Travis M. Clark

January is a hectic month for the U.S. youth setup.

This week, camps at both the U-20 and U-18 age groups will congregate in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to train and help with player identification for the men’s national team.

Obviously, it’s premature to label any of these players the next big things, but after the jump I’ll dive into a few notes on the U-18 roster after the jump, and do a separate post on the U-20 roster later today. Richie Williams, the recently appointed 18s coach, will marshal his players through the week’s camp which will be held in conjunction with the 20s.

Also included last is a U-19 team headed off to a Junior Cup tournament in Stuttgart, Germany. MLS-affiliated players (either pros or Academy) are bolded for easier viewing.

U-18s

Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Real Colorado; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Zackary Steffen (FC DELCO; Downington, Pa.)

Defenders: Miguel Alves (Players Development Academy; Newark, N.J.), Robert Michael Amick (De Anza Force; Sunnyvale, Calif.), Suliaman Dainkeh (D.C. United; Reston, Va.), Dylan Greenberg (Albertson SC; Dix Hills, N.Y.), Trevor Haberkorn (Solar Chelsea SC; Keller, Texas), Matthew Habrowski (Crew Soccer Academy Wolves; Berkley, Mich.), Jalen Markey (Seattle Sounders FC; Renton, Wash.), Miguel Polley (Chicago Fire; Woodridge, Ill.)

Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; Plano, Texas), Osvaldo Chavez (Texas Rush; El Paso, Texas), Marco Delgado (Chivas USA; Glendora, Calif.), Nicholas Gaitan (Argentinos Juniors; Oceanside, N.Y.), Romain Gall (FC Lorient; Herndon, Va.), Adam Najem (New York Red Bulls; Clifton, N.J.), William Raygoza (LA Galaxy; South El Monte, Calif.)

Forwards: Jordan Allen (Real Salt Lake AZ; Rochester, N.Y.), Paul Arriola (Arsenal FC; Chula Vista, Calif.), Justin Dhillon (LA Galaxy; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Benjamin Lopez (Real Salt Lake AZ; San Diego, Calif.), Zach Pfeffer (Philadelphia Union; Dresher, Pa.), Ben Spencer (Chivas USA; Albuquerque, N.M.), Jaime Villareal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)

Notes

• Two players stand out on this roster – Romain Gall and Nicholas Gaitan. Both currently are listed with an overseas club, Gall with Lorient’s academy in France (by way of D.C. United’s Academy) and Gaitan a player for Argentinos Juniors in Argentina. Steve Goff has more on Gaitan’s background in a blog post from last year.
• Jaime Villareal, of LA Galaxy’s Academy, is a rising star and little brother of recent homegrown signing Jose. Both are players to watch in MLS and on the U.S. stage. Jaime already has 12 goals in just eight DA games this year for LA’s U-16s.
• Zack Steffen is a promising goalkeeper in Philadelphia’s player development system of FC Delco. He’s a big kid already and if he continues to progress, will stake a claim as a possible academy signing down the road (though not any time soon).
• A few of last summer’s U.S. U-17 World Cup squad made the cut, including Kellyn Acosta and Paul Arriola.
• Another LA player to watch – Justin Dhillon. He’s one half of a twin pair of very physically prominent and talented wingers coming through the Galaxy’s Academy. I watched him at the Generation adidas U-17 Cup last summer, and he’s another to keep an eye on.

U-19s

Goalkeepers: Jeffrey Joseph Gal (Sockers FC), Fernando Piña (Houston Dynamo),

Defenders: Jonathan Campbell (North Carolina Fusion), Holden Fender (Concorde Fire), Luis Hernandez (Atlas Merced No Cal), Nico Rittmyer (South Carolina United Battery)

Midfielders: Diego Lopez (Atletico Santa Rosa No Cal), Casey Macias (Pateadores), Stefanos Stamoulacatos (Empire United), Cooper Vandermass-Peeler (North Carolina)

Forwards: Mario Rodriguez (LA Galaxy), Jonathan Top (FC Dallas)

Notes

• The Junior Cup is a six-a-side tournament of multiple mini-games (not futsal though), hence the tiny roster.
• Fernando Piña made a recent commitment to play at the University of Akron. He was a member of the U.S. U-17 World Cup roster lsat year.
• Same for Mario Rodriguez, a tall forward now playing for LA’s stacked Academy.
• Cooper Vandermass-Peeler played a peripheral role on last fall’s title-winning Tar Heel side.
• Jonathan Top is the lone full professional of this crop, as he’s one of FC Dallas’ multiple youth signings.