CHICAGO – U.S. futsal national team head coach Dusan Jakica Friday announced the 14-player roster that will represent the USA at the 2021 Concacaf Futsal Championship in Guatemala May 3-9.
The USA will face El Salvador, Nicaragua and Cuba in Group D play at the 13-team tournament. After round-robin group play, the top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals. The four semifinalists will earn a berth at the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania this September (rescheduled from 2020).
“We had many difficult decisions in choosing the roster that will represent the U.S. in Guatemala, having evaluated over 600 players since September 2019– when we started preparation for this tournament,” Jakica said. “I want to thank all the players who participated- we now have a wide base of players and great potential for the future. We opted for players who at this point we think can bring us what we want. I am very excited and confident that we will play well in Guatemala.
“Covid significantly disrupted our plans, but it also disrupted the plans of other teams. While we did not have the preparation period we wanted, I expect that we will provide good games in Guatemala and the U.S. futsal national team will play real, modern futsal.”
Fans in the U.S. can watch all matches on TUDN platforms and the official Concacaf app. Fans will also be able to follow the team on social media via Facebook, Twitter ( @ussoccer_ent and @ussoccer) and Instagram (@ussoccer and @ussoccer_pnt).
U.S. FUTSAL NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (Club/Hometown)
Position Key: Fixo = Stopper, Defense; Ala = Winger / Midfielder; Pivot = Target / Forward
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Eduardo Macias (Unattached; Dallas, Texas), 12-Diego Moretti (Petrarca Pavoda/ITA; Ancona, Italy)
FIXOS (3): 13-Eduardo Buenfil (Unattached; San Jose, Calif.), 5-Julian Escobar (Harrisburg Heat – MASL; Hicksville, N.Y.), 8-Guilherme Veiga (Milwaukee Wave – MASL; Milwaukee, Wis.)
ALAS (6): 14-Luciano Gonzalez (Buldog Lucrezia/ITA; Mendoza, Argentina), 6-Jeremy Klepal (Lansing City Futsal; Lansing, Mich.), 7-Daniel Mattos (Compass United Futsal; Chicago, Ill.), 11-Tomas Pondeca (Paris Acasa/FRA; Dallas, Texas), 10-Ricardo de Maria Sobreira (Florida Tropics – MASL; Lakeland, Fla.), 4-Alencar Ventura-Junior (Safira Futsal; Tewksbury, Mass.)
PIVOS (3): 3-Raphael Araujo (NY Ecuador Futsal; Bound Brook, N.J.), 9-Everson Maciel (Safira Futsal; Milford, Conn.), 2-Zach Reget (Florida Tropics – MASL; Kenosha, Wisc.)
Head Coach: Dusan Jakica (Eden Prairie, Minn.)
Assistant Coach: Otto Orf (Akron, Ohio)
Assistant Coach: Pablo da Silva (Fort Worth, Texas)
