Dec. 8, 2006
Santa Clara, Calif. - Santa Clara University freshman Amaechi Igwe has been named to the training camp roster for the United States Under-20 National Team for the camp that runs from Dec. 12 - 23 in Bradenton, Fla. at the IMG Academy. The 12-day camp marks the final time the Under-20s will be together before head coach Thomas Rongen names his final 20-player roster for the 2007 CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament, which will take place from Jan. 17-21 in Panama City, Panama.
Igwe competed with the Under-20 national team in six matches in 2006, including a closed-door scrimmage against Haiti on Oct. 11. He saw time in two matches against Canada in Toronto in early July, before helping the U.S. to a second-place finish at the 2006 Milk Cup in Northern Ireland in early August. In Canada, Igwe scored his first goal for the team on a header for the only U.S. goal on July 9th, and also assisted on Josmer Altidore's game-winning goal late in the first half in the previous game on July 7th. Igwe started two games in the Milk Cup.
Prior to arriving at Santa Clara in January, Igwe, 18, played at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and was a part of the U.S. Under-17 residency program. He played in 18 career international games for the U.S. at the Under-17 level and scored one goal. In 2005, he played in 36 total games and scored five goals, before committing to Santa Clara, where he follows in his brother Kelechi's footsteps.
Rongen will announce the final 20-player qualifying roster before the team returns to Bradenton on Dec. 30 for an eight-day camp. The players will head home for three days and then regroup on Dec. 10 in Fort Lauderdale where they will train before heading to Panama for the qualifying tournament on Dec. 14.
The U.S. is in Group A of the 2007 CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament with Guatemala, Haiti and the host Panama. The top two teams in the group will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, which will take place from June 30-July 22 across six cities - Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Burnaby and Victoria. The U.S. will be attempting to qualify for their sixth straight FIFA World Cup (formerly FIFA World Youth Championship).
U.S. Under 20 Men's National Team Roster
Training Camp December 12-23, 2006 - Bradenton, Fla.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brian Perk (UCLA), Steve Sandbo (SMU), Chris Seitz (University of Maryland)
DEFENDERS (11): Tony Beltran (UCLA), Matt Besler (Notre Dame), Kyle Davies (Ballistic United), Amaechi Igwe (Santa Clara University), Quavas Kirk (L.A. Galaxy), Ofori Sarkodi (Indiana University), Nathan Sturgis (L.A. Galaxy), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest), Blake Wagner (FC Dallas), Anthony Wallace (University of South Florida), Tim Ward (Columbus Crew)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (D.C. United), Bryan Arguez (West Kendal Optimists), Alejandro Bedoya (Fairleigh Dickinson University), Jeremy Hall (University of Maryland), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew), Jonathan Villanueva (University of Virginia)
FORWARD (5): Andre Akpan (Harvard), Josmer Altidore (N.Y. Red Bulls), Mike Grella (Duke), Rodrigo Hildalgo (University of South Florida), Sal Zizzo (UCLA)
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