CARSON, Calif. (Friday, Aug. 28, 2015) – LA Galaxy Academy defender Christian Onalfo has been named to a 23-player roster that will represent the United States at the 2015 Stevan Vilotic-Cele Tournament in Serbia by U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos.
Onalfo, 18, earns his first call up to the U.S. U-20 squad. He has featured for the LA Galaxy Academy U-17/18’s and 15/16’s since 2012. This season, Onalfo has earned his first professional minutes, appearing in two matches for LA Galaxy II in USL play.
The group will begin training on Aug. 30 in Subotica and begin tournament play against Serbia on Sept. 3, before traveling to Senta for a match against France on Sept. 4. The team will conclude the tournament with a placement match on Sept. 7.
The U-20 MNT was last together for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in June. The U.S. advanced to the tournament quarterfinals where it fell to eventual champion Serbia 0(6)-0(5) in a penalty shootout.
The Stevan Vilotic-Cele Tournament is the first test of a new U-20 cycle for the U.S. All 23 players from this group were born in 1997, although Erik Palmer-Brown has experience in this age group as he was a part of the 2015 U-20 MNT World Cup team. Thirteen other players participated in MNT camps with the U-18 team earlier this year.
Fourteen players from this roster represent clubs in Major League soccer, while five play in college, and the English Premier League, Bundesliga, USL and U.S. Soccer Development Academy each have single representatives on the squad.
Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Christian Herrera (Real Monarchs; Las Cruces, N.M.), Justin Vom Steeg (Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (8): Kyle Duncan (New York Red Bulls; Brooklyn, N.Y.), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Ariz.), Nicholas Hinds (Seattle Sounders; Seattle, Wash.), Andrew Lombard (Northeastern; Montclair, N.J.), Christian Onalfo (LA Galaxy; Redondo Beach, Calif.), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting KC; Lee’s Summit, Mo.), Pablo Pelaez (Seattle Sounders; San Diego, Calif.), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bolingbrook, Ill.),
MIDFIELDERS (8): Amir Bashti (Stanford; Cupertino, Calif.), Collin Fernandez (Downers Grove, Ill.; Chicago Fire), Cameron Lindley (Chicago Fire; Carmel, Ind.), Abuchi Obinwa (Hannover 96; Orlando, Fla.), Emmanuel Sabbi (Chicago Magic; Libertyville, Ill.), Martin Salas (UNC; Dallas, Texas), Kyle Scott (Chelsea FC; Winterbourne, Bristol), Ben Swanson (Columbus Crew; Grove City, Ohio)
FORWARDS (5): Coy Craft (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Christian Lucatero (Houston Dynamo; Pasadena, Texas), Victor Mansaray (Seattle Sounders; Des Moines, Wash.), Nebojsa Popovic (Saint Louis; Loznica, Serbia), Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake; Casa Grande, Ariz.)
