I did start a couple weeks ago, but wanted to leave this as a placeholder of sorts, as I know people who visit blogs get fed up not seeing it updated. No that I updated this a ton. Look for more youth national team, club and college coverage coming from me.

In the wake of the violence, former U.S. men’s coach, now manager of the Egyptian national team, gave an interview worth watching with an Egyptian outlet. Definitely check it out if you haven’t already.

With the combine wrapped up, the anxious wait begins for the aspiring professional soccer players ahead of Thursday’s SuperDraft.

No two prognosticators will be able to tell you what exactly might play out on Thursday, and mock drafts are certainly going to be available in spades.

But to gear up, here’s a look at what’s out there and worthwhile in terms of information and learning about the prospects and everything needed – both mine and others out there.

First off, head over to our combine section on MLSsoccer.com. The links there provides match recaps, highlights, some analysis, and just about everything you’d need to learn about the prospects. I wrote a number of them from on the ground in Florida. If you don’t click on anything else, click there.

Also from the combine, be sure to read how the prospects fared on the final day from Joe Mauceri over on Top Drawer Soccer.

I penned an opus preview for NSCAA, whose convention the draft has been held in conjunction with over the last nine years, did another mini-preview for Potomac Soccer Wire, as well as a look at 15 of my favorite prospects for the Guardian. Also there is an interesting piece that speaks to each club’s supporters to see what they think/want to see happen.

SBNation polls a panel of bloggers and conduct a two-round mock draft.

Avi Creditor rounds up the prospects for SI.com.

Another good resource that looks at prospects up close without delving into too much detail is Kyle McCarthy’s Musings on Goal.com.

More will be linked over the next 24 hours or so. Happy reading.

It was a fairly good showing compared to the combine I covered last year, with a very entertaining first game.

In case you missed the results from yesterday, here’s a blow-by-blow overview of the coverage available:

My recap of the first game, a 3-2 win by adiPower, and a 0-0 draw between adiZero and adiPure.

Highlights from game one and game two.

A brief story on combine players putting the jitters of the first day behind them.

Simon Borg chatted briefly with Kelyn Rowe, who speaks about how his roommate helped keep things in check for him last season.

The MLS Insider (aka Shawn Francis) with a recap of Day One.

Generation adidas signing Andrew Wenger and U.S. Olympic hopeful Andrew Wenger was named the Hermann Trophy winner on Friday. He won’t be at the combine, as he reports for U.S. U-23 duty instead.

Joe Mauceri posts his notes from the first day over on Top Drawer Soccer. A worthy click if there ever was one.

Kyle McCarthy with a detailed rehash of Day One.

Franco Panizo writes a feature on Dartmouth forward Lucky Mkosana on Soccer By Ives.

Day Two kicks off at 2:30 pm Sunday live on MLSsoccer.com.

It’s an interesting mix for the 20s, with a dash of professionals mixed with college and MLS youth academy players. See what Brent Latham had to say about it all, including a chat with new 20s coach Tab Ramos.

After the jump, I’ll take a look at some of the more interesting players involved, and I have bolded those affiliated with MLS – whether as a full-time player, homegrown candidate or current academy player. The camp runs through January 9.

U.S. U-20s

Goalkeepers: Jesus Guzman (Santos Laguna; Dallas, Texas), Daniel Medina Meza (UANL Tigres; El Paso, Texas), Tyler Miller (Northwestern; Woodbury, N.J.), Andrew Wolverton (Pennsylvania State; Snellville, Ga.).

Defenders: Bolu Akinyonde (Seton Hall; Brooklyn, N.Y.), Mikey Ambrose (FC Dallas Academy; Frisco, Texas), AJ Cochran (Wisconsin; St. Louis, Mo.), Sean Cunningham (Molde FK; Troy, Mich.), Phanuel Kavita (Clemson; Salt Lake City, Utah), Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (UANL Tigres; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Jalen Robinson (D.C. United Academy; Cantonsville, Md.), Matt Wendelken (Marist; Massapequa, N.Y.), DeAndre Yedlin (Akron; Seattle, Wash.), Walker Zimmerman (Furman; Lawrenceville, Ga.).

Midfielders: Seth Casiple (California; Rocklin, Calif.), Daniel Cuevas Granados (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Hector Delgado Cha (Club América; Indio, Calif.), Christian Duarte (Texans SC Houston; League City, Texas), Daniel Garcia (FC Dallas Academy; Dallas, Texas), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Flavio Guzman (FC Dallas Academy; Dallas, Texas), Collin Martin (D.C. United Academy; Chevy Chase, Md.), Tyrone McCargo (FC Nürnberg; Nürnberg, Germany), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg; Holly, Mich.), Wil Trapp (Akron; Gahanna, Ohio), Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.).

Forwards: Villyan Bijev (Fortuna Düsseldorf; Fresno, Calif.), Amadou Dia (Clemson; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Alfred Koroma (Solar Chelsea SC; Southlake, Tex.), Duke Lacroix (Pennsylvania; New Egypt, N.J.), Uvaldo Luna Martinez (UANL Tigres; Houston, Texas), Jack McBean (LA Galaxy; Newport Beach, Calif.), Sean Okoli (Wake Forest; Federal Way, Wash.), Omar Salgado (Vancouver Whitecaps; El Paso, Texas).

Notes

• Interesting to see two players from Clemson on the roster. The program has seen better days in the stacked ACC, but at one point was the home to Stuart Holden and Oguchi Onyewu.
• Two Seattle Sounders Academy prospects – Yedlin and Okoli – made the cut, and each could be in MLS one day. Yedlin is a quick right back and a starter for the Zips this year, while Okoli plays as a forward for Wake Forest. If he makes the pro ranks one day, it’ll likely be as a wide midfielder.
• Another strong homegrown candidate is Boyd Okwuonu from FC Dallas. He was a stalwart as a freshman for title-winning North Carolina.
• Another familiar name on the list is Sean Cunningham. Most U.S. fans know the exploits of Josh Gatt at Molde, but Cunningham is his American peer who hasn’t quite grabbed the headlines.
• FC Dallas Academy star Daniel Garcia is a notable inclusion. He’s a goal-scoring machine who has 13 tallies in 12 games for FCD’s U-18s.
• Back in the mix is Villyan Bijev, who made headlines over the summer when he signed at Liverpool, and went on loan at Fortuna Düsseldorf. Injuries have limited him this past year, but he’ll get a chance to impress Ramos.

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.