HERRIMAN, Utah (Monday, March 1, 2021)—U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team Head Coach Jason Kreis has called 31 players, including Real Salt Lake’s Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera and David Ochoa, to a training camp ahead of the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The players will train in Mexico before Kreis selects the final 20-player tournament roster later that month. The USA kicks off Olympic qualifying Thursday, March 18 vs. Costa Rica at 3 p.m. MT, faces Dominican Republic on Sunday, March 21 at 5 p.m. MT and wraps up the group stage vs. Mexico on Wednesday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. MT. All three U.S. group stage games will be broadcast on FS1 and TUDN.
“We’re excited to finally return to Guadalajara ahead of the Olympic qualifying tournament,” Kreis said. “A lot has changed since March 2020, but we’ve seen our player pool grow and gain invaluable experience over the last year. We’re looking forward to a few weeks of preparation ahead of the tournament and we’re thankful for the cooperation of the clubs in releasing their players for this very important training camp. I'm confident that the group we’ve assembled can achieve our ultimate goal of qualifying for the Olympics in Tokyo.”
Glad, 23, signed as a Homegrown Player in 2014 at just 17 years old and has been a mainstay in the lineup since the 2016 season. The 2016 and 2017 RSL Defensive Player of the Year has 126 regular season appearances with three goals and one assist. During the 2017 and 2018 seasons, he started 50 consecutive matches and also has four appearances, two as a starter, in the MLS Cup Playoffs. He helped the U.S. win the 2017 Concacaf U-20 Championship, earning Best XI honors in the process and has played at the U-17, U-18, U-20 and U-23 levels.
Herrera, 23, has been with Real Salt Lake as a Homegrown Player since 2018, appearing in 68 matches in his first three seasons as a professional. The 2019 and 2020 Real Salt Lake Defensive Player of the Year has five assists in his career and has been among club leaders in tackles, interceptions and dribbles completed in each of the last two seasons. In 2020, he led the club in minutes played (1,796), tackles (49) and dribbles completed (43) and finished second in interceptions (36) and blocks (9). He earned his first cap with the U.S. National Team on February 1, 2021, in a 7-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago and has also appeared at the U-20 and U-23 levels.
Ochoa, 20, made his RSL debut in the regular season finale in 2020, making four saves in a 2-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City. He has 22 career appearances in the USL Championship for the Real Monarchs, posting a 9-9-4 record with four shutouts and a 1.41 goals against average. In the 2019 season, he backstopped the Monarchs to the USL Championship title, winning all four playoff matches while posting a 1.15 goals against average. He was on the 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship-winning roster for the U.S. and made two appearances in the 2018 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He has also appeared at the U-18 and U-16 levels.
In addition to the RSL trio, RSL Academy products Sebastian Saucedo, Brooks Lennon and Sebastian Soto also made the 31-player roster. Saucedo, a native of Park City, Utah, had five goals and 11 assists for RSL in 83 appearances from 2015-2019, adding one goal in three MLS Cup Playoff appearances. He currently plays for UNAM Pumas in Mexico. Soto is in his first season with Norwich City in England’s Championship after spending his first professional season with Hannover 96 in Germany. Lennon spent 2017-2019 seasons with RSL before joining Atlanta United FC ahead of the 2020 season. For RSL, Lennon featured in 86 matches and scored three goals while contributing 10 assists.
U-23 USMNT Training Camp Roster by Position (Club; Hometown):
GOALKEEPERS (4): Matt Freese (Philadelphia Union; Wayne, Pa.), Jonathan Klinsmann (LA Galaxy; Munich, Germany), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes, Alamo, Calif.), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (8): Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy; Lompoc, Calif.), Marco Farfan (LAFC; Gresham, Ore.), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Ariz.), Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake; Las Cruces, N.M.), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution; New York, N.Y.), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire FC; Bolingbrook, Ill.), Austin Trusty (Colorado Rapids; Media, Pa.), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids; Colorado Springs, Colo.)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Frankie Amaya (FC Cincinnati; Santa Ana, Calif.), Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids; Littleton, Colo.), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional/BRA; Denville, N.J.), Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United FC; Federal Way, Wash.), Andrés Perea (Orlando City SC; Medellin, Colombia), Tanner Tessmann (FC Dallas; Hoover, Ala.), Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers; Alexandria, Va.), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; Bloomington, Minn.)
FORWARDS (8): Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids; Plantation, Fla.), Ulysses Llanez (Heerenveen/NED; Lynwood, Calif.), Benji Michel (Orlando City SC; Orlando, Fla.), Djordje Mihailovic (CF Montreal/CAN; Jacksonville, Fla.), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas), Sebastian Saucedo (UNAM Pumas/MEX; Park City, Utah), Sebastian Soto (Norwich City/ENG; San Diego, Calif.)
The Olympic qualifying tournament was originally scheduled for March 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997 are age-eligible for the competition, and Kreis selected 11 players born in 1997, five born in 1998, one born in 1999, four born in 2000, six born in 2001 and one born in 2003 for the training camp.
The tournament features eight nations divided into two groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the pivotal semifinals that will send two winners to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo as representatives of Concacaf. The two winners will also meet in the final on March 30.
