United States Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Caleb Porter named a 23-player roster as the group convenes Feb. 19 for a 10-day training camp in Frisco, Texas. The camp finishes up with a match against Mexico's U-23 National Team on Feb. 29 at FC Dallas Stadium.
Caleb Porter Calls In 23 Players For United States U-23 Camp
Caleb Porter calls in 23 players including FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea and New York Red Bulls striker Juan Agudelo.
Getty Images
In addition to the Mexico match, the U.S. U-23s will hold scrimmages against FC Dallas on Feb. 22, and the North American Soccer League’s newest franchise, the San Antonio Scorpions, on Feb. 24.
“The No. 1 priority in this camp is to see our guys in games and to build a little bit of that rhythm by playing multiple games in a short amount of time,” Porter said. “Everything is geared toward the Mexico game, but we want to get a couple of games early in the week to get guys minutes so we can look at everybody to help with those final roster decisions leading into qualifying.”
Porter called in five players that have yet to be included in any of his previous U-23 camps. Those players include FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea, New York Red Bulls striker Juan Agudelo, D.C. United defender Perry Kitchen, San Jose Earthquake defender Ike Opara and Hertha Berlin defender Alfredo Morales.
Both Agudelo and Shea had missed previous camps due to being called into senior national team games by Jurgen Klinsmann.
CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying begins on March 22, with Group A games being played at LP Field in Nashville and Group B games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The USA was drawn into Group A with Canada, Cuba and El Salvador, while Group B is composed of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.
The semifinal and final matches will be played at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., on March 31 and April 2, respectively. Individual tickets are on sale for the games in Nashville and Carson , and series tickets are available for the knockout phase in Kansas City.
U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team Roster By Position
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire)
DEFENDERS (7): Greg Garza (Club Tijuana), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Gent), Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy)
FORWARDS (8): Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia)
See More:
