CARSON, Calif. (Tuesday, January 3, 2012) – LA Galaxy Homegrown Players Jack McBean and Jose Villarreal have each been included in the U.S. Under-20 National Team’s 36-man roster for a training camp that began on Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. This is the second U-20 camp under head coach Tab Ramos for Villarreal and the first for McBean, who was a member of the Galaxy’s MLS Cup winning side last season.
The youngest player in club history to play in a game and score a goal, McBean recently completed his first season with the Galaxy, making his MLS debut in the regular season finale against Houston on October 23 when he scored his team’s only goal. He will be joined on the Galaxy roster this season by Villarreal, the third player in club history to be signed directly from the Galaxy Academy, who signed with the club as a Homegrown player on December 22 after starring for the club’s U-18 squad. Two of four MLS players in the camp, McBean and Villarreal will remain in training with the U.S. through the camp’s final day on Monday, January 9.
The U.S. Under-18 National Team is also training in Fort Lauderdale for the next week, with three members of the Galaxy Academy U-16 team among the 21-man roster named by head coach Richie Williams. Midfielder Willie Raygoza as well as forwards Justin Dhillon and Jaime Villarreal were all included in the squad, which began training on Monday. Dhillon and Raygoza were each members of the Galaxy Academy U-16 team that won the U.S. Soccer Development Academy championship as well as the Galaxy U-17 team that won the Generation adidas U-17 Cup in Dallas last summer. The duo will be joined in Fort Lauderdale by Jaime Villarreal, who is currently the leading goal scorer in the entire Development Academy, scoring 12 times in eight games with the Galaxy U-16’s.
While those five players will be in Florida, Galaxy Academy U-18 forward Mario Rodriguez, will be in Germany as one of 12 players selected to represent the U.S. in the U-19 Stuttgart Cup, a six-a-side indoor tournament that will be played on January 6-7. The team, which will be coached by Mark Litton, departed today for Germany and will face club sides Lechia Danzig (Poland), VfB Stuttgart (Germany) and FSV Mainz 05 (Germany) in Group A of the tournament. Rodriguez, who played for the U.S. alongside McBean at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico, has three goals in seven games for the Galaxy U-18’s in Development Academy play this season.
The LA Galaxy will open preseason ahead of the 2012 MLS season later this month. They will return to competitive action on Wednesday, March 7 when they take on Toronto FC in the first leg of their 2011/12 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal, which will be played at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They will open the 2012 MLS season will three days later on Saturday, March 10 at The Home Depot Center in MLS First Kick 2012, presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. The time, opponent and broadcast information for this game will be included in the entire regular season schedule, which will be announced soon. For more information about this game or to purchase tickets, please visit the club’s official website at www.lagalaxy.com.
