Take your mind off the current U-20 squad for a moment... Players born in 1993 and later will be eligible for the 2013 U-20 World Cup. Obviously, that's a very, very long time from now. Happily, we already have a surprisingly sizable contingent of pros among that group. Any projection we can possibly make at the moment is bound to change dramatically as some players will stagnate and drop off while others will come out of nowhere. Some of the future U-20 team players are in HS right now, while perhaps a few are as yet unknown dual nationals toiling in the reserves somewhere abroad. Here's what we know now. GK Bernabe Magana Cisneros -- 1993 -- Pumas UNAM (Mexico) Cody Cropper -- 1993 -- Ipswich Town (England) Jon Kempin -- 1993 -- Sporting Kansas City Daniel Medina -- 1993 -- Tigres (Mexico) Cropper will enter the cycle as the odds-on favorite for the starting job. He's doing well at Ipswich, having already made appearances for their reserve team. He seized hold of the #2 role this cycle and pushed MacMath despite being much younger. Kempin would also definitely be in the mix, but he is less of a known commodity. DF John Anthony Brooks -- 1993 -- Hertha Berlin (Germany) Sean Cunningham -- 1993 -- Molde FK (Norway) Hector Delgado -- 1993 -- Club America (Mexico) Jaime Frias -- 1993 -- C.D. Guadalajara (Mexico) Juan Pablo Ocegueda -- 1993 -- Tigres UANL (Mexico) Gonzalo Orozco -- 1993 -- Puebla (Mexico) Will Packwood -- 1993 -- Birmingham City (England) Danny Potts -- 1994 -- West Ham United (England) Ralph Smith -- 1994 -- Kaiserslautern (Germany) I would tab the following names as "provisional front-runners": Brooks, Cunningham, Ocegueda, Packwood. We've been hearing more about Ocegueda lately as he's moved from the Tigres U-17 team to the Segunda Division team to the U-20 team in quick succession. He's now one of the youngest players on the squad and his rapid progress bears watching. Cunningham is another LB who is in a good situation at Molde, though he could be a season away from playing time. We'll remember Packwood as a midfielder from the US U-17 team in 2009, but he plays center back for Birmingham City's U-18 team now. This shouldn't come as a surprise considering his height. He even got brief U-20 consideration at the beginning of this cycle. Nobody has seen him play in a while, but his pedigree for club and country will mean that he'll get plenty of chances. Brooks is another guy to look out for. Over the last month, he's established himself in the starting lineup of Hertha's reserve team. This is a good accomplishment for a player who was with their U-17 team just last season. He's graduated from the U-19 team in half a season -- it seems reasonable to hope that he'll challenge for first team time within 18 months. MF Matthew Dunn -- 1994 -- FC Koeln (Germany) Luis Gil -- 1993 -- Real Salt Lake Joaquin Hernandez -- 1994 -- Indios de Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) Fabian Huerzeler -- 1993 -- Bayern Munich (Germany) Tyrone McCargo -- 1993 -- Greuther Fuerth (Germany) Zach Pfeffer -- 1995 -- Philadelphia Union Victor Pineda -- 1993 -- Chicago Fire Charles Renken -- 1993 -- Hoffenheim (Germany) Renken, Gil and Huerzeler will enter the cycle as the three biggest "names" here. They'll likely be given a chance to prove themselves as leaders of this squad -- and in Renken's case, that he is healthy and can live up to the promise he showed prior to his injury troubles. There's plenty of time for others to emerge, though, although it's too early to say who that might be. There are a few other youngsters kicking around MLS and abroad, too. FW Kevin Hoyos -- 1993 -- Estudiantes (Argentina) Jerome Kiesewetter -- 1993 -- Hertha Berlin (Germany) Uvaldo Luna -- 1993 -- Tigres UANL (Mexico) Edward Martinez -- 1993 -- Club America (Mexico) Jack McBean -- 1994 -- Los Angeles Galaxy Jamie Reid -- 1994 -- Exeter City (England) Jesus Rochin -- 1994 -- Tigres UANL (Mexico) Omar Salgado -- 1993 -- Vancouver Whitecaps William Suedois -- 1993 -- LASK Linz (Austria) Jonathan Top -- 1993 -- FC Dallas The obvious name here is Omar Salgado. Kiesewetter was also called in to a U-20 camp this cycle and will probably be given another chance. Top has made a name for himself on the U-16 and U-18 circuits and has played extensively for the US U-18 squad. McBean is one of two pros on the current U-17 team. US U-17 team GK Fernando Pina -- 1994 -- (Houston) GK Kendall McIntosh -- 1994 DF Andrew Souders -- 1994 -- (Columbus) DF Kellyn Acosta -- 1995 -- (Dallas) DF Nathan Smith -- 1994 DF Mobi Fehr -- 1994 -- Tokyo Verdy (I guess?) DF Joe Amon -- 1994 DF Zach Carroll -- 1994 MF Matt Dunn -- 1994 -- FC Koeln (Germany) MF Esteban Rodriguez -- 1994 MF Alejandro Guido -- 1994 MF Marc Pelosi -- 1994 MF Dillon Serna -- 1994 (Colorado) MF Tarik Salkicic -- 1994 MF Jordan Allen -- 1995 FW Alfred Koroma -- 1994 FW Mario Rodriguez -- 1994 FW Andrew Oliver -- 1994 FW Jack McBean -- 1994 -- Los Angeles FW Paul Arriola -- 1995 A few of these guys have MLS academy connections that could help them go pro early if that's something the club and player feel is mutually beneficial. Others could garner international interest down the road. Many will go to college, but I wouldn't be shocked to see some sign as GA either for next year or after a year or two in college. Many will fade out, but I'd expect some talent to shine through to the U-20s. So a new cycle begins.... trying not to think about the old one. EDIT: Added Renken
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread more worried about this group than the one we just saw get crushed by guatemala. Packwood and Brooks may make a good nucleus in the back. Gil and Hurzeler bring a good central midfield, and Salgado a reliable forward. We have a backbone, but not much that i know about on the flanks.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Jack McBean is the only player from U17 qualifying that has a Wikipedia page. Therefore, he should be on the team.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread bad choice of words due to disappointment, conceeded. more like "couldnt handle"
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Two names are sorely missing on that list: (1) Charles Renken (2) Diego Fagundez
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Ah! Charles Renken was a serious oversight on my part. Fagundez is not an American citizen and he doesn't have a green card either.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Yes. V. Garza is a 1992. Clark is a 1996. That doesn't make it impossible for him to make the team, but it does make it quite unlikely. He will be eligible for the 2013 U-17 World Cup and the 2015 U-20 World Cup. If he emerges as a top US youth player, that is more likely his path. I don't know much about Valimaa. Undoubtedly, though, a number of the most talented 1993s in two years will be guys who are in the DAP now.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Possibly relevant video: the 2011 U17s winning the CONCACAF title and on their way to the World Cup. The good old days of US Youth soccer...of a couple months ago. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGiQQn1O3us"]YouTube - 2.27.11 U-17 Highlights - Canada v USA[/ame] No idea who among these kids has a shot at the 2013 U20 team, but if nothing else we can all look back fondly at that goal.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread thanks. this team is promising; some skillful players that we already know about, and i'm sure we'll find out about a lot more.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Why not give Yedlin and Okoli a mention here. Both Sounders academy kids and both 93s. I bring them up not because I'm so sure they're the two that will take the next step, but because it's starting to feel like every MLS academy has a couple of these kids that could break out.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread on the Diego Fagundez thread people are saying there is a good chance he will be a citizen by the time he is 18 because he has been in this country since he was like 3. I guess it's easier to get citizenship? That would be a big addition to the midfield.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread No mention of a guy like Wil Trapp? Just because a guy plays overseas doesn't mean he's any better than someone who plays here.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Read the thread! I could list every single 93 and 94 in the DAP, but that would be rather pointless, no? I've listed a lot of U-17s and overseas players because we know who they are. Many of these players will get a chance based on that pedigree, although they will have to be good enough to stick around. At this stage, we have a lot to learn about the players we are aware of and there are tons of players who aren't being discussed who will come into the picture. If somebody said that Trapp and other DAP players aren't good enough because they are domestic-based, I must have missed it...
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread I don't think you should list every 93 DAP player because the vast majority aren't good enough. I just find it interesting that kids who are domestic and get called into every single U18 camp/tourney (Trapp, Gallego, Okwounu, etc.) don't get a mention but the kids playing overseas do.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Well, I can't watch DAP games and separating the wheat from the chaff at that level isn't something that I am qualified to do. You and others are more than welcome to offer suggestions. My OP was just meant to get the ball rolling, rather than cast hard-and-fast judgments.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread How do you see the kids from overseas play? Are you Europe based? I know you're definitely one of the more knowledgable people on here concerning the foreign youth players. I would start with kids here by taking a look at the various Development Academy Select team rosters. My guess is that the bulk of the domestic kids will have been on that roster at some point.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread Many of these overseas kids I haven't seen. It's mostly a laundry list and I'd be willing to bet that a number of them won't ever be called in -- especially the ones from Mexico, some of whom seem to be used as little more than organizational filler for clubs' reserve and youth teams. If you pay close attention, though, there's a lot of information that can be gleaned from secondary sources. After you watch a few cycles of players, you can get pretty solid hunches on how a club views a player from how they use him. For example, I am cautiously optimistic about Ocegueda and Brooks because they are "playing up". This tells me that their clubs feel that they can compete with older kids. Most 93s in Hertha's system are with the U-19 team, but Brooks has moved up to the reserves. Since most youth players don't make it, the fact that Brooks seems to be near the top of his class there is a good sign. Of course, it's no substitute for actual scouting. But we can start to make educated guesses, at least. I'm not trying to ordain anybody here; I'm just assembling the first data points. In other cases, I am leaning on U-17 pedigree. A quick glance at old U-17 rosters will show you that making the U-17 team doesn't mean much in the long run. However, it does mean that these players were rated highly at one point and those are names I am going to look out for at the beginning of the cycle. Two years ago, there was more talk about Stefan Jerome than Juan Agudelo. That's why we cast a wide net and why we should always be skeptical. Skepticism is good, but it doesn't mean that paying attention is a bad thing.
Re: 2013 U-20 World Cup Roster Thread the team already looks decent just from that roster you put up alone of kids playing abroad, it's a little light on known forwards other than Salgado but you have to assume MLS homegrowns and DA kids will develop in the next two years. The U-17's have some strong fowards in Oliver, Koroma, Rodriguez, and even the injured Gulley. Got to think at least one of those guys will end up developing into something. There will be a Josh Gatt and Conor Doyle that will come out of nowwhere and be a fixture on the team and that's a good thing. The DA is only going to get better. I think the 2013's could be good.