US U-20 Roster Expected...Announced...
Yank Abroad is reporting that US U-20 Head Coach Thomas Rongen is expected to release his roster for the upcoming CONCACAF World Youth Championship Qualifying Tournament in Panama today, 1-08-07.
YA had a nice interview with Rongen where he solidifies my feeling that Generation Adidas signing, former U-17 Residency midfielder Bryan Arguez, will be a top five selection in Friday's MLS draft. I know a lot of MLS teams are always looking for a creative midfield leader.
Interestingly enough, while I was typing this US Soccer did release the roster on their website. So I guess the flavor of this post can morph a little.
Some notes about the roster:
- Arguez did make the roster and will be celebrating his 18th birthday the day after the MLS draft. Happy Birthday Bryan!
- 50% of the team are college players. 45% of the team professionals and 5% other. However, as of the time of the qualification tournament kicks off, 65% of the team will be professional and 45% college since three of the roster spots are filled with Generation Adidas contract signers (Arguez, Igwe, Seitz & Wallace.)
- At one point Julian Valentin was rumored to be heading to MLS but that has died down. Once we have the official list of GA players we'll see if the above numbers change more.
- Michael Bradley is not on the list. According the the YA article linked above the team was trying to get him released from his Dutch club, SC Heerenveen. However he must not have been since he is not on the roster. But teammate, Robbie Rogers, was released. Bradley has worked his way into the first team at Heernenveen while Rogers is still playing with the reserves. So unfortunately, Bradley has to miss the tournament.
- Three UCLA players make the team. Guess they're doing something right with their young players.
- Freddy Adu is by far the most experienced player on this roster. They're going to depend on his leadership a lot. It will be a good learning experience for him, he's no longer the young guy looking up.
- Altidore's broken wrist/arm must be healing well. No matter how good he is, I don't know why Rongen would bring along a broken player to sit on the bench.
The tournament kicks off next week for the Americans. Their first match is against Haiti on Wednesday the 17th. They play Guatemala next on Friday and finish up with hosts Panama on the 21st. The top two teams from the group move onto the U-20 World Cup. Go USA!
YA had a nice interview with Rongen where he solidifies my feeling that Generation Adidas signing, former U-17 Residency midfielder Bryan Arguez, will be a top five selection in Friday's MLS draft. I know a lot of MLS teams are always looking for a creative midfield leader.
Interestingly enough, while I was typing this US Soccer did release the roster on their website. So I guess the flavor of this post can morph a little.
Some notes about the roster:
- Arguez did make the roster and will be celebrating his 18th birthday the day after the MLS draft. Happy Birthday Bryan!
- 50% of the team are college players. 45% of the team professionals and 5% other. However, as of the time of the qualification tournament kicks off, 65% of the team will be professional and 45% college since three of the roster spots are filled with Generation Adidas contract signers (Arguez, Igwe, Seitz & Wallace.)
- At one point Julian Valentin was rumored to be heading to MLS but that has died down. Once we have the official list of GA players we'll see if the above numbers change more.
- Michael Bradley is not on the list. According the the YA article linked above the team was trying to get him released from his Dutch club, SC Heerenveen. However he must not have been since he is not on the roster. But teammate, Robbie Rogers, was released. Bradley has worked his way into the first team at Heernenveen while Rogers is still playing with the reserves. So unfortunately, Bradley has to miss the tournament.
- Three UCLA players make the team. Guess they're doing something right with their young players.
- Freddy Adu is by far the most experienced player on this roster. They're going to depend on his leadership a lot. It will be a good learning experience for him, he's no longer the young guy looking up.
- Altidore's broken wrist/arm must be healing well. No matter how good he is, I don't know why Rongen would bring along a broken player to sit on the bench.
The tournament kicks off next week for the Americans. Their first match is against Haiti on Wednesday the 17th. They play Guatemala next on Friday and finish up with hosts Panama on the 21st. The top two teams from the group move onto the U-20 World Cup. Go USA!
posted by Bonji at
12:00 PM
2 Comments:
If I were looking for a creative midfielder, I'd be knocking on RSL's door. Surely they don't need Ballouchy around with Freddy running the show.
By
Anonymous, at 7:32 PM
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mehdi as part of a draft day trade.
By
Bonji, at 7:57 PM
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