The US Under-20 Men’s National Team is in Poland for the U-20 World Cup! Over the next three weeks they will be competing for the title of Under-20 champions of the world.
2019 USA U-20 World Cup Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): C.J. Dos Santos, David Ochoa, Brady Scott.
DEFENDERS (7): Sergino Dest, Chris Gloster, Aboubakar Keita, Mark McKenzie, Matthew Real, Chris Richards, Julian Araujo.
MIDFIELDERS (6): Edwin Cerrillo, Chris Durkin, Richard Ledezma, Alex Mendez, Paxton Pomykal, Brandon Servania.
FORWARDS (5): Konrad De La Fuente, Ulysses Llanez, Justin Rennicks, Sebastian Soto, Tim Weah.
This roster is packed with promising young players who will prove to be difference makers for this side. Dos Santos, Dest, Real, Gloster, McKenzie, Richards, Durkin, Ledezma, Mendez, Pomykal, Soto, Weah and the rest of the squad are out to prove that this team is good enough to win it all.
Two of the players on the roster are poised to standout during this competition.
Philadelphia Union’s McKenzie get’s the armband:
A player that Philadelphia Union and MLS fans will notice is Mark McKenzie. The young center back hasn’t gotten much playing time in MLS this season, but is going to be captaining this US U-20 side! McKenzie was picked by the coaches and players to lead this team in Poland. We’ll likely see a lot of McKenzie in this World Cup!
Tim Weah Leads the line:
One of the big questions ahead of this summer’s US Mens Soccer tournaments (the U-20 World Cup and Gold Cup) was which tournament will Time Weah and Josh Sargent play in? In the end Sargent will be playing with the senior national team in the Gold Cup, and Weah will lead the line for the US U-20s.
Weah plays club soccer for Paris Saint Germain in France, but spent most of the season on loan to Celtic in Ireland. Tim Weah is the son of France legend Geroge Weah. US fans will hope this tournament kicks off a career of excellence for Weah as he helps push the US U-20s to glory.
Group games:
The USA are favorites to get out of Group D, and possible win the group. They start their games this afternoon against the Ukraine. Ukraine are not to be overlooked as they beat out some of the best nations in Europe to make it to the tournament. In three days time the US will take on Nigeria, a side who’s inconstancies may just cause their downfall. The American U-20’s finish their Group D games against Qatar a team who scores a lot of goals and could be a dark horse at this World Cup.
This US side has the talent to win their games and make it to the knockout rounds, but will they be able to compete to win the World Cup?
Can the US U-20s make a run to the cup?
The best finish in the U-20 World Cup for an American side was fourth back back in the 80s. More recently, USA have crashed out of this competition in the quarterfinals of the last two U-20 World Cups. This team is talented enough to get back to that stage, but moving forward from it will take great organization and grit.
Progress is the standard that coach Tab Ramos is instilling in this team. If he can have his men firing on all cylinders, then this US-U20 side should be able to make it to the last four. But who knows, the magic of a title contesting run could just be on the cards for these young yanks!
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Matt McClain
Peace out Union fans!
Mandatory Credit: US Soccer.
