The US Under-20 team lost to Ecuador in the quarterfinal of the U-20 World Cup on Saturday. The Baby Yanks put up a decent fight but the South American champions were made of sterner stuff. In all honesty, this was the only game I watched, so I cannot speak in-depth towards many of the overall tournament performances. However, I feel confident that I can asses where the players from this tournament will fit into future national teams.

2021 U-20 World Cup Cycle

Every year Tab Ramos is sure to include at least a few players in his U-20 squad who are age eligible for the subsequent U-20 World Cup Cycle. This year there were four players:

Ulyses Llanez – Llanez played well with his few minutes in this year’s tournament. He recently joined Wolfsburg and might struggle to crack their lineup for regular minutes in the ’19/’20 season. He has a better chance in ’20/’21 leading up to the next U-20 World Cup. Wouldn’t be shocked if he’s breaking into the senior team at that point ala players like Tyler Adams who skip playing the U-20 tournament a second time.

David Ochoa – Plays for RSL 2nd team in the USL Championship. Might be able to play for RSL if 39 year old Nick Rimmando retires soon. Definitely won’t be in the conversation for U-23 or senior team at this age. Very few GK’s would be.

Julian Araujo – Currently starting with LA Galaxy in MLS. He has a chance to play with the U-23 team in this Olympic cycle but would have to beat out the likes of Reggie Cannon, Serginio Dest, and Kyle Duncan who are all playing at a similar level. Also might skip out on the 2021 U-20 WC if he’s breaking the senior team roster.

Konrad de la Fuente – Play’s for Barcelona’s U19 team and occasionally appears for Barcelona B. Hopefully he continues that trajectory and is starting to crack Barcelona’s first team in 2021 (unlikely, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed). Again, could also be cracking the senior team roster by 2021 if everything goes right.

Need More Minutes with Their Club

This group likely won’t be in any immediate plans on either the U-23 team or the senior team, but they may figure into the picture eventually if they play well for their club team:

CJ Dos Santos – Plays for Benfica’s U19s currently and recently signed an extension with the club through 2023 so he’ll be there for a good while. Also not in the U-23 or senior team convo.

Chris Durkin – Durkin will get minutes where he can behind Russell Canouse at DC United. There were rumors he might be on the move this summer before this U-20 World Cup but I have a feeling his price has dropped after his poor performance at the tournament. He might figure into the U-23 picture because we are shallow at defensive midfield in that age group. However, after this tournament I am not looking forward to more Durkin in a US shirt.

Brandon Servania – Playing for FC Dallas’ 2nd team in USL League 1. Honestly I hope another MLS team trades for him because he needs to play at a higher level in the coming years. At Dallas he’s behind someone at the depth chart …

Edwin Cerrillo – Despite not playing in this tournament, Cerillo has started for Dallas to start the 2019 season. Hopefully that continues and Jason Kreis likes him a little more than Tab Ramos did. If so he might make the U-23 roster (as might Durkin or Servania because our U-23’s might be shallow at defensive midfield).

Matt Real – Currently on Phildelphia’s depth chart at fullback but not getting many minutes. I don’t see Real figuring into any national team picture much in the future.

Aboubakar Keita – Playing with the Richmond Kickers in USL League 1. I also do not expect much from Keita in the near future at the international level.

Justin Rennicks – Perhaps Bruce Arena will take a liking to Rennicks’ never-say-die fighter mentality. I bet New England is going to undergo an overhaul and that might be a ripe opportunity for Rennicks. But he won’t figure for the U-23’s or senior team any time soon, barring a meteoric rise.

Brady Scott – Was playing for Koln’s U-19 side until he was injured earlier this year. Whether he gets back into the groove or not I doubt he’ll figure into the U-23 or senior team in the near future.

U-23 Olympic Team

Olympic Qualifying starts in late 2019/early 2020 and the US should definitely draw from this pool of players to stock that roster.

Serginio Dest – Currently plays for Ajax’s 2nd team in the Dutch 2nd division but he has already signed a first team contract. We have options at right back at the U-23 level, as mentioned above, but I don’t think any of them are necessarily better than Dest at this point.

Alex Mendez – Mendez’s stock surprisingly went down this tournament. He’s been playing for Freiburg’s U-19’s in Germany and I think he needs to get first team minutes soon or else he’s going to fall behind his peers physically. If he does get those minutes, he has a chance to compete for one of those 8/10 spots in the U-23 team.

Richie Ledezma – First things first, Ledezma has to stay healthy as he has been injured for PSV’s youth teams for most of the last year. He would be competing with Mendez for an 8/10 spot in the U-23 team. Remember both McKennie, and Pulisic are U-23 eligible so they probably own the starting spots there. And someone later on this list might be ahead of Ledezma and Mendez …

Mark McKenzie – McKenzie fell out of favor this season at Philadelphia so he needs to earn his spot back there first. His teammate Trusty is also U-23 eligible and they will be competing with each other for the CB4 spot on the U-23 roster behind Cameron Carter-Vickers, Miles Robinson, and Chris Richards (spoiler).

Sebastian Soto – Soto saw a few minutes for Hanover at the end of this Bundesliga season. With Hanover dropping to the second division, I would expect Soto to enter the regular rotation at striker. If he performs well, he might surpass Jeremy Ebobisse on the U-23 striker depth chart. It’ll be tough for him to surpass Sargent who will hopefully (likely?) be playing a good chunk of minutes in the league above Soto. Although, I think those two players are more comparable than most people would like to admit.

Senior National Team

These are players who might start getting call-up for the senior team as soon as our CONCACAF Nations League games in the fall.

Chris Gloster – Since the USMNT hasn’t had a good LB in a decade, Gloster could get fast-tracked right to the senior team as he was one of the most complete players for the US at the U-20 WC. I also think he’ll definitely be involved with the U-23’s

Paxton Pomykal – So if Pulisic and McKennie are the first choice 8/10’s I think Pomykal has a good argument for the 3rd spot behind them. Although, Holmes may prove me wrong at the Gold Cup in the coming weeks. Holmes isn’t U-23 eligible so I fully expect Pomykal to be on that roster.

Chris Richards – Richards is going to play with Bayern Munich II in the German 3rd division next season. He has trained with the first team sporadically, and I am interested to see if that becomes more frequent. He’ll be in the U-23 picture for sure, and might get a few senior team call-ups before that.

Timothy Weah –  Has already appeared for the senior team and definitely fills a need for a dangerous winger. He is still a PSG player but I would expect him to either get sold or loaned somewhere else for this season.

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