CHICAGO – U.S. Under-23 men’s national team head coach Jason Kreis has selected 20 players to represent the United States at the 2020 Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Championship, it was announced late Sunday night.

The tournament will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico from March 20-April 1.

“With a lot of games in a short amount of time, we will need the contributions of all 20 players on this roster to achieve our ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo,” Kreis said. “This is our sixth time together with this U-23 group, so I think we have a real firm understanding of how we want to play and who we want to be.”

Aiming to qualify for its first Olympic Games since 2008 with a victory in the tournament semifinals, the USA’s journey begins when Group A play opens on Friday, March 20 vs. Costa Rica (7 p.m. ET; FS2, TUDN). The U.S. will then face Dominican Republic on Monday, March 23 (7 p.m. ET; FS1, TUDN) and wrap up the group stage vs. Mexico on Thursday, March 26 (11 p.m. ET; FS1, TUDN).

The U.S. roster

GOALKEEPERS (3): Matt Freese (Philadelphia Union; Wayne, Pa.), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes; Alamo, Calif.), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6): Reggie Cannon (FC Dallas; Grapevine, Texas), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Ariz.), Chris Gloster (PSV Eindhoven/NED; Montclair, N.J.), Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake; Las Cruces, N.M.), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union; Bear, Del.), Erik Palmer-Brown (Austria Wien/AUT; Lee’s Summit, Mo.)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union; Medford, N.J.), Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United; Federal Way, Wash.), Richard Ledezma (PSV Eindhoven/NED; Phoenix, Ariz.), Djordje Mihailovic (Chicago Fire; Lemont, Ill.), Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas; Highland Village, Texas), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; Bloomington, Minn.)

FORWARDS (5): Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers; Bethesda, Md.), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids; Plantation, Fla.), Ulysses Llanez (Wolfsburg/GER; Lynwood, Calif.), Sebastian Saucedo (UNAM Pumas/MEX; Park City, Utah)

Date Match Kickoff (ET) Venue TV Info
Friday, March 20 USA vs. Costa Rica 7 p.m. Estadio Jalisco; Guadalajara, Mexico FS2, TUDN
Monday, March 23 USA vs. Dominican Republic 7 p.m. Estadio Akron; Zapopan, Mexico FS1, TUDN
Thursday, March 26 USA vs. Mexico 11 p.m. Estadio Jalisco; Guadalajara, Mexico FS1, TUDN

 

 

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.