U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos completed the team’s 20-player roster with the addition of midfielder Dillon Serna as the group prepares for the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship that starts on Feb. 18 in Puebla, Mexico.
The Brighton, Colo., native was signed by Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids as a homegrown player after being part of the club’s U-15/16 and U-17/18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams. Serna played in three matches with the U-20 MNT in 2012. He spent the 2012 collegiate season with Caleb Porter at the University of Akron.
Ramos announced an initial 18-player roster on Feb. 7 and the team named forward Jerome Kiesewetter to the roster on Feb. 11. The team is training in Toluca, Mexico, but will travel to Puebla this week.
The U.S. U-20 MNT is looking to qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey from June 21-July 13.
The U-20s open the CONCACAF U-20 Championship group stage against Haiti on Feb. 18 and Costa Rica on Feb. 22 at Estadio Olímpico Universitario Lobos BUAP in Puebla, Mexico. Both Group A matches kick off at 5:30 p.m. CT and are televised on FOX Soccer. U-20 MNT fans can also follow the action through ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer_ynt.
The top four teams from the CONCACAF U-20 Championship advance to the U-20 World Cup.
U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3) : Cody Cropper (Southampton FC; Maple Grove, Minn.), Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.), Zackary Steffen (FC DELCO Academy; Downington, Pa.)
DEFENDERS (5) : Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (C.D. Guadalajara; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), Javan Torre (UCLA; Santa Monica, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (6) : Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (Sporting Kansas City; Mission, Texas), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg; Holly, Mich.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio)
FORWARDS (6) : Brandon Allen (Georgetown; Old Bridge, N.J.), Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Daniel Garcia (North Carolina; Dallas, Texas), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), Mario Rodriguez (1. FC Kaiserslautern; North Hollywood, Calif.), Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)
