United States Soccer Federation announced today that Vancouver Whitecaps FC striker Omar Salgado has been called up to the United States U-20 squad for a domestic training camp from February 20 to March 1 in Clermont, Florida.
Salgado is one of two players on the roster from head coach Tab Ramos’ first camp in Duisberg, Germany, along with defender Sean Cunningham, and one of fourteen players returning from the most recent U-20 camp in January in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Additionally, Salgado is one of two players from Major League Soccer clubs to be selected to the 26-player squad, along with Chicago Fire midfielder Victor Pineda.
As a result of his international call-up, Salgado will miss Whitecaps FC's three matches in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic. The 'Caps face Canadian arch-rivals and MLS expansion club Montreal Impact, followed by Eastern Conference clubs Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City in Orlando, Florida.
Ramos is preparing the U-20s for the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, which will likely take place in early 2013. The tournament will determine the region’s qualifiers for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup being held in Turkey from June 21 to July 13. Every player on the roster is age-eligible for the upcoming U-20 World Cup.
U.S. U-20 Men's National Team Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Tomas Gomez (Georgetown; Webster Groves, Mo.), Jesus Guzman (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Kamil Kaminski (Legia Warszawa; Berlin, Conn.)
DEFENDERS (8): AJ Cochran (Wisconsin; St. Louis, Mo.), Sean Cunningham (Molde FK; Troy, Mich.), Christian Dean (California; East Palo Alto, Calif.), Mobi Fehr (Unattached; Tokyo, Japan), Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (UANL Tigres; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Walker Zimmerman (Furman; Lawrenceville, Ga.).
MIDFIELDERS (10): Seth Casiple (California; Rocklin, Calif.), Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Matt Dunn (OFK Beograd; Dallas, Texas), Daniel Garcia (FC Dallas Academy; Dallas, Texas), Alejandro Guido (Unattached; Chula Vista, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (North Carolina; Mission, Texas), Collin Martin (D.C. United Academy; Chevy Chase, Md.), Daniel Metzger (Maryland; Staten Island, N.Y.), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bollingbrook, Ill.)
FORWARDS (5): Villyan Bijev (Fortuna Düsseldorf; Fresno, Calif.), Alfred Koroma (Solar Chelsea SC; Southlake, Texas), Sean Okoli (Wake Forest; Federal Way, Wash.), Andrew Oliver (Chicago Fire Academy; Indianapolis, Ind.), Omar Salgado (Vancouver Whitecaps; El Paso, Texas)
