SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, April 3, 2012) – Real Salt Lake midfielderLuis Gil has been named by U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos to the 24-player roster that will participate in the U-20s’ upcoming training camp in Portland, Ore., taking place fromApril 9-16. Due to his participation at the U-20 camp, Gil will miss Real Salt Lake’s regular season match-up at Sporting Kansas City on April 14, but he will remain eligible for selection for this Saturday’s rivalry contest against the Colorado Rapids.
“We’ve had three camps this year and taken advantage of the opportunity to cast a wide net in evaluating the player pool,” said Ramos, who took over the U-20 program last October. “This is the last time we plan on calling in a large number of new players. From here on out, we’re really going to really focus in the players we have identified who we think will be competing for spots on this team moving forward.”
The 18-year-old Gil has been shining with Real Salt Lake during the opening portion of its 2012 campaign, starting all four contests thus far and scoring the insurance goal for the Utah side in its 2-0 victory against New York on March 17. Gil will be one of eight professional players taking part in the 24-man camp and one of three players currently plying their trade in Major League Soccer, alongside Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire) and Jack McBean (LA Galaxy). Eleven players who were part of the team’s last camp in February will also take part in next week’s camp [read more from at USsoccer.com].
The Portland camp will include two matches, the first versus the University of Portland on Thursday, April 12, at Merlo Field (7:00 p.m. local) and the second on Sunday, April 15, against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. Ramos is preparing the all-eligible group for qualifying for the 2013 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, which will be held in Turkey next summer.
For more news on the U.S. Under-20 NMNT camp, visit USsoccer.com and the site’s Youth National Team blog.
U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Training Camp Roster (by position)
GOALKEEPERS (2): Tomas Gomez (Georgetown; Webster Groves, Mo.), Jake McGuire (Chivas USA Academy; Pomona, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (9): Christian Dean (California; East Palo Alto, Calif.), Bryan Gallego (Akron; Kinnelon, N.J.), Jordan McCrary (North Carolina; Marietta, Ga.), Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (UANL Tigres; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), William Packwood (Birmingham City; Concord, Mass.), Jeffrey Payeras (LA Galaxy Academy; Hawthorne, Calif.), Derek Vogel (Pateadores; Long Beach, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Seth Casiple (California; Rocklin, Calif.), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (North Carolina; Mission, Texas), Collin Martin (D.C. United Academy; Chevy Chase, Md.), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bolingbrook, Ill.), Wil Trapp (Akron; Gahanna, Ohio)
FORWARDS (6): Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Ethan Decker (New York Red Bulls Academy; Manahawkin, N.J.), Daniel Garcia (FC Dallas Academy; Dallas, Texas), Jack McBean (LA Galaxy; Newport Beach, Calif.), James Rogers (New Mexico, Salt Lake City, Utah), Jonathan Top (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas)
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