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U.S. U-20 MNT Faces Mexico on Sunday in Highly Anticipated 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship Final

The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team is looking to do something no previous U.S. U-20 MNT has done in the history of the U-20 qualifying tournament – win an outright final. The USA faces Mexico in a highly-anticipated title game at the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 3, at Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla, Mexico. The match will be broadcast live on FOX Soccer and Galavision.

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March 2, 2013

IN THE IMAGE: U.S. U-20 MNT head coach Tab Ramos

U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team vs. Mexico
2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship – Final
Estadio Cuauhtémoc; Puebla, Mexico

March 3, 2013

U.S. U-20 MNT LOOKS TO MAKE HISTORY IN CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL VS. MEXICO: The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team is looking to do something no previous U.S. U-20 MNT has done in the history of the U-20 qualifying tournament – win an outright final. The USA faces Mexico in a highly-anticipated title game at the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 3, at Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla, Mexico. The match will be broadcast live on FOX Soccer and Galavision. Fans can follow the match on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and via Twitter @ussoccer_ynt. Sunday’s final is preceded by the tournament’s third-place game between Cuba and El Salvador (4 p.m. ET; FOX Soccer, Univision Deportes Dos).

USA’S CONCACAF U-20 FINALS HISTORY

The U.S. U-20 MNT advanced to its fourth finals of the CONCACAF U-20 qualifying tournament and is in search of its first crown.
The USA fell to Mexico 2-0 on Aug. 17, 1980, in the eighth CONCACAF Youth Tournament in Washington, D.C.
In the ninth CONCACAF Youth Tournament, the U.S. lost in overtime to Honduras 1-0 on Sept. 5, 1982, in Guatemala City. Following the tournament, Honduras was disqualified for age irregularities and the U.S. advanced to the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship. U-20 MNT head coach Tab Ramos played on that 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup team.
The U.S. advanced to the final of the 22nd CONCACAF Youth Championship but lost to Costa Rica 3-0 on March 15, 2009, in Macoya, Trinidad.
The tournament format was changed starting in 1986, when there was only group play and no championship match. The format changed again in 2009 to include a championship match.

2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship Page | U.S. U-20 MNT Media Guide

ROSTER BY POSITION – DETAILED ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Cody Cropper (Southampton; Maple Grove, Minn.), 12-Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.), 22-Zack Steffen (FC DELCO Academy; Downington, Pa.)
DEFENDERS (6): 18-Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), 3-Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Guadalajara; Riverside, Calif.), 2-Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), 5-Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), 4-Caleb Stanko* (Freiburg; Holly, Mich.), 14-Javan Torre (UCLA; Santa Monica, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (5): 10-Luis Gil* (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), 8-Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), 15-Mikey Lopez (Sporting Kansas City; Mission, Texas), 16-Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.), 6-Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio)
FORWARDS (6): 19-Brandon Allen (Georgetown; Old Bridge, N.J.), 20-Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), 17-Danny Garcia (North Carolina; Dallas, Texas), 11-Jerome Kiesewetter* (Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), 9-Mario Rodriguez (Kaiserslautern; North Hollywood, Calif.), 7-Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)

*Indicates player was released back to his club and is not available for the championship match

U.S. U-20 MNT 2013 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS

Goals: 1. Jose Villarreal (3); 2. Luis Gil and Daniel Cuevas (2); 4. Mario Rodriguez and Wil Trapp (1)
Assists: 1. Benji Joya and Mario Rodriguez (2); 3. Daniel Cuevas
Minutes played: 1. Cody Cropper, Benji Joya and Shane O’Neill (360); 4. Wil Trapp (315); 5. Mario Rodriguez (292); 6. Caleb Stanko and Juan Pablo Ocegueda (270); 8. Daniel Cuevas (256); 9. Luis Gil (244); 10. Boyd Okwuonu (239)
Goalkeeper Wins: 1. Cody Cropper (4)

U.S. U-20 MNT 2013 SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Result/ Time (ET)	U.S. goal scorers/ TV	Venue
Jan. 19	Panama	2-2 T	Cuevas, Allen	Estadio Olímpico; Puebla, Mexico
Jan. 21	Panama	1-2 L	Villarreal (PK)	La Noria FC; Puebla, Mexico
Feb. 18	Haiti	2-1 W	Gil, Cuevas	Estadio Olímpico; Puebla, Mexico
Feb. 22	Costa Rica	1-0 W	Villarreal	Estadio Olímpico; Puebla, Mexico
Feb. 26	Canada	4-2 W	Gil, Villarreal (2), Trapp	Estadio Olímpico; Puebla, Mexico
March 1	Cuba	2-0 W	Rodriguez, Cuevas	Estadio Cuauhtémoc; Puebla, Mexico
March 3	Mexico	7 p.m.	FOX Soccer, Galavision	Estadio Cuauhtémoc; Puebla, Mexico

2013 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Date	Match	Result/Time (ET)	TV	Stage
Feb. 18	Haiti vs. USA	2-1 USA	FOX Soccer	Group A
Feb. 18	Cuba vs. Canada	2-1 Cuba		Group B
Feb. 19	Puerto Rico vs. Jamaica	4-1 Jamaica		Group C
Feb. 19	Mexico vs. Curaçao	3-0 Mexico	FOX Soccer	Group D
Feb. 20	Costa Rica vs. Haiti	1-0 Costa Rica	Univision Deportes	Group A
Feb. 20	Nicaragua vs. Cuba	3-0 Cuba	Univision Deportes	Group B
Feb. 21	Panama vs. Puerto Rico	4-0 Panama	Univision Deportes	Group C
Feb. 21	El Salvador vs. Curaçao	2-1 El Salvador		Group D
Feb. 22	USA vs. Costa Rica	1-0 USA	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes	Group A
Feb. 22	Canada vs. Nicaragua	5-1 Canada		Group B
Feb. 23	Jamaica vs. Panama	4-0 Panama	Univision Deportes	Group D
Feb. 23	Mexico vs. El Salvador	3-0 Mexico	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes	Group D
Feb. 26	USA (GA, 1st) vs. Canada (GB, 2nd)	4-2 USA	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes	QF 1
Feb. 26	Cuba (GB, 1st) vs. C. Rica (GA, 2nd)	2-1 Cuba	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes	QF 2
Feb. 27	Pan. (GC, 1st) vs. El Sal. (GD, 2nd)	3-1 El Salvador	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes	QF 3
Feb. 28	Mexico (GD, 1st) vs. Jam. (GC, 2nd)	4-0 Mexico	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes	QF 4
March 1	USA (QF 1) vs. Cuba (QF 2)	2-0 USA	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes	SF 1
March 1	El Salvador (QF 3) vs. Mexico (QF 4)	2-0 Mexico	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes	SF 2
March 3	Cuba vs. El Salvador	4 p.m.	FOX Soccer; Univision Deportes Dos	3rd Place
March 3	USA vs. Mexico	7 p.m.	FOX Soccer; Galavision	Final

Visit ussoccer.com for the full CONCACAF U-20 Championship group standings and results .

2013 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL WRAP-UP

The U.S. U-20 MNT scored two goals in a three-minute span and shut out Cuba 2-0 on Friday, March 1, in the semifinals of the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship at Estadio Cuauhtémoc. Mario Rodriguez scored in the eighth minute and Daniel Cuevas in the 11th minute. Goalkeeper Cody Cropper recorded his second shutout of the tournament. For only the second time in CONCACAF Youth Tournament and Championship history, the U.S. has won four straight games in the event. The only other occasion was the eighth CONCACAF Youth Tournament in 1980.
After 76 minutes of scoreless play, Mexico defender Antonio Briseño led the host side with back-to-back goals in the 77th and 85th minutes to defeat El Salvador 2-0 on Friday. Seven different players have scored a goal for Mexico in this tournament, and Mexico has now outscored its opposition by an impressive 12-0 margin.

ROSTER NOTES

Jose Villarreal is the leading scorer among this U.S. U-20 group with seven goals in nine U-20 MNT matches. He leads the squad with four goals in 2013 and had a two-goal performance to lead the U.S. to a 4-2 victory against Canada in the quarterfinals of the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. Despite missing Friday’s semifinal game against Cuba because of an ankle injury Villarreal still leads the U-20 MNT with three goals in the CONCACAF tournament.
Midfielder Benji Joya wore the captain’s armband on Friday against Cuba after Caleb Stanko, who captained the team in its first three matches, departed for his club team Freiburg. Joya has 14-career caps in this age group, including 10 in 2012 to lead the team as it posted a 4-6-0 international record with him on the field.
Daniel Cuevas and Mario Rodriguez each scored their fourth-career goals with the U-20s to lead the USA to the 2-0 victory against Cuba in the tournament semifinals.
Cody Cropper and forward Jerome Kiesewetter have been part of the U-20s since 2010. Cropper has now played in 13 international games for the U-20 MNT and Kiesewetter, who was a second-half sub against Haiti, has played in six games.
Defender Boyd Okwuonu leads the team with 15 career U-20 appearances, playing in all four previous matches at the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship and the team’s two-game set against Panama earlier this year in Puebla.
Six players on the U.S. roster are currently with Major League Soccer teams: Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake), Mikey Lopez (Sporting Kansas City), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew) and Villarreal (LA Galaxy).
Following the USA’s quarterfinal win against Canada to secure a berth in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, three players returned to their respective club teams: Stanko, Gil and Kiesewetter.
This year marks the 24th occasion in which the U.S. U-20 MNT is competing in the CONCACAF Youth Tournament or Championship.

U.S. U-20 MNT vs. MEXICO

The U.S. U-20 MNT has faced Mexico eight times in CONCACAF Youth Tournaments and Championships, posting a 1-7-0 record. Mexico has won the past four meetings.
The U.S. and Mexico first faced each other in the first round of the sixth CONCACAF Youth Tournament in Puerto Rico and fell 7-1 on Sept. 28, 1976. Nat Brusiloff had the lone goal for the USA.
In the eighth CONCACAF Youth Tournament, Mexico shut out the U.S. 2-0 in the tournament final on Aug. 17, 1980, in Washington, D.C.
Mexico kept its winning streak intact against the U.S. in the 10th CONCACAF Youth Tournament, posting a 1-0 semifinal victory on Sept. 6, 1984, in Trinidad.
The U.S. earned its first victory against Mexico in the opening round of the 11th CONCACAF Youth Tournament with a 3-0 win on Aug. 17, 1986, in Trinidad.
Mexico edged the USA 2-1 in the final round of the 12th CONCACAF Youth Tournament on April 24, 1988, in Guatemala, with Steve Snow scoring the lone goal for the U.S. Snow had five of the USA’s 11 goals in that tournament. Following the tournament, Mexico was disqualified for age irregularity.
The USA and Mexico most recently faced each other in the 16th CONCACAF Youth Tournament, with Mexico topping the U.S. 2-1 in the final round of the tournament on April 25, 1996, in Saltillo, Mexico. Ubusuku Abukusumo scored the USA’s goal.
Mexico has outscored the U.S. 20-7 in the eight previous CONCACAF Youth Tournament meetings.
The last time the U.S. U-20 MNT faced Mexico in international competition was on Nov. 28, 2010. After playing to a 1-1 draw through regulation, Mexico won in penalty kicks 4-2 at the Torneo de las Americas tournament at KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga. Gale Agbossoumonde scored a 70th-minute equalizer for the U.S.

CONCACAF WORLD CUP BERTHS: Last week, four teams from CONCACAF earned berths to the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey later this year. The U.S. beat Canada 4-2 in the quarterfinals to book its ticket on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The U.S. qualified for its 13th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Cuba edged Costa Rica 2-1 in the quarterfinals to advance to the world stage for the first time. On Wednesday, Feb. 27, El Salvador topped Panama 3-1 to qualify for its first World Cup at this age group and host Mexico blanked Jamaica 4-0 to move on to the World Cup.

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TAB RAMOS FACT FILE: Tab Ramos was named head coach of the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team in October of 2011. As a former U.S. National Team midfielder and U-20 MNT assistant and interim head coach, Ramos brings a wealth of experience to the U.S. National Team program. Here are some of his accomplishments as both a coach and player:

Ramos has been a member of the U.S. Soccer Federation Technical Board since 2006, and after receiving his “A” coaching license in 2007, became the U.S. U-20 MNT assistant coach two years later. Ramos served as interim head coach in late 2011, guiding the U-20 Men through training camp and two friendlies in France.
Ramos’s first coaching experience came with the New Jersey Soccer Academy (NJSA 04), a U.S. Soccer Development Academy club, which he founded in 2004. He is currently the Executive Director of the program and has won four New Jersey state championships and a national championship, the only U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship for a N.J. boys’ club in more than two decades.
Ramos first earned international playing experience with the U-20 Men when he scored two goals for the U.S. in FIFA U-20 World Cup qualifying. He played for the U.S. in the 1983 U-20 World Cup and was also a member of the U.S. team that competed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
His first appearance with the full team came on Jan. 10, 1988, against Guatemala, and Ramos went on to play in the 1990 World Cup, where his performance earned him the title of U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year. By the time he retired from international duty in 2000, Ramos had played in three World Cups, earned 81 caps and scored eight goals, becoming the only U.S. player to score at least one World Cup qualifying goal in three different decades.
A 2001 graduate of North Carolina State University, Ramos studied foreign language and literature while becoming a three-time All-American in his four years playing for the school’s men’s soccer team. He joined American Soccer League side New Jersey Eagles in 1998 before moving to fellow ASL club Miami Sharks the next season.
In 1990, Ramos had a contract to play exclusively for the U.S. MNT as it prepared for the 1990 World Cup, but Spanish Second Division club Figueres took him on loan later that year, before eventually signing him. Ramos was sold to Real Betis in 1992 and helped the team win promotion to La Liga, but a skull fracture suffered in the 1994 World Cup kept him from making any La Liga appearances.
Ramos was the first player signed to Major League Soccer in 1995 ( Centennial 100 Moments), and before being allocated to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, MLS loaned him to UANL Tigres in Mexico, where his team was 1996 Mexico Cup champion. In his seven seasons with the MetroStars, Ramos tallied eight goals and 36 assists before retiring in 2002.

MEXICO UPDATE

Mexico won Group D of the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship with 3-0 victories against Curacao and El Salvador on Feb. 19 and 23, respectively.
Against Curacao, Jesus Corona scored the game’s first two goals and Marco Bueno added a goal as Mexico built its three-goal lead heading into halftime. In the El Salvador victory, Jesus Escoboza and Julio Gomez each had a goal and Mexico benefited from an El Salvador own goal by Olivier Ayala in the closing minutes.
Mexico secured a 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup berth with a dominant 4-0 victory against Jamaica on Feb. 27. Armando Zamorano, Bueno, Francisco Flores and Escoboza each tallied a goal.
Antonio Briseño scored the game-winning goal for Mexico’s 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup team during its 2-0 title game victory against Uruguay. It marked Mexico’s second U-17 World Cup crown and the game was played in front of nearly 99,000 spectators at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

MEXICO ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Richard Sanchez, 12-Manuel Lajud
DEFENDERS (5): 3-Hedgardo Marin, 4-Antonio Briseño, 5-Bernardo Hernandez, 13-Jose Abella, 14-Abel Fuentes
MIDFIELDERS (10): 2-Francisco Flores, 6-Armando Zamorano, 7-Jorge Espericueta, 8-Julio Gomez, 10-Jesus Corona, 11-Emmanuel Hernandez, 15-Jose Van Rankin, 16-Carlos Treviño, 18-Uvaldo Luna, 20-Jesus Escoboza
FORWARDS (3): 9-Marco Bueno, 17-Carlos Fierro, 19-Guillermo Madrigal

Head coach: Sergio Treviño

LAST TIME
On the field for USA:
March 1, 2013 – Estadio Cuauhtémoc – Puebla, Mexico – 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship; Semifinals

USA 2 Mario Rodriguez 8; Daniel Cuevas 11
CUB 0

Lineups:
USA: 1-Cody Cropper; 16-Dillon Serna, 5-Shane O’Neill, 14-Javan Torre, 3-Juan Pablo Ocegueda; 15-Mikey Lopez, 6-Wil Trapp; 9-Mario Rodriguez (19-Brandon Allen, 72), 8-Benji Joya (capt.), 17-Danny Garcia; 20-Daniel Cuevas (2-Boyd Okwuonu, 77)
Substitutions Not Used: 7-Jose Villarreal, 12-Kendall McIntosh, 22-Zack Steffen
Head coach: Tab Ramos

CUB: 1-Sandy Sanchez, 2-Andy Vaquero, 3-Enmanuel Labrada, 6-Yosel Piedra, 8-Jordan Santa Cruz, 9-Maykel Reyes, 10-Hector Morales (17-Pedro Anderson, 52), 14-Aricheell Hernandez, 15-Adrian Arturo Diz Pe (capt.) (4-Yolexis Collado, 62), 16-Daniel Luis Saez, 18-Abel Martinez
Substitutions Not Used: 5-Brian Rosales, 7-Randy Valier, 11-Dairon Perez, 12-Delvis Lumpuy, 13-Lazaro Mezquia, 19-David Urgelles, 20-Ricardo Suarez