U.S. U-23 MNT ready to clash with England on Sept. 3
(Via U.S. Soccer) – For the second time in 2015, the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team is set to play England on European soil, this time facing off with the Young Lions on Thursday at Deepdale Stadium in Preston, England. Kickoff is set for 2:45 p.m. ET.
The USA’s training camp runs from Aug. 30-Sept. 8 in Manchester and the match with England will be followed by a friendly against Qatar on Sept. 8 at Gigg Lane in Bury. The camp is the final for the U-23 MNT before the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in October.
The Olympic Qualifying Championship will be played across the United States from Oct. 1-13. The U.S. was drawn into Group A and opens with a pair of games at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, against Canada on Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. CT and Cuba on Oct. 3 at 4 p.m. CT. The U.S. will conclude group play at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on Oct. 6 against Panama at 7:30 p.m. MT.
The U-23’s were last in Europe in June, where they competed in the prestigious Toulon Tournament. With group stage wins against Netherlands and Qatar, the team advanced to the tournament’s third-place playoff, where it defeated England and matched its best ever finish in the tournament. The U-23 MNT is 5-3-0 in 2015, having also logged wins against Bosnia in March and Mexico in April.
Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Cody Cropper (MK Dons; Maple Grove, Minn.), Ethan Horvath (Molde; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Zack Steffen (Freiburg; Downington, Pa.).
DEFENDERS (8): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur; Westcliff on Sea, England), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls; Clifton, N.J.), Eric Miller (Montreal Impact; Woodbury, Minn.), Boyd Okwuonu (Real Salt Lake; Edmund, Okla.), Shane O’Neill (Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz; Boulder, Colo.), William Packwood (Unattached; Concord, Mass.), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif).
MIDFIELDERS (8): Gboly Ariyibi (Chesterfield; Arlington, Va.), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham; Dallas, Texas), Benji Joya (Club Necaxa; San Jose, Calif.), Marc Pelosi (San Jose Earthquakes; Sunnyvale, Calif.), Matt Polster (Chicago Fire; Milwaukee, Wisc.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio), Gedion Zelalem (Rangers; Bethesda, Md.).
FORWARDS (5): Alonso Hernandez (C.D. Juarez; El Paso, Texas), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), Mario Rodriguez (Borussia Mönchengladbach; North Hollywood, Calif.), Rubio Rubin (Utrecht; Beaverton, Ore.), Maki Tall (Scion; Washington, D.C.).
Roster Notes:
- Seven players from the USA’s 2015 U-20 World Cup team that advanced to the quarterfinals in New Zealand now join the U-23 group: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Emerson Hyndman, Matt Miazga, Rubio Rubin, Zack Steffen, Maki Tall and Gedion Zelalem.
- Five players from this roster have scored goals for the U-23’s in 2015: Alonso Hernandez, Benji Joya, Jerome Kiesewetter, William Packwood and Mario Rodriguez.
- Three from this roster scored goals with the U-20’s in 2015: Hyndman, Rubin and Tall.
- Shane O’Neill was a force for the squad on the backline in the Toulon Tournament, and earned honors as the Third-Best player in the tournament.
- Hernandez and Joya both scored penalties in the third-place playoff of the Toulon Tournament. Hernandez’s strike was the first score of the game and Joya’s proved to be the game-winner.
- Rodriguez returns to the mix after missing the Toulon Tournament. The strong striker plays at Borussia Mönchengladbach, the same club as Men’s National Team defender Fabian Johnson. The North Hollywood-native has scored twice in as many games in 2015.
- Luis Gil also returns to the U-23’s after missing the Toulon Tournament. Gil wore the captain’s armband in each of the first three games of 2015, where he leads the team with four assists.
- Goalkeeper Cody Cropper (MK Dons), defender Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur) and midfielder Hyndman (Fulham) won’t have far to travel for this camp, coming over from their nearby English club teams.
- Eighteen-year-old Gedion Zelalem, who recently completed a loan move from Arsenal to Rangers, made his U.S. debut for the U-20’s in this summer’s World Cup. Zelalem will join the team on Sept. 6.
- The roster is a diverse mix with the players coming from club teams of various leagues around the world. Nine players from this roster represent MLS clubs, three come from German club teams, four from English teams, two from Mexico, and a single player each from leagues in Cyprus, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, and Switzerland.
- Twelve players from this roster have ties to the Development Academy: Ethan Horvath (Real Colorado), Emerson Hyndman (FC Dallas), Benji Joya (De Anza Force), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls), Eric Miller (Minnesota Thunder Academy), Boyd Okwuonu (FC Dallas), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids), Marc Pelosi (De Anza Force), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy & Pateadores), Zack Steffen (Continental FC DELCO), Wil Trapp (Crew SC Academy).
England Roster:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Jordan Pickford (Preston North End)
DEFENDERS (8): Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Dominic Iorfa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jack Stephens (Middlesbrough), Matt Targett (Southampton)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
FORWARDS (6): Jordon Ibe (Liverpool), Solly March (Brighton & Hove Albion), Nathan Redmond (Norwich City), Duncan Watmore (Sunderland), James Wilson (Manchester United), Cauley Woodrow (Fulham)
England Roster Notes:
- Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, defenders Kortney Hause, Dominic Iorfa and Jack Stephens and forwards Duncan Watmore and James Wilson were a part of England’s squad when it was defeated by the USA in the third-place playoff of the Toulon Tournament in June.
- Hause scored was the lone goalscorer for England in the last matchup.
- 18-year-old Joe Gomez 19-year-old Jordon Ibe have appeared in all four matches for Liverpool this season. Gomez has stared in all four games and Ibe has started in two.
- Delle Ali has played in three matches for Tottenham Hotspur this year and scored his first Premier League Goal in the team’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City on Aug. 22
- Head coach Gareth Southgate earned 57 caps for the English national team and scored two goals. He previously managed Middlesbrough from 2006-2009.
- Eight players from this group have been capped at England’s U-21 level.
- Thirteen players from the roster represent Premier League clubs
- It will be a homecoming of sorts for Pickford, with the match taking place at Preston North End’s Deepdale Stadium
- It is the first call up at the U-21 level for Manchester United forward James Wilson
U-23’s Last Time Out
Match: U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team vs. England
Date: June 7, 2015
Competition: 2015 Toulon Tournament – Third Place Match
Kickoff: 11 a.m. ET (5 p.m. local)
Attendance: 910
Weather: 80 degrees, Sunny
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 1 1 2
ENG 1 0 0
USA – Alonso Hernandez (penalty kick) 7th minute
ENG – Kortney Hause 10
USA – Benji Joya (penalty kick) 65
Lineups:
USA: 1-Cody Cropper; 3-Boyd Okwuonu (20-Tyler Turner, 55), 5-William Packwood, 4-Shane O’Neill, 2-Juan Pablo Ocegueda; 7-Dillon Serna, 14-Daniel Metzger, 8-Benji Joya (capt.), 16-Julian Green; 17-Jerome Kiesewetter, 11-Alonso Hernandez (17-Alfred Koroma Shams, 63)
Subs Not Used: 22-Tyler Miller
Head Coach: Andreas Herzog
ENG: 1-Christian Walton (13-Jordan Pickford, 41); 2-Iorfa Dominc, 5-Jack Stephens, 6-Bailey Cargill, 15-Kortney Hause; 17-John Swift, 7-Matthew Grimes (capt.), 20-Duncan Watmore, 18-Jamie Hanson; 19-Kwame Thomas (10-Chuba Akpom, 49), 11-Rolando Aarons (16-Callum Robinson, 49)
Subs Not Used: 8-Lewis Baker, 9-James Wilson, 12-Isaac Hayden, 14-Demarai Gray
Head Coach: Aidy Boothroyd
