U-20 USMNT Calls 5 MLS Players In For Tottenham, England Friendlies
By Sean Maslin
While Tab Ramos was able to lead the United States under-20 Men’s National Team to the World Cup, now comes the hard part of his job: creating a 23-man roster. That process gets ramped up this week as the USMNT U-20 team get ready for the 2015 U-20 World Cup in New Zealand with a series of friendlies against the U-21 teams of Tottenham and England. On Sunday, Ramos named his 23-man roster for both matches.
The U.S. U-20’s will face Tottenham’s U-21 team on Friday and England’s U-21 at Hyde Park on Sunday at 11 am Eastern Time. It is unknown as of this time if either match will be streamed online although US Soccer traditionally does stream their international friendlies.
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Five Major League Soccer players will be heading to England for these matches including Sporting Kansas City starting center-back Erik Palmer-Brown. Palmer-Brown is considered to be one of the top young center-backs in U.S. Soccer and has improved immensely in just his second professional season. In particular, he has ability take sharper angles at separating attackers from the ball has helped Sporting Kansas City eliminate attacking chances. It will be interesting to see how he does with fellow center-back Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham).
Tommy Thompson (San Jose Earthquakes,) Conor Donovan (Orlando City SC,) Marco Delgado (Toronto FC,) and Bradford Jamieson IV (Los Angeles Galaxy) will all be joining Palmer-Brown in England. Since these matches will occur this weekend that means they will not be available for their respective clubs this weekend. As opposed to most other leagues around the world, MLS does not take off for international friendly breaks.
From the Yanks abroad, the new player to keep an eye on is Maki Tall. Tall comes from the Lille Football Academy and is currently on loan with French league side Red Star FC (not to be confused with the Serbian football giants). Although he has spent most of his time living abroad (including Senegal, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, and France) Tall was born in the United States and his parents still live in the U.S. Tall has featured for the French U-19 National Team so his call-up means that he has filed the one-time switch that FIFA allows for players with dual citizenship.
The other player that is new to the USMNT structure is defender Desevio Payne. Payne is a dual national of both the United States and the Netherlands and currently plays for FC Groningen in the Dutch Eredivisie. At just 19 years old he has already made 2 appearances with the Green-White Army.
As opposed to the USMNT U-21’s, England’s U-21 team will not be playing in the 2015 U-20 World Cup. Their team was eliminated from contention at the elite round of qualification for the 2014 UEFA Under-19 Championship. They lost in a heart-breaker, a 1-0 loss in the 94th minute to the Ukraine on the final day of qualification.
Tottenham’s U-21 team meanwhile are in fifth place (7-3-6, 26 points) in Division 1 of the U-21 English Premier League.
The USMNT U-21 will begin World Cup play on May the 30th when they take on Myanmar. In Group A, Tab Ramos’ side will also take on hosts New Zealand and Ukraine.
Here is the full roster (courtesy of U.S. Soccer🙂
GOALKEEPERS (2): Jeff Caldwell (Virginia; Todd, N.C.), Thomas Olsen (University of San Diego; Las Vegas, Nev.)
DEFENDERS (6): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur; Westcliff on Sea, England), Conor Donovan (Orlando City SC; Fuquay-Varina, N.C.), Shaquell Moore (Unattached; Powder Springs, Ga.), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City; Lee’s Summit, Mo.), Desevio Payne (Groningen; Greenwood, S.C.), John Requejo (Club Tijuana; Carpinteria, Calif.).
MIDFIELDERS (6): Russell Canouse (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim; Lancaster, Pa.), Marco Delgado (Toronto FC; Glendora, Calif.), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland; Santa Cruz, Calif.), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham; Dallas, Texas), Ethan Sonis (SC Freiburg; Coral Springs, Fla.), Joel Sonora (Boca Juniors; Buenos Aires, Argentina).
FORWARDS (6): Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Bradford Jamieson IV (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), Andrija Novakovich (Reading; Muskego, Wis.), Maki Tall (Red Star; Washington, D.C.), Tommy Thompson (San Jose Earthquakes; Loomis, Calif.), Dembakwi Yomba (Atlético Madrid; Lithonia, Ga.).