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Michael Seaton, Bryan Rochez Named To CONCACAF U-20 Rosters

By Sean Maslin

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Move over, Canada and the United States. While both countries had rosters filled with MLS players for the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, it is not just the two North American sides that are using the league to their advantage. Over 22 players from all levels of North American soccer will be competing in the tournament, which is scheduled to begin on Friday in Jamaica.

The CONCACAF U-20 Championship is played every two years to determine the best CONCACAF team at the U-20 level. The twelve team tournament will determine the region’s four representatives that will be going to the CONCACAF U-20 World Cup in New Zealand in May.

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While many of the players being called up are either academy players or players currently playing in college, there will be a few with MLS experience. Given that this is a tournament for players under the age of 20, professional experience is understandably limited.

The player with the biggest spotlight on him will be Jamaica’s Michael Seaton. Seaton at 18 years old has already made 11 appearances for the senior national team and scored 2 goals. An academy product of D.C. United, he has slowly been groomed to be their eventual number 9 and is likely to receive considerable minutes this season.

Jamaica has slowly been building a solid core of young players with an eye towards the next series of international tournaments (U-20 World Cup, Copa America, 2015 Gold Cup, 2016 Olympics, and 2018 World Cup). With the Reggae Boyz being the host nation and having a favorable draw (they will be playing in Group A with Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, United States, Guatemala, and Panama) it is expected that they will at least make it through the group stages and into the playoff round.

Much is also expected of Honduran forward Bryan Rochez, who just signed a Designated Player deal with Orlando City SC. Rochez comes to MLS from Real Espana in the Liga de Nacional Honduras where he scored 20 goals during the 2013-2014 Apertura. Honduras has struggled for goals on the international level and will need Rochez to step up in Group B against, Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, and Mexico.

F.C. Dallas goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez, who was signed as the team’s 10th Homegrown Player, was named to the Mexican U-20 team. Although he was born in the United States, Gonzalez has represented El Tri at the U-18 level. He will be competing against Edson Resendez of Monterrey, who is the current number one goalkeeper.

Four other MLS Youth Academy Players will be featuring for international squads in this tournament including forward Derrick Etienne (Haiti/New York Red Bulls,) Zach Herivaux (Haiti/New England Revolution,) midfielder Andy Ruiz (Guatemala/F.C. Dallas,) and goalkeeper Johan Welch (Trinidad and Tobago/Houston Dynamo).

In addition to players in MLS, over 12 players were selected from Private Academies and Colleges in the United States. Here is the complete list of players who are coming from these organizations (courtesy of MLS Soccer🙂

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