Head Coach: Tab Ramos
QUALIFYING LOSS DEPRIVES U.S. OF WORLD CUP CHANCE
The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team narrowly missed qualifying for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup after stellar performances in group play sent the team to quarterfinals of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.
The U.S. beat Suriname 4-0 and Panama 2-0 to finish top of the three-team group. Former head coach Thomas Rongen led the men to the quarterfinal against Guatemala, but they fell 2-1 to a tough side in Guatemala City, where the home team was playing in front of a favorable crowd.
Kelyn Rowe scored three goals in the tournament, including a brace against Panama, while Doyle’s equalizer against Guatemala was his second in qualifying. The loss eliminated the U.S. from the Championship and meant the team did not earn one CONCACAF’s four available spots in the 2011 World Cup. It was the first time the U.S. did not qualify since 1995.
REBUILDING FOR 2013
Tab Ramos was named head coach of the U-20 Men’s National Team in October and is tasked with preparing the team for the next cycle of World Cup Qualifying. The CONCACAF Qualifying tournament for the World Cup in Turkey will likely begin in early 2013.
Along with U.S. Youth Technical Director Claudio Reyna, the former U-20 MNT assistant coach will structure the U-20 program to incorporate similar training sessions, fitness testing and style of play as the full Men’s National Team.
Ramos has already worked with six players who are age-eligible for the 2013 U-20 World Cup. Anthony Brooks, Cody Cropper, Sean Cunningham, Luis Gil, Jerome Kiesewetter and Daniel Potts, who were born after Jan. 1, 1993, were all called into the May training camp in France that Ramos oversaw.
