U.S. under-20 national team coach Thomas Rongen called in 26 players for the teamÆs training camp Dec. 12-23 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., to prepare for the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, which will take place Jan. 17-21 in Panama City, Panama.
Of the 26 players named to camp, 14 are in college, eight are professional players in Major League Soccer and two are overaged players in U.S. SoccerÆs Under-17 Residency Program. Rongen will announce the final 20-player qualifying roster before the team returns to Bradenton on Dec. 30 for an eight-day camp. None of the European professionals in the player pool — most notably Michael Bradley (Heerenveen), Johann Smith (Bolton Wanders) and Preston Zimmerman (Hamburg) — will be available, if at all, until the U-20s leave for qualifying in January.
U.S. U-20 ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brian Perk (UCLA), Steve Sandbo (SMU), Chris Seitz (University of Maryland).
DEFENDERS (11): Tony Beltran (UCLA), Matt Besler (University of Notre Dame), Kyle Davies (Ballistic United), Amaechi Igwe (Santa Clara University), Quavas Kirk (L.A. Galaxy), Ofori Sarkodi (Indiana University), Nathan Sturgis (L.A. Galaxy), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University), Blake Wagner (FC Dallas), Anthony Wallace (University of South Florida), Tim Ward (Columbus Crew).
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (D.C. United), Bryan Arguez (West Kendall Optimists), Alejandro Bedoya (Fairleigh Dickinson University), Jeremy Hall (University of Maryland), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew), Jonathan Villanueva (University of Virginia).
FORWARD (5): Andre Akpan (Harvard University), Josmer Altidore (N.Y. Red Bulls), Mike Grella (Duke University), Rodrigo Hidalgo (University of South Florida), Sal Zizzo (UCLA).