When the USA begins play at the Concacaf Under-20 Championship in Jamaica, it will go up against a lot of familiar faces. As many as nine of the other 11 teams in the tournament will have players born
or bred in the United States or playing for MLS clubs or U.S. college teams.
In Group A ... GUATEMALA. The 30 players training with the Chapines in December included four based in the USA.
Pablo
Aguilar (University of Virginia),
Nicolas Samayoa (FGCU) and
Carlos Barrios (Santiago Canyon College) all play in
college, while
Andy Ruiz is with the FC Dallas academy team.
JAMAICA. The hosts included four U.S.-bred
players when they traveled to Venezuela in December for a pre-tournament training camp. The squad included goalkeeper
Nicholas Nelson (Georgia United), defender
Ryan Miller (Philadelphia Union Academy) and
Luca Levee (Global Premier Soccer) as well as forward
Khallil Stewart, who played for Concorde Fire before enrolling at George Washington. D.C. United's
Michael Seaton is expected to join Jamaica's U-20s
for qualifying.
PANAMA. Francisco Narbon attended Minnesota boarding school Shattuck St. Mary's, which
finished second in the Development Academy under-17/18 age group in 2013. He played for Panama in the 2011 Under-17 World Cup and is set to represent Panama for the second time in U-20 World Cup
qualifying. Narbon had a standout freshman season at James Madison in the fall.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO. Besides
four T&T imports attending U.S. colleges -- defender
Leland Archer (College of Charleston), midfielders
Duane
Muckette (USF) and
Brendon Creed (Temple) and forward
Ricardo John (Virginia Tech) --
Johan Welch is a goalkeeper for the Houston Dynamo's U-17/18 academy team that is first in the Development Academy's Central Conference.
In Group B ... CANADA. All three MLS Canadian clubs -- Montreal, Toronto FC and Vancouver -- and the NASL's FC Edmonton
had first-team players on the U-20 team that took part in training in Florida in mid-December. Also in camp were four players based at U.S. colleges:
Nolan
Wirth (Oregon State),
Quinton Duncan (Tulsa),
Christopher Nanco (Syracuse) and
Brody Huitema (Duke).
EL SALVADOR. El Salvador has recruited heavily in the Virginia-Maryland area for its U-20 team. Among the
candidates for La Selecta are
Carlos Canas (D.C. United academy and Longwood University) and
Romilio Hernandez
(Baltimore Bays and Louisville University)
and
Ronald Ventura (D.C. United academy). Hernandez played for the
U.S. U-18s before playing for El Salvador at the 2013 Under-20 World Cup and Ventura played for the U.S. U-15s in 2010.
HAITI. Five players on Haiti's
short list are based at U.S. clubs or high schools. They include
Zachary Herivaux, who spent time with the U.S. U-15s,
and
Alessandro Campoy, who played for the U.S. U-18s as recently as this fall. Herivaux, who was born in Japan, is considered one of the top prospects in the
New England Revolution's academy program and spent preseason camp with the MLS club's first team in February. He has verbally committed to NCAA Division I semifinalist Providence. Campoy plays for
Weston SC. Virginia-bound
Derick Etienne (New York Red Bulls) and
Kenny Monford
(New York SC) are high school seniors while
Jerry Saint Vil is a freshman at Palm Beach Atlantic University.
HONDURAS. Bryan Rochez, who recently signed with Orlando City for its first season in MLS, heads the 20-player squad named by Honduras for the
trip to Jamaica.
MEXICO. In 2013, Mexico's goalkeeper at the Concacaf Under-20 Championship was
Ricardo
Sanchez, then with FC Dallas. This year, another young FC Dallas keeper,
Jose Gonzalez, is on the 20-player squad Mexico will take to U-20 World Cup
qualifying.
You left our Michael Seaton of DC United who plays for Jamaica.
*out