USA U-20 men’s national team head coach Thomas Rongen has finalized a 25-player roster for the upcoming training camp and it includes 18-year-old Whitecaps FC Residency goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre. The camp will be held from January 2-13 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
A 6-foot-5, 200-pound native of Hollywood, Florida, Sylvestre joined Whitecaps FC at the start of 2010 and started all three U-19 Super Group matches during Dallas Cup XXXI last March.
In addition to Whitecaps FC, three other Major League Soccer clubs will be represented, including a pair of D.C. United players in Conor Shanosky and Ethan White. FC Dallas defender Moises Hernandez will be making his first appearance in a U.S. U-20 MNT camp since December 2009. New York Red Bulls forward Juan Agudelo will participate with the U-20s until January 6, and then fly to Carson, California, to join the USA men’s national team training camp at The Home Depot Center.
Including the four Homegrown players who signed directly from MLS Academies to the first team – Shanosky, White. Hernandez and Agudelo – there are 13 players who were part of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Midfielder Dillon Powers was named the 2008-09 U-17/18 Player of the Year for Andromeda and Kelyn Rowe played in two championship games in 2009 and 2010 with Washington Crossfire Premier. Seven players on the roster signed professional contracts directly from their Academy club.
The January camp includes fourteen players from the U-20’s most recent training camp that included a pair of wins against Canada in Sunrise, Florida, including former Whitecaps FC Residency forward Joseph-Claude Gyau, who netted three goals in the December 18 match versus Canada.
Gyau, who plays for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, is one of three players on the roster who play professionally in Germany. Forward Bobby Wood plays for 1860 Munich and midfielder Fabian Huerzeler, who will be in his first U.S. camp at any level, plays for Bayern Munich. There will also be three players who play in England: Derby County’s Conor Doyle, West Ham United’s Sebastian Lletget and Ipswich Town goalkeeper Cody Cropper. In all, 10 players will be traveling to Fort Lauderdale from Europe.
U.S. U-20 MNT Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (3): Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town; Athens, Ga.), Zac MacMath (Maryland; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Brian Sylvestre (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Hollywood, Fla.)
DEFENDERS (9): Gale Agbossoumonde (GD Estoril Praia; Syracuse, N.Y.), Greg Garza (GD Estoril Praia; Grapevine, Texas), Moises Hernandez (FC Dallas; Dallas, Texas), Sacir Hot (Boston College; Fair Lawn, N.J.), Sebastian Ibeagha (Duke; Missouri City, Texas), Perry Kitchen (Akron; Indianapaolis, Ind.), Zarek Valentin (Akron; Lancaster, Pa.), Korey Veeder (Out of Contract; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Ethan White (D.C. United; Kensington, Md.)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), Fabian Huerzeler (Bayern Munich; Munich, Germany), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United; San Francisco, Calif.), Alex Molano (Dinamo Zagreb; Grapevine, Texas), Moises Orozco (Tigres; Oxnard, Calif.), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame; Plano, Texas), Kelyn Rowe (UCLA; Newport Beach, Calif.), Conor Shanosky (D.C. United; Sterling, Va.), Alex Zahavi (Maccabi Haifa; Los Angeles, Calif.)
FORWARDS (4): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Conor Doyle (Derby County; McKinney, Texas), Omar Salgado (unattached; El Paso, Texas), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich; Irvine, Calif.)
