Head Coach: Tab Ramos
ANOTHER WORLD CUP YEAR
The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team heads into 2013 with the task of qualifying for the 2013 FIFA World Cup in Turkey after missing out on the previous event two years ago. U.S. head coach Tab Ramos will lead the team through a tough qualifying tournament in Puebla, Mexico.
At the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, the U.S. will face Costa Rica and Haiti in the group stage. The 12 teams participating in the qualifying tournament were broken up into four groups of three teams each. The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals and the four semifinalists qualify for the 2013 FIFA World Cup in Turkey, which takes place June 21-July 13. The host country has named seven cities that will stage matches: Antalya, Bursa, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Kayseri, Rize and Trabzon.
The U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team narrowly missed qualifying for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup after a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to host Guatemala after finishing first in the group with a 4-0 win against Suriname and a 2-0 victory against Panama. It was the first time the U.S. did not qualify since 1995.
