- Ben McCormick

The United States U-20 National Team lost to Guatemala in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship and will not participate in this summer’s U-20 World Cup for the first time in eight tournaments.


Now take a deep breath. In…and out…


It’s not that big of a deal.

- Ben McCormick

At the start of the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, much of the oft-hyped talent on the US squad was relatively unknown to the US Soccer fan base. Through the group stage, some players have dazzled, some have fizzled and the jury remains out on others. Here is a look at what we know and what we are yet to find out about this cycle's edition of the USA U-20 national team:

- Ben McCormick

Kelyn Rowe may have quietly sneaked onto the United States U-20 National Team last December, but he’s making a ton of noise at the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. After two matches, Rowe has three goals and has putt in two high quality shifts for Thomas Rongen’s U-20 squad.

- Jason Davis

While most eyes tonight will be on the senior USMNT team as they face Paraguay in Nashville, the US U-20s will be kicking off their CONCACAF championship campaign against Suriname in Guatemala. On the line for Thomas Rongen's team isn't just regional supremacy, but also a berth in the U-20 World Cup in Colombia in July.

I've got the 2007 US U-20 World Cup team on the brain. After a strong showing in tournament, one many Americans watched thanks to Canadian timezone friendliness, several players from the squad earned themselves transfers to Europe; with the news that Freddy Adu failed to impress on his latest trial, the ongoing uncertainty about where Jozy Altidore might play this season, and the signing of Sal Zizzo with MLS, the fortunes of those that made their name in that tournament is an interesting peek at the divergent fortunes of young players.

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The biggest name on that 2007 team, Jozy Altidore, is hoping to get a chance to prove himself at Villareal, though the road to significant playing time might be difficult. The mark Altidore has made with the National Team, and his fairly secure place in the setup as long as he's healthy, will keep him top of mind. He needs to play, of course, and while his Hull experience was hardly a rousing success, it probably benefited his development in the end.


What else can be said about the saga of Freddy Adu? He never proved himself enough to stay with Benfica, the loan to Aris last year ended with little progress made, and his attempt to land a contract with Swiss club FC Sion this week has come to naught. Freddy might very well be headed back to MLS, and while that seems like a natural step considering his need to playing time, I have my doubts that he'd play all that much here either. Freddy has baggage, not all of his own making, and I wonder if there's an MLS club really willing to take it on.


Sal Zizzo signed with MLS and was allocated to Chivas USA through a lottery (necessary due to his one US senior team cap). Coming off a knee injury, Zizzo says he just wants to play and coming to MLS made sense from that standpoint. Despite his ultimately disappointing end at Hannover, he claims he doesn't regret signing there; if Sizzo can get healthy (he says he has no defined timetable for getting on the field) and play, we'll find out just how much going to Germany helped him. I had a short chat with him his week that will be part of the American Soccer Show coming Monday.


Much of that 2007 U-20 roster is in MLS. Some are contributing, and some have turned into very fine players. One was just traded today. Of the group, only Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore have turned into National Team regulars. On the other end of the spectrum is Danny Szetela, who moved to Racing Santander after the tournament; a return to MLS with DC United didn't work, and Szetela's career has now stalled to the point of disaster.


I don't know that there are any conclusions to be drawn from all of this other than what what is common knowledge; prospects flame out all the time, and though it's not really too late for anyone from that '07 team, some are clearly headed in the wrong direction. It's just another reason to maintain perspective on the supposed "future" of American soccer. A few twists and turns, an injury, or a simple inability to meet expectations will quickly turn a U-2O World Cup star into a just another player. Sometimes, not even that.


Excuse the crap post. Friday is not agreeing with me.

The US Under-20 team, in Egypt for the U-20 World Cup, went down to South Korea today 3-0. The Americans never really threatened their opponents, and while they maintained possession for decent stretches of the match, had nothing to scare the Koreans in the attacking third of the field.

After rebounding with a 4-1 win over Cameroon in their second group match, a win which came on the heels of a drubbing at the hands of Germany in the opener, today's result is extremely disappointing. The young Americans seemed disinterested at best, poor at worst, and were certainly not mentally prepared to proactively punch their ticket to the round of sixteen.

While there isn't as much quality in the US team as in year's past, the talent on the field could hardly be called incapable. The problems, beginning with a toothless attack that seemed lost for ideas in the Korean's end of the field, were overwhelming. Undisciplined in almost every aspect of the game, the Americans consistently allowed South Korea to dictate play; on more than one occasion, US players responded hesitantly to Korean moves forward, resulting in defenders scrambling back to recover.

The Koreans quickness appeared to be too much for the Americans, though I'm not entirely convinced it should have been. How much of the sloppiness that the US exhibited is on the players and how much should be laid directly at the feet of Thomas Rongen is debatable; but the Americans showed against Cameroon that when properly motivated and organized, they could play well enough to give themselves a chance to win. They just didn't do so against South Korea, despite the match being "must-win" for them to advance (as of this writing, they still have an extreme outside shot to advance as a third place team, but it's slim).

I honestly wasn't sure of what to make of this team headed into the tournament. Perhaps, like many, I was hopeful that the players I knew would lead the team while a few I didn't would emerge as solid contributors. Still, to say we're disappointed might be a bit of an overstatement. if you're intimately familiar with the players that Thomas Rongen had at his disposal and you believe this team underachieved, I certainly can't argue with you; but I didn't see enough there to truly believe that the US could threaten anything more than a decent showing. Of course, after the streak of knockout round qualification that the US has put together in this tournament over the years, we at the least expected to get out of the group.

That possibility still exists, if just barely, but it's not the kind of advancement that would fill us with pride. The Americans, if they do slip through, don't truly deserve to be beyond the group stages. Ultimately, despite the poor play that plagued the Americans against Germany and South Korea, Rongen must get some of the blame. Getting beaten by a clearly superior opponent is one thing; but since the Koreans, and possibly the weakened Germans, were not well beyond the US, tactics and direction are at the top of the list for reasons the Americans find themselves where they do.

Overreacting to this setback, two years after the US had a strong showing in the same tournament, by deriding the American youth program as failing would be ridiculous. The United States has still not progressed to the point of producing strong under-20 players cycle after cycle (whether or not we should have by now is a different argument); while 2009 is a setback, the US could just as easily take a massive step forward in 2011.

If you watched the game today, share your thoughts. Who do you blame the poor tournament on? Rogren, the players, or the system in general?

U-20 National Team Defender Kyle Davies
Two years ago in Canada, the United States U-20 team called some attention to themselves with clever attacking play, a undefeated group round, a 6-1 drubbing of Poland, and a victory over Brazil before going out in the quarterfinal round. Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore in particular shone during the tournament, their performances directly leading to their moves to big clubs in Europe. Others, like Sal Zizzo, Danny Szetela, also made names for themselves, and looked to be bright prospects on the US National Team radar.

While this year's edition of the U-20 squad, might not have the star power that the '07 team did, they will attempt to replicate the success in ten days time when the seventeenth edition of the competition kicks off in Egypt.

Once again coached by Dutchman Thomas Rongen, the young Americans head to Africa with little to no hype following them. The roster is made up of MLSers, college players, and a few Europe-based players, and many (if not most) of the names will be unfamiliar to the casual US soccer fan.

That doesn't mean, of course, that one or two Americans can't make a name for themselves while on the greater world stage; just as with any team in modern age of American soccer, there's talent there. Which players, if any, step up and move to the forefront of the National Team discussion or become the "next big thing" (which, of course, doesn't guarantee that they will be) remains to be seen.

Injuries have changes the look of this team in recent days; original selections Sam Garza and Anthony Wallace are both out with knee injuries. Bryan Arguez and Gerson Mayer were named as replacements.

The US U-20 Roster, by position:

GOALKEEPERS (3):
Sean Johnson (Central Florida; Lilburn, Ga.)
Josh Lambo (FC Dallas; Middleton, Wis.)
Brian Perk (UCLA; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6):
Gale Agbossoumonde (Miami FC; Syracuse, N.Y.)
Kyle Davies (FC Dallas; Danville, Calif.)
Aaron Maund (Notre Dame; Dorchester, Mass.)
Ike Opara (Wake Forest; Durham, N.C.)
Sheanon Williams (Unattached; Boston, Mass.)

MIDFIELDERS (9):
Bryan Arguez (Hertha Berlin, Miami)
Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo; Glendale, Ariz.)
Mikkel Diskerud (Stabak; Oslo, Norway)
Dilly Duka (Rutgers; Montville, N.J.)
Jorge Flores (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.)
Jared Jeffrey (Club Brugge; Richardson, Texas)
Gerson Mayen (Chivas USA; Los Angeles)
Brian Ownby (Virginia; Glen Allen, Va.)
Dillon Powers (Notre Dame; Plano, Texas)
Michael Stephens (UCLA; Naperville, Ill.)

FORWARDS (3):
Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas; Rockford, Ill.)
Brek Shea (FC Dallas; College Station, Texas)
Tony Taylor (Jacksonville; Jacksonville, Fla.)

The US faces a difficult challenge to repeat the 2007 feat of advancing out of the group stage; they are matched up against Germany, Cameroon, and South Korea.

What do you make of the Americans' chances in Egypt?