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Salgado, Gil, Villarreal named to US U-20 camp roster
MLS quartet, academy products dot Ramos' 36-man squad in Fla.



If it’s a new year, that means it’s camping time. US Soccer on Monday released the 36 names called in by Tab Ramos for the first US Under-20 men’s national team camp of the year, held from Monday until Jan. 9 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Re-joining the team are six players who participated in Ramos’ first camp in charge in November in Duisberg, Germany: Vancouver’s Omar Salgado (above), Real Salt Lake’s Luis Gil, recently signed LA Galaxy Home Grown product Jose Villarreal and Europe-based trio Sean Cunningham, Tyrone McCargo and Caleb Stanko.

FULL US UNDER-20 ROSTER

GOALKEEPERS (4):
Jesus Guzman (Santos Laguna; Dallas), Daniel Medina Meza (Tigres UANL; El Paso, Texas), Tyler Miller (Northwestern Univ.; Woodbury, N.J.), Andrew Wolverton (Penn State; Snellville, Ga.).

DEFENDERS (12):
Bolu Akinyonde (Seton Hall Univ.; Brooklyn, N.Y.), Mikey Ambrose (FC Dallas Academy; Frisco, Texas), A.J. Cochran (Univ. of Wisconsin; St. Louis), Sean Cunningham (Molde FK; Troy, Mich.), Phanuel Kavita (Clemson Univ.; Salt Lake City), Eric Miller (Creighton Univ.; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Tigres UANL; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (Univ. of North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Jalen Robinson (D.C. United Academy; Cantonsville, Md.), Matt Wendelken (Marist College; Massapequa, N.Y.), DeAndre Yedlin (Univ. of Akron; Seattle), Walker Zimmerman (Furman Univ.; Lawrenceville, Ga.).

MIDFIELDERS (12):
Seth Casiple (Univ. of California; Rocklin, Calif.), Daniel Cuevas Granados (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Hector Delgado Cha (Club América; Indio, Calif.), Christian Duarte (Texans SC Houston; League City, Texas), Daniel Garcia (FC Dallas Academy; Dallas), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Flavio Guzman (FC Dallas Academy; Dallas), Collin Martin (D.C. United Academy; Chevy Chase, Md.), Tyrone McCargo (FC Nürnberg; Nürnberg, Germany), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg; Holly, Mich.), Wil Trapp (Univ. of Akron; Gahanna, Ohio), Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.).

FORWARDS (8):
Villyan Bijev (Fortuna Düsseldorf; Fresno, Calif.), Amadou Dia (Clemson Univ.; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Alfred Koroma (Solar Chelsea SC; Southlake, Texas), Duke Lacroix (Univ. of Pennsylvania; New Egypt, N.J.), Uvaldo Luna Martinez (Tigres UANL; Houston), Jack McBean (LA Galaxy; Newport Beach, Calif.), Sean Okoli (Wake Forest Univ.; Federal Way, Wash.), Omar Salgado (Vancouver Whitecaps; El Paso, Texas).

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...20-camp-roster

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Ocegueda chooses US over Mexico


GUADALAJARA, Mexico – It’s the ultimate ratification of performance and talent for a dual national player to have two nations fighting over you.

That’s exactly what happened recently to Tigres UANL’s young left back Juan Pablo Ocegueda, who received an invitation to Mexico’s Under-20 trip to the United States earlier this month and then was called up to Tab Ramos’ US U-20 camp on Friday.

Both camps coincide, with the US meeting on Monday and Mexico on Thursday.

Having been previously involved in national team camps with both countries, Ocegueda (above, right) had a difficult decision to make, but those north of the border will be happy to know he sided with the United States.

“Coming from a Mexican family, you can imagine how happy my parents were when I told them [about the Mexico call-up], but I feel comfortable being with the US,” Ocegueda told MLSsoccer.com from Monterrey on Saturday. “I enjoy being with the rest of the players and the coaches and wanted to stay loyal to the team since they gave me my first opportunity.”

“Staying loyal to the USA,” he had written on his Twitter account earlier in the week.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...us-over-mexico

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US U-20s coach Tab Ramos to use disappointment of 2011


United States Under-20 national team coach Tab Ramos is ahead of the game. He's already traveled down to the Caribbean to scout Haiti, the Americans' opening-match opponent in next February's CONCACAF U-20 Championship, which also doubles as the region's World Cup qualifying tournament.

And he knows that Costa Rica, the other team drawn into Group A with the US and Haiti at Wednesday's draw in Puebla, Mexico, will be what he calls "a tough opponent," having been to the last three World Cups.

“It’s not easy, but it’s never easy," he said in an interview with USsoccer.com on Wednesday. "My thought is that we have to prepare well. We have good opponents in our group."

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...pointment-2011

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US U-20s to face Panama ahead of CONCACAF Championships


The US Under-20 men’s national team will face Panama in two matches in Mexico later this month ahead of the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, US Soccer announced on Tuesday.

The team will hold a week-long foreign training camp from Jan. 14-22 in Puebla, Mexico, and will play Panama on Jan. 19 and 21, but the time and location for the matches have yet to be determined. Head coach Tab Ramos (above) will name a roster at a later date.


http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...f-championship

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Ramos calls 7 MLSers into final pre-CONCACAF U-20 camp


The road to Turkey runs through Mexico, and on Friday, Tab Ramos called in 20 players for a weeklong training camp in Puebla ahead of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship next month.

Seven MLS players are among Ramos’ squad, including Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil. The other half-dozen are all Homegrown players: LA’s Jose Villarreal and Oscar Soto, FC Dallas’ Jonathan Top, Sporting KC’s Jon Kempin, Colorado’s Shane O’Neill and Columbus’ Wil Trapp.

Ten members of the squad are on college teams, while the other three are based in Mexico: Tijuana’s Alejandro Guido, Santos Laguna’s Daniel Cuevas and out-of-contract Juan Pablo Oceugueda, who most recently played for Tigres UANL.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...acaf-u-20-camp

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Tab Ramos releases US Under-20 roster for
Toulon Tournament with seven MLSers


US Under-20 men's national team head coach Tab Ramos on Monday named a 22-player roster for the upcoming 2013 Toulon Tournament, which will provide the Americans their final chance to fine-tune things before this summer's U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

The United States are in Group A with Colombia, Congo DR, South Korea and hosts France. The US open the tournament against France on Tuesday, May 28.

Roster by Position

GOALKEEPERS (2):
Cody Cropper (Southampton FC/England), Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara Univ.)

DEFENDERS (7):
Eric Miller (Creighton Univ.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (CD Guadalajara/Mexico), Shane O'Neill (Colorado Rapids), Jeffrey Payeras (CSD Municipal/Guatemala), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg/Germany), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy), Javan Torre (UCLA)

MIDFIELDERS (7):
Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Marlon Hairston (Univ. of Louisville), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna/Mexico), Mikey Lopez (Sporting Kansas City), Collin Martin (Wake Forest Univ.), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew)

FORWARDS (6):
Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna/Mexico), Daniel Garcia (Univ. of North Carolina), Alonso Hernandez (CF Monterrey/Mexico), Alfred Koroma (Univ. of Akron), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders Academy.), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...t-seven-mlsers