The U-20 World Cup kicked off yesterday with host nation Egypt beating Trinidad & Tobago 4-1.
The US kicks off Group C play tomorrow at 10 am ET versus Germany. All games in the U-20 World Cup can be seen on the ESPN family of networks.
We will have live analysis on this website during and after every USA game of the Group Stage.
The US schedule is as follows:
9/26 Germany 10 am ET
9/29 Cameroon 12:45 pm ET
10/2 South Korea 12:45 pm ET
The US squad is as follows:
Professional players in BOLD
GOALKEEPERS (3): Sean Johnson (Central Florida; Lilburn, Ga.), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas; Middleton, Wis.), Brian Perk (UCLA; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (5): 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 (10): Bryan Arguez (Hertha Berlin, Miami), Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo; Glendale, Ariz.), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabaek; 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 (Miami FC; Jacksonville, Fla.)
The US team features 12 professional players, nine of which are domestic based. Four play for FC Dallas, two for Miami FC, two for Chivas USA with one for Houston.
Seven of the professional players are based in MLS, two in USL-1, with one each in Germany, Norway and Belgium.
Of course, I do not need to remind any of our readers that the U-20 World Cup is perhaps the second most important tournament historically for the US behind the World Cup itself.
The 1989 semi-finalist team laid the groundwork for the great US run in the 1990s.
Dan Califf’s goal versus England in 1999 gave the US a famous victory over a team that featured several players now known world wide and passage to the knock out stages.
It was in this tournament in 2003 where Eddie Johnson won the Golden Ball and carried his form into World Cup qualifying for the senior team.
It was in 2005 when Chad Barrett’s goal provided Leo Messi and Argentina their only loss in two consecutive World Cups at this level.
And it was in 2007, when Freddy Adu captured the nation’s attention albeit breifly with a dramatic piece of individual skill versus Brazil to set up a Jozy Altidore winning goal.
The U-20s are back and so is the USA!
