The U.S. U-17 National Team announced the 20-man roster for the 2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship on Tuesday, including Real Salt Lake-Arizona defender Tanner Dieterich.
Head Coach Richie Williams will lead his squad against Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago in Group A of the tournament in Honduras starting February 27.
“We’re very happy with the 20-man roster that we named, and we think it’s a strong and deep roster,” Williams said in a release from U.S. Soccer. “Obviously there were difficult decisions that needed to be made because we have a very good group, and we have a lot of players that have been here for a year and a half to two years that have really worked hard and developed. That made it difficult in terms of choosing that 20-man roster. It’s not easy when you have to tell players that they haven’t made it. But again, we feel this is a strong roster and it’s a group that’s ready to go and compete and win a championship.”
After the USA’s game against Cuba on Feb. 27, the U-17 MNT faces Trinidad & Tobago on March 2, followed by Guatemala (March 5), Honduras (March 8) and Jamaica (March 11). The group winners qualify automatically for the tournament final and the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which takes place in Chile in October-November of 2015. The runners-up and third place teams are reseeded amongst each other and play a play-off for the last two CONCACAF slots at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
