Coming off two draws against Mexico and Colombia in the Torneo de las Americas, the United States U20 Men’s National Team is getting together in Sunrise, Florida, for a one-week, 24-man training camp.

With the NCAA season just ending, eleven college players have been called up along with several Major League Soccer and European-based players.

The camp looks very different from the team that went to play in Kennesaw, Georgia, but Head Coach Thomas Rongen said it’s just another step to assemble the best team to compete in CONCACAF.

“It really doesn’t change much from a dynamic point of view, as we all feel they are all good players, and they’ve proved in three days that they belong here,” he said. “If you go down to details, sure the European players play all year-round and in a better environment, without a doubt. But performance-wise, you couldn’t tell between the college and professional players.“

Among the 11 collegiate players, more than half are new to training camp. Eric Schoenle, Ben Sweat, Steven Evans, and Kelyn Rowe join College Cup participants Dylan Mares and Soony Saad as newcomers to training camp.

Also called up by Rongen is former SuperElite player Joshua Gatt. His recent form with Austrian club SC Rheindorf Altach has helped him earn his first call up to the U.S. camp.

“We are looking at players that can play at this level, that can take information and do something with it. We have a short amount of time to get everyone on the same page,” Rongen said. “It’s more than talent that comes into play at these camps as we are trying to find the best chemistry and form come April.”

It’s a problem that ends up being a luxury for Rongen. At this age level, players literally play all over the world. Therefore bringing in everyone simultaneously is nearly impossible. When he has college players, like in this instance, he can’t bring all the European-based players, and when those players are allowed to attend, then MLS players are under obligation.

It’s the nature of the beast that has allowed Rongen to be able to see an array of different players and has in turn, created depth in many positions.

“I feel that we are deep in all positions but we are still looking at improvements,” he said. “We are not necessarily looking at any particular position but instead to look at the best players we find in their positions. Come qualifying we can’t go deep in every position, but have versatility in some players.”

With the lack of success in the recent tournament, Rongen will be using this group to solidify certain positions that need attention. One theme that has rendered the entire federation helpless is the lack of a goal scorer, and the U20 squad is no different.

“We are a mirror of our senior national team and MLS,” Rongen said. “We still like to get better centrally in the back and I think we are deep in the midfield. Everybody is looking for that guy up front to consistently find the back of the net.”

That’s a big reason why Soony Saad and Dylan Mares were called up. Mares led Louisville to the national championship title with eight goals and Saad was one goal short of leading the nation at 19 – helping Michigan to its first College Cup appearance. 

The U.S. will be facing Canada in two friendlies, and even though the U.S. U20 has had trouble collecting wins, it doesn’t bother Rongen. For him this stage of preparation is not about winning games. 

“Results aren’t important. In the grand scale, my job is to push players to the next level, the Olympic Team and the Senior National Team, and the last few years we’ve been doing a good job at that,” he said. “At the end of the day where you get the real measure of success is CONCACAF and how we do in the World Cup.”

U.S. U-20 MNT Roster By Position (courtesy of US Soccer):

GOALKEEPERS (2): Zac MacMath (Maryland; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Kevin Piedrahita (América de Cali; Queens, N.Y.)

DEFENDERS (8): Gale Agbossoumonde (G.D. Estoril Praia; Syracuse, N.Y.), Greg Garza (G.D. Estoril Praia; Grapevine, Texas),
Sebastien Ibeagha (Duke; Missouri City, Texas), Perry Kitchen (Akron; Indianapolis, Ind.), Eric Schoenle (West Virginia; Yardley, Pa.),
Ben Sweat (South Florida; Palm Harbor, Fla.), Zarek Valentin (Akron; Lancaster, Pa.), Korey Veeder (Unattached; St. Petersburg, Fla.)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Steven Evans (Portland; Troutdale, Ore.), Joshua Gatt (SC Rheindorf Altach; Plymouth, Mich.), Joe Gyau (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), Alex Molano (NK Dinamo Zagreb; Grapevine, Texas), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame; Plano, Texas), Kelyn Rowe (UCLA; Seattle, Wash.), Conor Shanosky (D.C. United; Sterling, Va.)

FORWARDS (6): Conor Doyle (Derby County FC; McKinney, Texas), Dylan Mares (Louisville; Zionsville, Ind.), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union; Alpharetta, Ga.), Adrian Ruelas (Celtic F.C.; Fontana, Calif.), Soony Saad (Michigan; Dearborn, Mich.), Omar Salgado (Unattached; El Paso, Texas)