USA in home stretch toward U-20 World Cup qualifying tourney

• by Mike Woitalla  @MikeWoitalla, Jan 31, 2017

At the U-20 Concacaf Championship in Costa Rica Feb. 17-March 5, Tab Ramos aims to become the first coach to lead the USA to three straight U-20 World Cups. He'll name his 20-player roster for the qualifying tournament following a Jan. 31-Feb. 10 training camp in Orlando, Florida, to which he has invited 24 players.

Ramos added four players who weren’t part of his 24-player January in Carson, California: defender John Nelson, midfielder Jeremiah Gutjahr and forwards Victor Mansaray and Emmanuel Sabbi. Not returning from the January camp are defenders Marcello Borges, Marlon Fossey and Miles Robinson, and U-17 forward Josh Sargent.

“Our objective for this camp is to continue our preparation for the U-20 World Cup qualifiers,” Ramos said. “After having a fitness camp followed by a camp with a combination of fitness and local games, now we are looking to get into game rhythm and select the final roster.”

The 24-player team includes 13 players in MLS, two with pro teams in Mexico, one England-based and one Spain-based, five in college, and two still in high school.

Ramos’ roster for qualifying will be selected from the entire U-20 player pool.

European-based U-20 players whose availability for qualifying is in doubt, besides Borussia Dortmund's Christian Pulisic, include defender Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham), midfielders Mukwelle Akale (Villarreal), Luca De La Torre (Fulham), McKinze Gaines (Wolfsburg), Joshua Perez (Fiorentina) and Gedion Zelalem (VVV) and forward Haji Wright (Schalke 04). All have made their first-team debuts in league, cup or friendly play.

The age cut-off for the 2017 U-20 World Cup (May 20- June 11 in South Korea) is Jan. 1, 1997. The youngest players headed to the Orlando camp are 1999-born midfielder Tyler Adams and goalkeeper Brady Scott.

U.S. U-20 men’s national team
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jonathan Klinsmann (Univ. of California; Newport Beach, Calif.), JT Marcinkowski (Georgetown Univ.; Alamo, Calif.), Brady Scott (De Anza Force; Petaluma, Calif.).
DEFENDERS (7): Hugo Arellano (LA Galaxy; Norwalk, Calif.), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Ariz.), Aaron Herrera (Univ. of New Mexico; Casa Grande, Ariz.), John Nelson (Internationals SC; Medina, Ohio), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City; Lee's Summit, Mo.), Tommy Redding (Orlando City; Oviedo, Fla.), Auston Trusty (Philadelphia Union; Media, Pa.).
MIDFIELDERS (8): Danny Acosta (Real Salt Lake; Salt Lake City, Utah), Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls; Wappingers Falls, N.Y), Coy Craft (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Jonathan Gonzalez (Monterrey/MEX; Santa Rosa, Calif.), Jeremiah Gutjahr (Indiana Univ.; Bloomington, Ind.), Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake; Park City, Utah), Jonathan Suarez (Queretaro/MEX; Orange County, Calif.), Eryk Williamson (Univ. of Maryland; Alexandria, Va.).
FORWARDS (6): Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers; Bethesda, Md.), Brooks Lennon (Liverpool/ENG; Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Jonathan Lewis (New York City; Plantation, Fla.), Victor Mansaray (Seattle Sounders; Des Moines, Wash.), Emmanuel Sabbi (Las Palmas/SPAIN; Libertyville, Ill.), Brandon Vazquez (Atlanta United; Chula Vista, Calif.).

U.S. U-19 women hold first 2017 camp in Florida

Coach Jitka Klimkova  called in 30 players, including eight who were members of the USA’s 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup team, for the first U.S. U-19 women’s national team training camp of 2017, in Sunrise, Florida, Jan. 28-Feb. 4.

The roster is comprised of 16 players born in 1998 and 14 born in 1999. All are eligible for the team that aims to qualify for the 2018 U-20 Women’s World Cup, which has a Jan. 1, 1998 age cut-off. Nine of the players are collegians. The team will play University of Central Florida Feb. 3.

U.S. U-19 women’s national team
GOALKEEPERS (4): Aubrei Corder (Nebraska-Lincoln; Barboursville, W.V.), Amanda Dennis (Penn State; Palmetto, Fla.), *Laurel Ivory (West Florida Flames; Surfside, Fla.), Amanda McGlynn (Virginia Tech; Jacksonville, Fla.).
DEFENDERS (11): Kerry Abello (Eclipse Select; Batavia, Ill.), Sydney Dawson (Internationals SC; Akron, Ohio), Samantha Hiatt (Crossfire S.C.; Newcastle, Wash.), Julie Mackin (Clemson; Castle Rock, Colo.), Tara McKeown (San Diego Surf; Newbury Park, Calif.), Zoe Morse (Michigan Hawks; East Lansing, Mich.), Karlie Paschall (Tennessee Soccer Club; Brentwood, Tenn.), *Kiara Pickett (Eagles; Santa Barbara, Calif.), *Isabel Rodriguez (Michigan Hawks; Canton, Mich.), *Karina Rodriguez (So Cal Blues; Torrance, Calif.), *Emily Smith (De Anza Force; Los Gatos, Calif.).
MIDFIELDERS (6): Haley Berg (Solar; Celina, Texas), Samantha Coffey (Match Fit Academy; Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.), Jordan Harr (Texas Tech; Sachse, Texas), Arlie Jones (San Diego Surf; Las Vegas, Nev.), * Frankie Tagliaferri (PDA U18 Arsenal; Colts Neck, N.J.), Viviana Villacorta (Beach F.C.; Lawndale, Calif.), Natalie Winters (Iowa; Plymouth, Mich.), *Sydney Zandi (Penn Fusion; West Chester, Penn.).
FORWARDS (7): Amirah Ali (PDA; Voorhees, N.J.), Belle Briede (Tophat SC; Alpharetta, Ga.), Cecilia Gee (Stanford University; Orinda, Calif.), Mireya Grey (Crossfire; Seattle, Wash.), Abigail Kim (California; Vashon, Wash.), *Civana Kuhlmann (Colorado Rush; Littleton, Colo.), Kelsey Turnbow (Santa Clara; Liberty Lake, Wash.).
* Members of the 2016 U.S. U-17 World Cup team.

Twenty-eight in U.S. U-18 boys first 2017 camp

Coach Omid Namazi  had a 28-player roster in for the first U.S. U-18 boys national team camp of 2017. The Jan. 23-30 camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., marked the beginning of the second year of the group's U-18 cycle, which consists of players born Jan. 1, 1999 or later.

“The purpose of this camp is to identify new talent and expand our pool of players,” Namazi said. “For this camp, we have invited back some of the core players that we’ve identified through the last year. More than half of the players are either newer players we are inviting back to see how they’ve developed since our player identification camp last January, or brand new players who have never been invited to a previous youth national team camp.”

The U-18s will convene again in March to prepare for the Slovakia Cup in April in Trnava, Slovakia.

U.S. U-18 men's national team
GOALKEEPERS (3): Eric Lopez (LA Galaxy II; Los Angeles, Calif.), Trey Muse (Seattle Sounders Academy; Tukwila, Wash.), Alec Smir (NC Fusion; Greensboro, N.C.).
DEFENDERS (10): Jose Alfaro (Chicago Fire  Academy: West Chicago, Ill.), Jonathon Esparza (Tijuana/MEX; Chula Vista, Calif.), Daniel Jones (New England Revolution Academy; West Hartford, Conn.), Jack Maher (Scott Gallagher; Caseyville, Ill.), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union  Academy; Bear, Del.), Jake Morris (Seattle Sounders  Academy; Kirkland, Wash.), Stirling Russell (Seattle Sounders; Bellevue, Wash.), Aedan Stanley (St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC; Columbia, Ill.), Angel Uribe (Tijuana/MEX; San Diego, Calif), Aristotle Zarris (LA Galaxy  Academy; Casa Grande, Ariz.).
MIDFIELDERS (7): Abdi Faris (IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.), Christian Cappis (Texans SC Houston; Katy, Texas), Jose Carranza (D.C. United  Academy; Manassas, Va.), Andrew Paoli (San Jose Earthquakes  Academy; San Jose, Calif.), Brian Perez (Tijuana/MEX; San Diego, Calif.), Brandon Servania (FC Dallas  Academy; Brimingham, Ala.), Noah Verhoeven (Vancouver Whitecaps  Academy; Surrey, B.C).
FORWARDS (8): Shaft Brewer (FC Dallas  Academy; Sacramento, Calif.), Griffen Dorsey (Colorado Rush; Evergreen, Colo.), Ernesto Espinoza (Tijuana/MEX; Chula Vista, Calif.), Will Inalien (Portland Timbers  Academy; Taramac, Fla.), Justin McMaster (Philadelphia Union  Academy; King of Prussia, Pa.), Alfred Perez (Weston FC; Miami, Fla.), Emanuel Perez (CASL; Garner, N.C.), Justin Rennicks (New England Revolution Academy; Hamilton, Mass.).