U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos has named D.C. United Homegrown midfielder Chris Durkin to a 20-player roster for the team’s final training camp before this summer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup. The USA will face two fellow World Cup participants, beginning with France on Friday, March 22 (10 AM ET) and Japan on Monday, March 25 (7 AM ET). Both matches will be played at Pinatar Arena in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain.
Durkin, a Homegrown player for D.C. United, had a breakout year for the Black-and-Red in 2018, starting in 16 of his 23 appearances. He set career-highs in minutes played (1,503) and shots (7) and collected his first-career assist on May 12 against Real Salt Lake. The Glen Allen, Va., native made a substitute appearance in United's first match of 2019, coming on late in the team's 2-0 win against Atlanta United on March 3.
The Homegrown has previous international experience for the U.S. at the U-17 level. Durkin started all five matches for the U.S. at the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup, scoring his first U-17 World Cup goal in the team's first match. The midfielder is looking for his first cap at the U-20 level after being invited by Ramos to a three-team training camp as a part of the U-20 team earlier this year.
“I’m looking forward to our last camp before the U-20 World Cup,” Ramos said. “With competition against two quality opponents, it’s one more opportunity for us to build a strong core and one more chance for the players to leave a good impression in order to be considered for the final 21-player roster. Japan always has highly skilled youth teams and France is always a World Cup contender.”
The games against France and Japan will serve as the U-20 MNT’s final official international matches before they kick off Group D play at the World Cup in Poland. The USA will open against Ukraine on May 24, take on Nigeria on May 27 and finish the group stage on May 30 versus Qatar.
U.S. U-20 MNT Roster by Position (Club or College; Hometown; Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (2): C.J. Dos Santos (Benfica/POR; Philadelphia, Pa.; 1/0), Trey Muse (Seattle Sounders FC; Louisville, Ky.; 0/0)
DEFENDERS (6): Sergino Dest (Ajax/NED; Almere-Stad, Netherlands; 6/1), Chris Gloster (Hannover 96/GER; South Orange, N.J.; 9/0), Aboubacar Keita (Columbus Crew SC; Columbus, Ohio; 0/0), Jaylin Lindsey (Sporting Kansas City; Charlotte, N.C.; 5/0), Matthew Real (Philadelphia Union; Drexel Hill, Pa.; 8/0), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich/GER; Hoover, Ala.; 6/0)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Frankie Amaya (FC Cincinnati; Santa Ana, Calif.; 11/1), Christian Cappis (Hobro/DEN; Katy, Texas; 2/0); Andrew Carleton (Atlanta United FC; Powder Springs, Ga.; 5/2), Chris Durkin (D.C. United; Glen Allen, Va.; 0/0), Alex Mendez (Freiburg/GER; Los Angeles, Calif.; 13/8), Juan Pablo Torres (New York City FC; Lilburn, Ga.; 10/4)
FORWARDS (6): Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC/CAN; Detroit, Mich.; 10/9), Jonathan Amon (Nordsjaelland/DEN; Summerville, S.C.; 0/0), Konrad de la Fuente (Barcelona/ESP; Barcelona, Spain; 0/0), Ulysses Llanez (Unattached; Lynwood, Calif.; 9/7), Justin Rennicks (New England Revolution; Hamilton, Mass.; 12/6), Sebastian Soto (Hannover 96/GER; San Diego, Calif.; 3/2)
