U.S. Youth Training Camps – Players Named

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Some news on the United States Men’s Youth front with the U20 squad heading for a training camp in Puebla, Mexico, the site of next month’s Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, as the US U17’s named 31 players to its spring residency program in Bradenton, Florida.

Brandon Allen has had an outstanding college season and will be hoping he can do the same for the U20′s (ISI Photos/Brad Smith)

U20 coach Tab Ramos announced the 20 player group that he will bring to Puebla, Mexico for a training camp to be run from January 14 – 22. Ramos will hope to acclimatize his team to Puebla, and the team will play two closed door matches against Panama, on January 19 and January 21.

The Concacaf U20 Championship will run from February 18 – March 3, and the United States will be looking to be one of four teams from the region to advance to the World Cup, after the U.S. disappointingly fell at the quarterfinal stage to host Guatemala in 2011. With or without the United States, the U20 World Cup will be played in Turkey from June 21 – July 13.

Jose Villarreal, has once again been called up for the U.S. U20′s training camp. (ISI Photos/David Bernal)

Professionals Luis Gil, of Real Salt Lake and L.A. Galaxy Galaxy striker Jose Villarreal lead a squad sprinkled with pros, college players and players who will expect to to be selected in this Thursday’s MLS SuperDraft.

The United States are in a Group A for the Concacaf Championships, competing with Costa Rica and Haiti. Canada, Nicaragua and Cuba are Group B, Jamaica, Panama and Puerto Rico make up Group C with Mexico, El Salvador and Curacao, rounding out the competition in Group D. The top two teams in each group move on to the quarterfinals, where anything can happen in the knockout phase.

U17 at the 2011 Nike International Friendlies. (ISI Photos/John Dorton)

In news from the younger ranks, U17 coach Richie Williams has named his class for the spring semester;  the group that will attempt to qualify for the 2013 U17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, played from October 17 – November 8. Players in the Residency program spend their mornings training under Williams, before attending classes every afternoon.

24 teams will qualify for the FIFA World Cup, with Concacaf holding their qualifying tournament in Panama, from April 6-19. Four nations from Concacaf will make the trip to the U.A.E. The United States, hosts’ Panama, Mexico, Barbados, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Haití, Honduras, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, are the 12 teams battling for those four World Cup spots.

U.S. U-20 MNT Roster By Position:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Jon Kempin (Sporting Kansas City; Overland Park, Kan.), Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (7): Mikey Ambrose (Maryland; Frisco, Texas), Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Unattached; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), Javan Torre (UCLA; Santa Monica, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Alejandro Guido (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (North Carolina; Mission, Texas), Daniel Metzger (Maryland; Holmdel, N.J.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio)

FORWARDS (6): Brandon Allen (Georgetown; Old Bridge, N.J.), Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Daniel Garcia (North Carolina; Dallas, Texas), Darius Madison (Virginia; Philadelphia, Pa.), Jonathan Top (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas) Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)

U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team Roster by Position:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Jeff Caldwell (NC Fusion; Todd, N.C.), Paul Christensen (Seattle Sounders; Woodinville, Wash.), Evan Louro (New York Red Bulls; South River, N.J.), Carter Richardson (Crew Soccer Academy; Dublin, Ohio)

DEFENDERS (10): Conor Donovan (NC Alliance; Fuquay Varina, N.C.), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake AZ Academy; Tucson, Ariz.), Malcolm Jones (Chivas USA; Chino Hills, Calif.), Elijah Martin (Unattached; Fresno, Calif.), Shaquell Moore (Unattached; Powder Springs, Ga.), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City; Lee’s Summitt, Mo.), Tommy Redding (FC America Premier; Oviedo, Fla.), John Requejo Jr. (Real So Cal; Carpinteria, Calif.), Peter Schropp (Omaha FC; Omaha, Neb.), Tyler Turner (South Central Premier; West Haven, Conn.)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Mukwelle Akale (Minnesota Thunder; Minneapolis, Minn.), Steven Echevarria (New York Red Bulls; Slate Hill, N.Y.), Collin Fernandez (Chicago Fire Academy; Downers Grove, Ill.), Junior Flores (Unattached; Manassas Park, Va.), Angel Heredia (San Jose Earthquakes; San Jose, Calif.), Christopher Lema (New York Red Bulls; Ridgefield, N.J.), Rolando Muñoz (LA Galaxy; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Caleb Smith (Solar Chelsea SC; Arlington, Texas), Ben Swanson (Crew Soccer Academy; Grove City, Ohio)

FORWARDS (8): Corey Baird (San Diego Surf; Escondido, Calif.), Sebastian Elney (Boca United; Lake Worth, Fla.), Bradford Jamieson (Chivas USA; Los Angeles, Calif.), Nathan Kohl (Crew Soccer Academy; Hilliard, Ohio), Rubio Rubin (Unattached; Beaverton, Ore.), Ahinga Selemani (CSA Wolves; Ann Arbor, Mich.), Wesley Wade (New York Red Bulls; South Orange, N.J.), Alan Winn (Solar Chelsea FC; Garland, Texas)