CHICAGO (Nov. 24, 2006) – The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team has been drawn into Group A with Guatemala, Haiti and Panama for the 2007 CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament from Jan. 17-21 in Panama City, Panama. The draw was determined earlier today during the CONCACAF Executive Committee Meeting in Los Angeles.
The top two teams in the group will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, which will take place from June 30-July 22 across six cities – Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Burnaby and Victoria. The U.S. will be attempting to qualify for their sixth straight FIFA World Cup (formerly FIFA World Youth Championship),
The other two of the four CONCACAF berths (not including Canada which gets an automatic berth as host) will come from Group B, which will occur a month later from Feb. 21-25 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, located on the west coast of Mexico. Competing with the hosts will be Costa Rica, St. Kitts & Nevis and the winner between a two-game series between Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
In preparation for qualifying, the U.S. will be back in camp starting Dec. 12 in Bradenton, Fla. The team will be finish camp on Dec. 23, but return on Dec. 28 and train until Jan. 7. The players and staff will have one week off before getting together once again for a few days in Florida and then head to Panama.
CONCACAF U-20 Final Round Qualifying
Group A - Panama City, Panama
Guatemala
Haiti
Panama
USA
Group B - Culiacan, Sinaloa; Mexico
Costa Rica
Mexico
St. Kitts & Nevis
Jamaica/Trinidad & Tobago
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