RENTON, Wash. (June 7, 2013)
- Sounders FC defender DeAndre Yedlin has been named to the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey from June 21-July 13.
Yedlin, 19, was previously called into the U-20 national team camp in January of 2012 and also joined the team for training camp last April. Seattle's first Homegrown Player, Yedlin has started 11 of 12 MLS matches and has logged the second-most minutes (989) of any field player on Sounders FC. Yedlin will miss four Sounders FC matches, including at Real Salt Lake on June 22, versus D.C. United on July 3, at Vancouver on July 6 and at San Jose on July 13.
The group is a familiar one during the World Cup qualifying process with 17 of the 21 helping lead the U-20 MNT to a runner-up finish at the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship earlier this year.
"We're very happy about the group we selected," said Ramos. "Obviously it's always difficult. Wednesday night we were up till late selecting the final couple players. It's always hard to let a player go who's worked so hard to get here, and we know that we have 35 players who are deserving of going to the World Cup."
The U.S. is coming off a four-game stretch at the Under-21 Toulon Tournament in France, where Ramos and his staff utilized the event to evaluate and finalize the U-20 World Cup roster. Sixteen of the players on the USA's 22-player Toulon Tournament roster are part of the World Cup. The five who were not with the team in France include Philadelphia Union Academy goalkeeper Zach Steffen, Seattle Sounders defender DeAndre Yedlin, midfielder Luis Gil of Real Salt Lake, and forwards Mario Rodriguez of 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Jose Villarreal of the LA Galaxy.
Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (3)
: 1-Cody Cropper (Southampton FC; Maple Grove, Minn.), 12-Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.), 21-Zach Steffen (FC DELCO; Downington, Pa.)
DEFENDERS (7)
: 13-Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), 3-Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Guadalajara; Riverside, Calif.), 5-Shane O'Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), 18-Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), 4-Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg; Holly, Mich.), 14-Javan Torre (UCLA; Santa Monica, Calif.), 2-DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders; Seattle, Wash.)
MIDFIELDERS (5)
: 16-Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; Plano, Texas), 10-Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), 8-Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), 15-Mikey Lopez (Sporting Kansas City; Mission, Texas), 6-Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio)
FORWARDS (6)
: 20-Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), 17-Danny Garcia (North Carolina; Dallas, Texas), 7-Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bolingbrook, Ill.), 19-Alonso Hernandez (C.F. Monterrey; El Paso, Texas), 9-Mario Rodriguez (1. FC Kaiserslautern; North Hollywood, Calif.), 11-Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)
