New World Cup cycle begins for U.S. U20 MNT

by U.S. Soccer

August 30, 2019

The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team will launch its new cycle with two matches in Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia vs. Croatia and United Arab Emirates U-23. After the USA reached the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup earlier this summer, this training camp represents the start of a new two-year U-20 MNT cycle.

U-20 MNT head coach Tab Ramos has called 22 players, all born in 2001, to Slovenia. 2001 is the birth-year cut-off for the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

"We have now had consistent success at this level from a development standpoint, which has been supported by excellent results,” Ramos said. “I’m looking forward to helping a new group of players to continue to raise the bar higher than ever before.”

U.S. U-20 MNT ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB OR COLLEGE; HOMETOWN)

GOALKEEPERS (2): David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.), Patrick Schulte (Saint Louis; St. Charles, Mo.)

DEFENDERS (8): Kwabena Boateng (UC Irvine; Elk Grove, Calif.), Jose Kevin Bonilla (FC Dallas; Dallas, Texas), George Campbell (Atlanta United; Chester, Pa.), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union; Oldsmar, Fla.), Ian Hoffmann (Karlsruher/GER; Wilton, Conn.), Stuart Ritchie (Hannover 96/GER; Pleasanton, Calif.), Leonardo Sepulveda (Salamanca/ESP; Corona, Calif.), Travian Sousa (Hamburg/GER; Sacramento, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids; Littleton, Colo.), Justin Haak (NYCFC; Brooklyn, N.Y.), Marcelo Palomino (Unattached; Houston, Texas), Matteo Ritaccio (Liverpool/ENG; Westbury, N.Y.), Thomas Roberts (FC Dallas; Little Rock, Ark.), Tanner Tessmann (FC Dallas; Birmingham, Ala.), Indiana Vassilev (Aston Villa/ENG; Savannah, Ga.)

FORWARS (5): Konrad de la Fuente (Barcelona/ESP; Barcelona, Spain), Johan Gomez (Unattached; Keller, Texas), Cameron Harper (Celtic/SCO; Newport Beach, Calif.), Jalen Hawkins (Ingolstadt/GER; Munich, Germany), Charlie Kelman (Southend United/ENG; Basildon, England)

U.S. U-20 MNT MATCH SCHEDULE

Date	Match-up
Thursday, Sept. 5	USA vs. Croatia
Monday, Sept. 9	USA vs. United Arab Emirates U-23

Two players return from the USA’ 2019 U-20 World Cup squad: forward Konrad De La Fuente and goalkeeper David Ochoa. De La Fuente started all five matches for the USA in Poland, while Ochoa started two games in goal, including a standout performance vs. Qatar in the team’s final group stage game. Midfielder Indiana Vassilev was a part of the USA’s run to the quarterfinals of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

Nineteen of 22 players on the roster have spent at least one season in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. At the end of the 2018-19 season, forward Johan Gomez and midfielder Justin Haak were named Academy Players of the Year for the Central and East Conferences, respectively.

ROSTER NOTES:

Sixteen different clubs are represented on the roster, with eight players coming from domestic teams and 10 based abroad in Germany (four), England (three), Spain (two), and Scotland (one).
The most players from any one club, three, come from FC Dallas.
Two players recently kicked off their freshman collegiate campaigns: defender Kwabena Boateng at UC Irvine and goalkeeper Patrick Schulte at Saint Louis University.
Nine players have logged professional minutes this year.
Five players are signed to MLS Homegrown contracts.
In the U-19 Bundesliga, forward Jalen Hawkins as well as defenders Ian Hoffmann and Travian Sousa have started all four games for their respective clubs to start the season.
Midfielder Indiana Vassilev has played in all three games for Aston Villa U-23 to kick off the Premier League 2 season.

ACADEMY NOTES:

Four players were named to Academy Best XI’s at the end of the 2018-19 season- Haak in the East Conference plus Schulte, forward Johan Gomez and midfielder Tanner Tessmann in the Central.
Tessmann won the U-18/19 Golden Ball as the postseason’s best player, helping lead FC Dallas to the U-18/19 Academy Championship.
Two players have won an Academy Championship: Haak with New York City FC U-18/19 in 2018 and defender George Campbell with Atlanta United U-15/16 in 2017.