Three Philadelphia Union Homegrowns Receive Call-Up From United States Under-20 National Team
Philadelphia trio named to U.S. roster for 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship;
Union lead all MLS clubs in number of players called
CHESTER, Pa. (October 23, 2018) – In conjunction with U.S. Soccer, Philadelphia Union today announced that three of their players have been named by the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team to the side’s roster for the 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship.
Mark McKenzie, Matt Real, and Anthony Fontana have been called in for the tournament, which takes place from November 1-21 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. All three players have previously been called up by the U-20s, most recently for the Four Team International tournament in September. Although Fontana and Real could not join due to injury, McKenzie served as the team’s captain for two of the three games. Of the 20 players on the roster, 10 represent Major League Soccer clubs, with no other club exceeding the Union’s three players named.
The 2018 tournament marks Concacaf’s largest Under-20 World Cup qualifying tournament ever, with 34 member associations participating. The top four teams will qualify for the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, set for May 23 to June 15 in Poland.
As the tournament’s top seed, the U.S. was drawn into Group A and opens the tournament against Puerto Rico (Nov. 1), followed by U.S. Virgin Islands (Nov. 3), Trinidad and Tobago (Nov. 5) and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Nov. 7) before finishing up against Suriname (Nov. 9).
The new Concacaf U-20 Championship format features four groups of six teams and two groups of five teams. Following round-robin group play, the top team in each of the six groups will advance to the qualification stage, where they will be divided into two groups of three. After a second edition of round-robin play, the two group winners plus the second-place finishers will qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Additionally, the two group winners will advance to the tournament final to determine the regional champion.
The USA returns to the confederation tournament as the defending champion after capturing its first title at the U-20 level in March of 2017, defeating Honduras via penalty kicks in the final. The team went on to reach the quarterfinals of the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea Republic, where it lost to eventual tournament runners-up Venezuela 2-1 in extra time.
2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship Roster by Position (Club or College; Hometown)
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Brady Scott (FC Koln; Petaluma, Calif.), 12-CJ Dos Santos (S.L Benfica; Philadelphia, Pa.)
DEFENDERS (7): 2-Jaylin Lindsey (Sporting KC; Charlotte, N.C.), 3-Chris Gloster (Hannover 96; South Orange, N.J.), 4-Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union; Bear, Del.), 5-Matthew Real (Philadelphia Union; Drexel Hill, Pa.), 14-Manny Perez (N.C. State; Garner, N.C.), 16-Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy; Lompac, Calif.), 19-Sam Rogers (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): 6-Brandon Servania (FC Dallas; Birmingham, Ala.), 8-Juan Pablo Torres (K.S.C.Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen; Lilburn, Ga.), 8-Alex Mendez (SC Frieburg; Los Angeles, Calif.), 10-Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas; Highland Village, Tex.), 15-Anthony Fontana (Philadelphia Union; Newark, Del.), 18-Isaac Angking (New England Revolution; Providence, R.I.)
FORWARDS (5): 9-Justin Rennicks (Indiana Univ.; Hamilton, Mass.), 11-Ulysses Llanez (Unattached; Lynwood, Calif.), 13-Griffin Dorsey (Indiana Univ.; Evergreen, Colo.), 17-Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC; Detroit, Mich.), 20-Frankie Amaya (UCLA; Santa Ana, Calif.)
