with passing and dribbling working together.