Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIPhotos.com
Juan Agudelo, Omar Salgado, Perry Kitchen and Joe Gyau were among the players called in by U.S. Under-20 head coach Thomas Rongen for the team's training camp in January in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
The Under-20 team will be in camp from Jan. 2nd to Jan. 13th in Fort Lauderdale as Rongen looks to finalize his squad ahead of Under-20 World Cup qualifying.
Agudelo will be with the team until Jan. 6th, after which he will join the U.S. senior national team in Carson, California.
This U-20 camp will feature the debut of Bayern Munich midfielder Fabian Huerzeler, a German youth national team player who is considering making the change to play for the United States (though he has yet to formally apply for a national team affiliation switch).
Here is the full training camp roster:
U.S. Under-20 Training Camp Roster
GOALKEEPERS- Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town; Athens, Ga.), Zac MacMath (Maryland; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Brian Sylvestre (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Hollywood, Fla.)
DEFENDERS- Gale Agbossoumonde (GD Estoril Praia; Syracuse, N.Y.), Greg Garza (GD Estoril Praia; Grapevine, Texas), Moises Hernandez (FC Dallas; Dallas, Texas), Sacir Hot (Boston College; Fair Lawn, N.J.), Sebastian Ibeagha (Duke; Missouri City, Texas), Perry Kitchen (Akron; Indianapaolis, Ind.), Zarek Valentin (Akron; Lancaster, Pa.), Korey Veeder (Out of Contract; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Ethan White (D.C. United; Kensington, Md.)
MIDFIELDERS- Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), Fabian Huerzeler (Bayern Munich; Munich, Germany), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United; San Francisco, Calif.), Alex Molano (Dinamo Zagreb; Grapevine, Texas), Moises Orozco (Tigres; Oxnard, Calif.), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame; Plano, Texas), Kelyn Rowe (UCLA; Newport Beach, Calif.), Conor Shanosky (D.C. United; Sterling, Va.), Alex Zahavi (Maccabi Haifa; Los Angeles, Calif.)
FORWARDS- Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Conor Doyle (Derby County; McKinney, Texas), Omar Salgado (unattached; El Paso, Texas), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich; Irvine, Calif.)
What do you think of the squad? Who are you excited to be called in? Anybody missing that surprises you?
Share your thoughts below.
any body know what happened to Charles Renken?
So this is the definite A-team? Anyone noticeable missing?
What’s the point in Agudelo being in this camp?
Double ACL knee surgery I believe?
This appears to be every “Blue Chip” U-20 player we’ve got except for Maybe Juan (with the USMNT) and maybe Josh Gatt (Had a hand in all 5 goal in last match against Canada). This is a very Deep and Talented group of players.
Maybe because the U20 World Cup is next year?
MacInerney?
Very glad to see most of the kids in professional setups and not chasing birds on college campuses…
Renken is playing again at Hoffenheim. Not really sure at what level, but he is back to playing. Young guys like Renken and Gil are for next cycle.
Two names I expected to see were Ruelas and Gatt. I wonder if club commitments played a role here.
No Gatt?
No Ruelas, Gatt, or Mcinerney! the first two could have club commitments… and mcinerney sounds like a snub… this is THE most talented pool of u20s ive ever seen.
Ruelas still with Celtic and Gatt is with his team on pre-season training. I still think Gatt is behind some people but Adrian Ruelas is our starting CF for sure.
Or Bowen?! Hmm
Also Amobi Okugo is missing, he deserves the rest though, been a busy offseason for him.
Let me quote Ives here: WOW. This team is loaded. But no Jack Mac or Luis Gil? I CANNOT wait to see what Fabian Huerzeler does. The kid is a thoroughbred.
An update on Ruelas would be great.
Any more information about Fabian Huerzeler? Why’d he switch? Any good?
I am disappointed that Gil isn’t getting a look. I realize he is still young but had hoped him going pro would speed up his development. Guess not playing for most of the year hurt him.
or okugo
Parker Walsh?
Soony Saad?
Looks like 4(5) from MLS, (7)8 from NCAA. More played for MLS-associated youth teams, but how many more I don’t know. Pretty good mix.
Chasing birds — i see what you did there!
Absolutely. In 2014 we may have more than just a couple of top-flight outfield players.
Or there are three #10 players already on the team who are older…Lletget, Molano, Orozco.
it really is amazing to see how many of these kids are playing professionally, let alone overseas compared to the same age pool 10, 5, heck even 3 years ago. massive youth movement for the next crop of US internationals.
Can’t wait to see Fabian Huerzeler.
How many people who chime in on these boards about players have seen them for an extended period of time? I find it hard to believe that people have seen enough of a Luis Gil or a Josh Gatt to make any kind of recommendation that they should be on the roster.
–Juan Agudelo—-Omar Salgado–
—-Joe Gyau/Sebastian Lletget–
Alex Zahavi———Fabian Huerzeler
———–Moises Orozco?——-
who ever—————-who ever
—–Gale boss–Sebastian Ibeagha
Great team?
+1
I have seen more of Gil than Gatt, but Gatt’s current form has been fantastic…that has to count for something.
from what ive read by some german posters is he was being left behind with Germany’s U20′s
agudelo is keeping in the mix until Bob decides if he wants him with the Gold Cup squad. At the very least he’ll help the U20′s qualify.
Okugo deserves a rest. He’ll be with the U20 squad quals and the cup
Reulas is with Celtic. I would expect him to get an offer in Jan. He’s been receiving nothing but positive marks
McInerney is the victim to a very deep striker pool. Same goes for Saad. Perhaps same with Bowen. All have done well, but the pool is that deep (which is a good thing for us, tough on Rongen)
Gil is young enough to fill in next U20 pool. Same goes for Salgado, who might find himself on the outside looking in come Quals and WC for this cycle. ALTHOUGH he’s been absolutely stellar in the recent camps. He might make it through to be honest, and Rongen typically likes to bring up 1-2 players capable of playing the next cycle to have experienced players ready.
There are some players on this roster who are getting a final look, or perhaps a warmup before quals. But just b/c they are picked for quals does not mean they’ll make the WC roster
Rongen has been pretty high on Molano. id expect he and Zahavi both getting the start with Huerzeler coming in as a sub and starting a different match.
Wood did well for the U20s in the netherlands, he might find his way onto the starting XI, though Agudelo and Salgado have been pretty solid of late.
kind of surprised by Agudelo’s callup. He’s had a busy couple months with traveling, playing and training.
Are we sure Huerzeler has actually switched affiliation? When Rongen first announced he’d be at the camp, it was with an eye too getting him to make the witch. It was also made clear he wouldn’t need to make the switch just to be in camp…only if he plays.
Oops
“with an eye to getting him to make the switch.”
The USSOCCER writeup is more illuminating than my comment.
What jumps out at me is what the heck is in the water in Grapevine, Texas (although maybe there’s a clue in the name)? To have two players from that I’ve-never-heard-of-it-before town, though. On the city website, it cites a median income of around $80K, which I assume must be fairly high by Texas standards? Is it an upper-middle class bedroom community for DFW that puts a lot into its soccer programs? Are these two kids related, or is this some soccer hotbed I’m too ignorant to have heard of (or both!)?
when lletget has seen time w/ the hammers, what position is he playing? center mid/attacking mid?
Gatt has club commitments! His club starts Preseason on Jan 7th so it is quite possible they did not allow him to go.
My bad I replied to the wrong quote, stupid computer went down too far.
Id like to preface this comment with saying, this is not a smack on Bob Bradley. Ok, but does anyone else feel that our development of talent on the field is outpacing our development of talent at coach/GM at the national level?? I don’t know that much about the levels below the senior squad, but it just seems that we are heavily investing in getting better talent in the lineup, but not really doing much with player mgmt. I guess we can always hire abroad if need be??
Not a knock on BB either (although I’m not really a fan of Coach Sweats), but I think we need to hire abroad ASAP. A different perspective on things may help, who knows.
There are some strong youth programs in the DFW area and this is not a recent thing.
He has switched. He actually stated his intention to switch a couple of months ago while most people where still thinking it was a pipe dream.
(SBI-According to U.S. Soccer he has yet to formally switch.)
I hear what you are saying but sometimes hiring a foreigner does not work out. Just take the England and Capello example. I thought Klinsmann would be a good hire as long as he brought in someone who was very good at tactics, which I believe he would.
solid group. I wonder if any of the games will be shown on tv?
I’d have to agree. Bob plays one style, a typical “American” style of counter attacking with last ditch tackles to save the game.
However, most of these kids in this pool and emerging on the men’s team come from places where they’re used to playing a more dynamic way. Passing, movement, building up attacks over a length of time.
You do get the sense that Bob isn’t ready for that and you don’t see any real American choices who can handle the European/new age college playing style. I say “new age” in that you see some colleges now playing a style closer to the European way of keeping possession.
There again, we haven’t had the talent to concern ourselves with that before. Someone like Torres or Holden (playing in the middle) could use a shift in playing style.
Looks like there are 4 USDA teams in the Dallas area. Another 3 in Houston. 1 in San Antonio. Jeez.
Attacking Mid. He’s a typical #10, great vision and skill on the ball. I actually saw him play in a reserve match not too long ago for the hammers, fantastic young player. May just be the #10 we’ve never had.
ding ding ding!
Do you have anyone in mind?? it’s easy to say to replace someone but if you don’t have a realistic backup it’s meaning less
really? bob likes to play a style featuring last ditch tackles? Is that serious?
Guus Hiddink
Well, I liked the idea of Klinsmann, but obviously that didn’t fly. And, before Hiddink was snatched up, I would have suggested him. Same goes for Bielsa. Let me marinate on that one in terms of available international caliber coaches and get back to you.
You could ask the same thin about the Maryland suburbs of DC. Kensington (Ethan White) flows right into Silver Spring (Gyau) — neither town/city has a real border…so you can’t say where one ends and the other begins.
No chance that Agudelo is in the Gold Cup squad. NO CHANCE. One goal in one B appearance that he didn’t create himself does not make him the next best thing. Settle down.
Foreign coaches are RARELY the answer to these kinds of things.
Most overrated coach in the world is JK. Notice how no one is trying to hire him as a coach ANYWHERE?
I believe that Agudelo, if Bradley is utilizing him, should just dedicate himself to the MNT. There is enough talent (Mc, Bowen, Saad, etc) that are not in this camp that could had taken his place and be seeing. Other than that Walsh and Kitchen there is an argument those two should had gone. Will there be any friendlies? Above all its time FOR RONGEN to start molding this team. Honestly Mexico at this moment in time is far stronger than us and its not talent wise but they are playing together and have a core group of players.
Molano is the son of a local dfw soccer coach, Willy Molano. Grapevine is a upper middle class suburb with access to the excellent coaching and highly competitive north Texas club programs, hence guys from plano, grapevine, Dallas, etc are all part of youth national teams at all levels.
Here’s a wild idea, just throwing it out there. What about Wilmer Cabrera? He knows athe national team set up and he plays an attractive attacking style of play everyone loves to watch. Plus he’s had relative success.
There is this search engine called Google. Type “Fabian Huerzeler” in there and you will find all kinds of stuff about him.
There’s a chance. Right now who are our projected strikers for the Gold Cup?:
1. Jozy Altidore
2. Edson Buddle
then who? I’m sure Bob will bring at least 1, probably 2 more strikers.
Herculez Gomez didn’t exactly light it up for Pachuca. Charlie Davies still isn’t ready. Brian Ching’s time with the USMNT seems to be over. Conor Casey hasn’t played for the USMNT since the El Salvador friendly in February 2010. Eddie Johnson is only seeing limited minutes with Fulham, and he is still the same player he’s always been. Robbie Findley…well he’s Robbie Findley. He can run real fast and probably won’t play for whatever EPL/Championship side is stupid enough to sign him.
On what plane of reality are Mexico more “together” than us?
Robert, I’m up for that. I certainly like the style of play he tries to implement.
@Laughable, you may be right, but what’s the harm in trying at least for a short window. We already play very unattractive soccer (in my opinion), so it may be worth a look.
Though Hurzeler has yet to formally switch, this is hardly a “look at me German FA, call me up or I’m playing for the US.” Once you go to another team’s camp, you’re as much as dead to the German FA, especially with the amount of talent they possess in the youth ranks. He hasn’t been called up for the U18s, and this surely cements the ending to his time with Germany. He’ll play for the US.
On results at this level. They beat us once and we tied them in the second game. They have done really well in South America in winning tournaments down there. Just last week while we destroyed a weak Canadian team they beat Chile, Peru (which beat us back in the tournament we had down there which was pretty pathetic) and the went to the final and lost to the Argies (whom at this level are one of the best in the world).
Now we just need Shawn Parker to have a similar falling out with the German FA….
“I believe that Agudelo, if Bradley is utilizing him, should just dedicate himself to the MNT. ”
what does that mean? So he should not play for Red Bull?
I have a feeling that Donovan will be moved to striker. LAG has already indicated that Donovan will play striker for LA. The senior team is deep at midfield also.
I think Agudelo should be left with the U20s. I believe we are contenders to win the U20 WC
“I’d have to agree. Bob plays one style, a typical “American” style of counter attacking with last ditch tackles to save the game”
Of course Josh D is serious. It’s in all the soccer manuals under “L” for last ditch. This camp is all about training these kids how to make that last ditch tackle.
7 players from the Lone Star State?????? Maybe the Great State of Texas really is a futbol state after all. Congratulations to all those called in.
DC well represented. Very anxious to draft Salgado.
i was wondering the same thing. we’ve got unattached players and college kids getting call ups over a current professional player? doesn’t make much sense to me
Notice also no Gatt or Gyau. Having a hard time believing this is the final pool, just some guys he wants to get another chance to evaluate. I’ll tell you one thing, if any of these three are absent from the final roster, I’ll be perplexed.
What is more important? Winning a U20 WC or having a solid senior team? I’m certainly not sold on Agudelo being a capable goal scorer for the senior team especially considering the sample size, but when is the last time a forward has scored for the USMNT? Lets see how Agudelo does(and everyone else, too) in the upcoming friendlies before we start talking about the Gold Cup too seriously.
Also, I’d much rather move Dempsey up top than Landon assuming we play a 4-4-2. Maybe that will free up a spot for Holden, although I’d like to see him play in the middle.
Gatt’s 2nd Division Austrian team has a real shot at promotion, and their winter break only goes to Jan. 7th or 8th or so. And Gatt has been starring for them.
Okugo and MacInierney both had pretty packed and busy first professional years in many aspects. Philly Union probably pushed to give them a mental break as much as a physical one. I’d say Okugo is probably a lock for the U20 WC roster; MacInierney not so much. There’s a lot of competition at forward.
I have no news whatsoever on Ruelas, and I think Bowen might not be eligible anymore. Even if he’s under 20 right now, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t turn 20 during qualifying or something. Besides, I think Bowen turned 20 during the MLS season…
Update: Soccer America is reporting Josh Gatt was not released by Altach, his club team in Austria’s 2nd Div.
Molano was good at the Milk Cup, from the two games I watched.
Yeah, I looked into that the other day–it really is impressive that the Dallas area has such a density of high-end youth programs. Now if only it wasn’t so goddamn hot in summer.
Gyau? You must not have read the list…
I am so excited for the U-20 World Cup…this looks like the most talented group I’ve seen. I would compare then to the hype around ’07, but many of them are struggling professionally…
Go Conor Doyle! Show them some East Midlands finishing.
Lol.
Bob is no tactical genius, but seriously though, the team has shown the ability to play attractive ball against weaker opposition. Could it be that its just hard to play like Barca against tough opponents and especially when you don’t have Barca talent?
Of course not. A foreign coach would come in and teach us dumb ‘mericans how to play soccer the right way. Just like the Big Green.
What makes the hype this time around different (honest question, no snark intended)?
No absolutely not it means for those of us following hte U-20 team that his spot in the U-20 should be used by another prospect. If he is goign to start being part of the MNT pool then he should also be just thinking of that national team.
There is no reason for Juan to cut himself off like that until he needs to (though it’s not really his choice).
The kid is just starting out. The managers will make that decision when it needs to be made. I’d rather have him spend a little too much time in the Under-20′s rather becoming a regular a little too early with the senior team. One game does not a career make.
The US, and most teams actually, can’t keep up with Spain or Barca if you “let them play”.
Tactics are about more than just saying “we’re playing 4-5-1 today”. Tactics include having Charlie Davies stay up and wide so that Sergio Ramos has to watch him and can’t attack as much. Little things like that.
I don’t know if Josh D watched the Confederations Cup game where we beat Spain with our “last ditch tackle counter attacking style” but I found it very entertaining to watch.
what about andrew wenger from duke? I’m shocked that he doesn’t get more consideration for the national team.
Who is missing from this camp??? Kofi Sarkodie????