By Mike Woitalla
For the first time in history, the USA will arrive at the U-20 World Cup as Concacaf champion, having beaten defending champ Mexico, 1-0, en route to the regionalfinal, in which it prevailed over Honduras in PKs after a scoreless tie.
But at the World Cup in South Korea, where the USA kick offs May 22 against Ecuador, Coach Tab Ramoswants a more lethal offense.
“We led the Concacaf tournament in shots on goal with 81 [in six games] and the second most was 61, yet we didn’t lead tournament in scoring,”Ramos said. “We have to get better in the World Cup because chances are we won’t get as many chances.”
Ramos announced his 21-man roster on Tuesday and it includes sixplayers who weren’t part of the 20-player qualifying roster.
One of the newcomers is no stranger to the U-20s, Gedion Zelalem having played for the USA at the 2015 U-20World Cup when Ramos’ team reached the quarterfinals. Zelalem was unavailable for qualifying because of his commitment to Dutch second division VVV-Venlo.
“Gedion in the center ofthe field will help us because he’s a great possession player,” says Ramos. “We definitely have to get him to make the game-winning type plays.”
Ramos also added17-year-old Josh Sargent, who led the U.S. U-17s with five goals during their successful qualifying campaign for the U-17 World Cup.
Josh Sargent
“He is very dangerous aroundthe box, holds the ball well and his runs off the ball are runs you would normally see made by a much older player,” says Ramos. “Josh can make an impact on this team.”
Alsonew to the team is forward Lagos Kunga out of Atlanta United’s academy, who was called up to the U-19s last February and went on the U-20s’ post-qualifying camp inEngland
“Lagos Kunga is a younger player who has a lot of energy, has speed, can take players on, is an honest worker,” Ramos said.
Midfielder DerrickJones, who has played eight games (five starts) for the Philadelphia Union this MLS season, missed qualifying because the Ghana native had not yet been cleared by FIFA. The 20-year-olddual-citizen moved to Philadelphia from Ghana at age 14. In 2016, he played 26 games for Philadephia’s USL affiliate Bethlehem Steel, scoring five goals and assisting twice.
“Iwatched Derrick Jones play in the USL last year, the whole season pretty much,” Ramos said. “And Derrick did really well. And I’m very impressed with what he’s been able to dowith the first team at the Union. Obviously they haven’t been in a great situation at the start, and that’s difficult for a young player, but I think he’s done a greatjob.”
Brooks Lennon, who scored five of the USA’s 11 goals in its six qualifers, has started in Real Salt Lake’s last eight games this season, going the full90 in each, and tallied scored the gamewinner in a 2-1 win over Colorado.
Brooks Lennon
“Lennon has a lot more experience than he had two months ago,” Ramos said. “And we expect a lot more from him. … And Sebastian Saucedo is also playing alot for Real Salt Lake.”
Saucedo, who scored twice in qualifying, has gotten five starts and played in eight games for Real Salt Lake.
Emmanuel Sabbi, who scoredthe 2-1 win over El Salvador, had gone to Spain’s Las Palmas last August but the transfer ultimately fell through.
“He was not really fit in qualifying,” says Ramos,“but now he’s been training a lot and I think we’ll get the best out of him in this tournament.”
The other players on the 21-player squad headed to South Korea whoweren’t part of qualifying are Tottenham-based central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, who started for the USA at the 2015 U-20 World Cup, and 17-year-old BradyScott, who will serve as backup keeper to Jonathan Klinsmann and J.T. Marcinkowski.
U.S. U-20 men’s national team
GOALKEEPERS (3):Jonathan Klinsmann (University of California; Newport Beach, Calif.), J.T. Marcinkowski (Georgetown; Alamo, Calif.), Brady Scott (De Anza Force; Petaluma, Calif.)
DEFENDERS(7): Danny Acosta (Real Salt Lake; Salt Lake City, Utah), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG; Westcliff-on-Sea, England), Marlon Fossey (Fulham/ENG; Surbiton, England), Justen Glad(Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Ariz.), Aaron Herrera (University of New Mexico; Las Cruces, N.M.), (Sporting Kansas City; Lee’s Summit, Mo.), Tommy Redding (Orlando City SC; Oviedo, Fla.)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls; Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Luca De La Torre (Fulham/ENG; San Diego, Calif.), Derrick Jones (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.),Eryk Williamson (University of Maryland; Alexandria, Va.), Gedion Zelalem (VVV-Venlo/NED; Bethesda, Md.)
FORWARDS (6): Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers; Bethesda, Md.), LagosKunga (Atlanta United FC Academy; Tucker, Ga.) Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake; Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Emmanuel Sabbi (Unattached; Columbus, Ohio), Josh Sargent (St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri;O’Fallen, Mo.), Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake; Park City, Utah).
• Ramos said he would have strongly considered Josh Perez(Fiorentina) and Schalke 04 players Nick Taitague and Weston McKennie, but their clubs were uncooperative.
• The four collegians on the team aregoalkeepers Klinsmann (Cal) and Marcinkowski (Georgetown), defender Aaron Herrera (New Mexico) and midfielder Eryk Williamson (Maryland).
• The fiveplayers who were on the qualifying squad who did not make the World Cup roster are: Jonathan Gonzalez, Jeremiah Gutjahr, Coy Craft, Jonathan Lewis and AustonTrusty.
• The USA was drawn into Group F and faces Ecuador (May 22), Senegal (May 25) and Saudi Arabia (May 28) in first-round play.
• All of the U.S.’s groupmatches will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.
USA’s U-20 World Cup teamnot quite as experienced as in 2015
Christian Pulisic is eligible but not available for the USA’s 2017 U-20 World Cup team. The Borussia Dortmund midfielderwill be busy with the German Cup final and USA World Cup qualifiers. That leaves Coach Tab Ramos’ squad with 10 players who have made their pro league debuts, compared to 12 in2015 U-20 World Cup and six for the 2013 tournament.
U.S. U-20s’ Pro Experience:
GOALKEEPERS (3)
GP/G PLAYER CURRENT TEAM
0/- Jonathan Klinsmann (Univ. of California)
0/- J.T. Marcinkowski (Georgetown Univ.)
0/-Brady Scott (De Anza Force)
DEFENDERS (7)
GP/G PLAYER CURRENT TEAM
4/0 Danny Acosta (Real SaltLake)
0/0 Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham/England)
0/0 Marlon Fossey (Fulham/England D2)
35/2 Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake)
0/0 Aaron Herrera (Univ. of New Mexico)
10/0 Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City)
27/0 Tommy Redding (Orlando City)
JustinGlad
MIDFIELDERS (5)
GP/G PLAYER CURRENT TEAM
8/0 Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls)
0/0 Luca De La Torre (Fulham/ENG D2)
8/0 Derrick Jones (Philadelphia Union)
0/0 Eryk Williamson (Univ. of Maryland)
8/1Gedion Zelalem (VVV Venlo/Netherlands D2)
FORWARDS (6)
GP/G PLAYER CURRENT TEAM
1/0 JeremyEbobisse (Portland Timbers)
0/0 Lagos Kunga (Atlanta United academy)
8/1 Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake)
0/0 EmmanuelSabbi (unattached)
0/0 Josh Sargent (St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri)
17/0 Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake)
GP=First-team pro league games.
Nine of the 10 players who’ve made their pro debuts ply their trade in MLS, including three who debuted this season: DannyAcosta, Derrick Jones and Brooks Lennon.
Ramos’ 2015 squad, which reached the quarterfinals, included 10 foreign-based players. The 2017 squad hasfour-foreign-based players, only one of whom has played in a first-team league game: Gedion Zelalem.
Going into the 2015 U-20 World Cup, 12 U.S. players made a combined 187first-team appearances compared to 10 players in 2017 with a total of 126.
Curious how Tab will play GZ. If our team is going to park in the attacking 3rd you want GZ to play that attacking mid slot. If the style is to whip in crosses or counterattacks GZ can do it but that’s not what he is built for. GZ can play as a d-mid to help teams retain possession, but he’s not assisting or scoring from that deep. If Tab wants to score goals he’ll need GZ closer to the penalty area where his vision and through-balls will create assists. This is difficult because “modern” soccer has moved away from the laconic AM e.g. Riquelme in search of speed and/or running/pressing. Arsenal struggle getting him minutes, because premier league D-Mids are tough-tackling runners, not artists. I think the consensus has been until GZ can carry a team, he just needs to retain possession deeper on the pitch. Can Tab embrace the creativity/artist? We have no track record of being able to create or support this type of player.
Sometimes you don’t know what you got till its gone.. this coach is making very amateur mistakes by making changes to a team that’s winning and pumping in so call better players. This is an indication of a coach trying to fix his own shortcomings by experimenting with better players aka the Manchester United Jose Mourinho solution. Let’s hope it works else I am permanently losing all interest in US youth soccer.
Can’t wait for you to lose interest and not post here if they don’t win it all. Not sure how trying to bring in better players is a weakness and choosing Jose Mourinho as a comparison is odd. You’re aware of how much Jose has won in his career right? Man U isn’t his first job.
I know you will be happy but I don’t care. What team has José coached that did not have a ton of superstars ? You wanna look at coaching look at Rafa from Newcastle.. José coaching styles has been recruiting and replacing players and that is lame.. anyway my point is you are removing pieces of a puzzle that was working and sometimes adding better players may not work..
Funny to read you two guys, QB & FPGN argue appleas and oranges, like ayso and a club team! Got a good laugh though!!!
J – If you want to pick on “cheerleaders,” why are you sparing your boy, QB, who thinks that we are runaway favorites in the U17 AND U20 World Cups?