Youth & High School

National call-up for Akpan
December 12, 2006


Thomas Rongen has named 26 players to participate in the USA under-20's training camp, which runs from today through 23 December at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. The camp marks the final time the under-20s will be together before Rongen names his final roster for the 2007 CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament, which will take place in January.

Andre Akpan (Harvard media relations)

Called into the camp is Harvard University's Andre Akpan, who earns the recognition following a sensational freshman season. Akpan led the Ivy League in scoring with eleven goals and twelve assists and was unanimously named to the All-Ivy First Team. He was also the unanimous choice for the Rookie of the Year award.

Of the 26 players named to camp, fourteen are in college, eight are professional players in Major League Soccer and two are part of US Soccer's under-17 Residency Program. Despite a number of European professionals in the player pool (including Connecticut's Johann Smith), none were brought in by Thomas due to their club commitments. Left off the roster was the New England Revolution's Miguel Gonzalez, who had featured in each of the three side's previous two get-togethers.

“We won't have our entire player pool with us for this camp, but we are brining in guys who will definitely be fighting for some of the final undecided spots on our qualifying roster,” said Rongen. “I'm looking forward to an extremely productive and intense camp that will, in the end, allow us to make the ultimate decisions on who will be helping us attempt to qualify for the 2007 World Cup.”

The USA 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 30 June – 22 July across six cities.

Full Roster

Goalkeepers: Brian Perk (UCLA), Steve Sandbo (SMU), Chris Seitz (University of Maryland)

Defenders: 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: Freddy Adu (Real Salt Lake), 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)

Forwards: Andre Akpan (Harvard), Josmer Altidore (N.Y. Red Bulls), Mike Grella (Duke), Rodrigo Hildalgo (University of South Florida), Sal Zizzo (UCLA)