In a note that seems to have slipped past all of us, last Friday Ernest Nungaray's club announced that he is joining the US for U-20 qualifying. He'll be with the team starting March 20th. http://www.fuerzamonarca.com/noticias/?413238375253733836576b3d US Soccer lists his hometown as National City, California, which is a tiny patch of land on the south end of San Diego, right next to the naval base.
That definitely means we'll have some top guys missing for the qualifyers then. This guy wouldn't otherwise be making the team. Still, a couple years down the line you never know who'll be the better players, so I'm definitely glad to have him.
This is crazy He speaks no English. Hasn't played for the us since September. Played with Mexico in the fall. He wasn't all that impressive. He is not going to be familiar with the team. Take that Mexico!
Coach Rongen is taking 30 kids to Texas on the 20th and will cut it down to 21 players before heading down for the qualifiers.
And the fun begins! Who will actually make it the final 30? Who will be the final 21? Who will start? Who will get playing time? What an interesting cycle!
I'm excited about this because Nungary is similar in pronounciation to Bunbury so if he scores the announcers can say "I like the Nun-gar-ee" like they did after this goal. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwqlziAnqSg"]YouTube - Jan. 22, 2011: MNT 1, Chile 1 - Teal Bunbury Goal[/ame]
BTW, when you're minus a lot of your top U-20 players because they're getting first team playing time with their clubs, it's a good thing.
Exactly. And I'll say something that'll really piss some off. I'd rather have all of these kids stay at their club teams (as the clubs see them as too important to release).............than actually qualifying to the U20WC. A day will come in the near future when the US won't qualify for the U17 or U20WC. (due to the nature of CONCACAF's format) And it won't be the end of the world. I'll feel bad for the kids, because they won't get to experience it. And that's about it.
For me its not an either or. I understand your point, but isn't the true goal is to not only have players deemed important enough to stay with their clubs for qualifying but also enough talent to still qualify for the tournament out of a weak CONCACAF region. That's my goal which for me is reflective of the larger goal of developing a larger and better pool of talented players.
I wonder what other teams will be missing players? The best time for this tourney probably would've been at the start of January because of the MLS offseason, and some of the Latin leagues have a small winter break, though it'd cut into a bit into the start of the Clausuras, but players would miss maybe 2 club games tops. Along, with any Euro based CONCACAF players that might play in leagues with some sort of winter break.
...you have been "on" recently. Another excellent post. This country has more than enough kids where we should be able to miss our best with clubs, and still feel very strong about qualifying every time. We will eventually miss out (law of averages & CCAF systems set up to limit Mex/US power) but we should always expect to qualify. It will be overtime/penalties/bad luck or some team just being "on" and us "off" that day for it to happen.
Very few. Mex teams will release all of their players and there are few that young in Europe making an impact. They stay home because of the pay/quality league and move after they show promise with the big boys for the most part. Hondo and CR may miss one here or there, and possibly Jam/T&T. I doubt it will be many, if any for these countries. It's a good thing for us. Very good.
I imagine that Rongen will have access to all his MLS-based players. I don't know if there's some agreement between MLS and the USSF about this........but I can't recall the U20 (or U23) coach ever having trouble with the release of MLS players. And that includes players like Jozy Altidore who were important players for their MLS clubs. In the grand scheme of things, pro clubs in Europe and Mexico could give a rat's ass about the US qualifying for the U20WC. So those are the players we'll have problems with, as long as this qualifying tournament isn't on the FIFA calender. And SUDano is right. Rongen has spent this entire cycle looking at an enormous pool of potential players. If some of what we consider the "A" team aren't available, we should still have the quality to qualify from this region. However, with CONCACAF's format it really all comes down to one game........as we just saw with the U17's. I agree with an earlier poster. The re-appearance of Nungary does signal concern about the availability of other forwards. What's his status like at Morelia right now? Playing with the reserves?
Can't find it now but I just read a post by someone on this forum saying that DCU might not release Kitchen. edit: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=22939420&postcount=1127
Yeah, I think he's been a CM for us in a 4-2-3-1 along with Lletget, Orozco, Rowe, and Molano. I remember Molano subbing on for Nungaray at the Milk Cup game against Denmark at Halftime, and played better than Nungaray.
Funny stuff. Although he has been doing well for the Reserves since.. And i got the sense that he made the bench for the first team after accepting a call-up for Mexico as window-dressing by Mexico. You play Mexico we reward you with more First team with your club. So much for thaT
Rongen stated in an article recently that he thinks mls starters like Perry Kitchen , Zarek Valentin, Juan Aguedelo probably won't get released for qualifying as will europe first teamers Josh Gatt, Bobby Wood, Gale, and Zahavi. Who knows now that Ruelas is on the first team in Mexico and Conor Doyle too. That leaves the cupboard pretty bare.
Most years - yes, but this year we might still be able to field a decent team. Although I have got to tell you, I am wondering a bit about consistent scoring - particularly in big games - and those darned outside backs if Vlaentin can't make it. The midfield and central defense should still be solid.