New York Red Bulls striker Juan Agudelo and Philadelphia Union midfielder Amobi Okugo are among the seven Major League Soccer youngsters that highlight the 18-man group United States U-20 head coach Thomas Rongen has called in to face Mexico and Colombia at the Torneo de las Americas from Nov. 21-29 in Kennesaw, Ga.
The five other MLS players included in the roster are Chivas USA’s Bryan de la Fuente and Cesar Zamora, D.C. United's Conor Shanosky, Los Angeles’ Tristan Bowen and Toronto’s Fuad Ibrahim.
Joining the squad from across the pond will be West Ham's Sebastian Lletget, who returns to the Stars and Stripes after a long bout with illness. He'll help key a midfield bolstered by Moises Orozco, Alex Zahavi and Alex Molano.
G.D. Estoril Praia teammates Gale Agbossoumonde and Greg Garza will likely anchor the back line, while Cody Cropper and Real Salt Lake-Arizona's Eduardo Fernandez will man the net.
Omar Salgado – predicted to be one of the top picks in the league's 2011 draft – and the trio of MLSers (Agudelo, Bowen and Ibrahim) will handle the scoring duties.
Eleven members of the squad also traveled to Peru in September on a trip that saw the U-20 side fall in four straight matches to South American competition.
Rongen will name the final two additions to the team during the NCAA College Cup.
Roster By Position (Names in bold also traveled to Peru)
GOALKEEPERS (2):Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town; Athens, Ga.), Eduardo Fernandez (Real Salt Lake AZ; Casa Grande, Ariz.)
DEFENDERS (7):Gale Agbossoumonde (G.D. Estoril Praia; Syracuse, N.Y.), Bryan de la Fuente (Chivas USA; Bell, Calif.), Greg Garza (G.D. Estoril Praia; Grapevine, Texas), Korey Veeder (Crystal Palace Baltimore; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Parker Walsh (Karlsruher SC; Roanoke, Va.)
MIDFIELDERS (5):Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United; San Francisco), Alex Molano (NK Dinamo Zagreb; Grapevine, Texas), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento), Moises Orozco (Tigres; Oxnard, Calif.), Conor Shanosky (D.C. United, Sterling, Va.), Alex Zahavi (Maccabi Haifa F.C.; Lisbon, Portugal), Cesar Zamora (Chivas USA; Sylmar, Calif.)
FORWARDS (4):Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.Y.), Tristan Bowen (Los Angeles Galaxy; Van Nuys, Calif.), Fuad Ibrahim (Toronto FC; Richfield, Minn.), Omar Salgado (Unattached; El Paso)
Noah Davis covers the United States national team for MLSsoccer.com. Follow him on Twitter at @noahedavis.
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