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Soccer Goals: With the US U-20 roster appearing deeper than years past making the selection a more ardous task, Thomas Rongen named  his 21-man roster for the U-20 World Cup in Egypt next month. Brek Shea, Dill Duka, Peri Marosevic, Jared Jeffrey, Mikkel Diskerud, Dilly Duka, and Peri Marosevic highlight the US roster, as they prepare to advance far in the tournament.

Despite not featuring Marquee Players, such as Freddy Adu, Robbie Rogers, Jozy Altidore, and Michael Bradley, the US U-20 offers balance from the back line to forward. Several European contingents, Mikkel Diskerud and Jared Jeffrey,  bolster the squad with their European experience and training. Although this squad might not score the wonder goals from the brilliance and creativity of Freddy Adu, the defensive unit has been upgraded with a very experienced and stable core of players.

Hitting the US youth soccer scene in a meteoric rise, midfielders Dilly Duka and Dillon Power offer the vision and creativity, couple that with the consistent hold-up play of Peri Marosevic and the speed of Brek Shea and Tony Taylor, the U-20 squad could surprise teams.

Proving that the team offered an abundance of talent, Gregory Garza, Vincenzo Bernardo, Bryan Arguez, Felix Garcia, Matt Luzanaris, Ellis McLoughlin, and Guiseppe Nazzani were several omissions that could prove costly if the squad struggles.

The US U-20 MNT  play in a group that includes Germany (Sept. 26, ESPN Classic or Galavision at 9:55am), Cameroon (Sept. 29, ESPN2 at 12:30pm) and South Korea (Oct. 2, ESPN2 at 12:40pm). The other two US games will be televised lived on ESPN 2 and tape delayed on Galavision.

Here is the Roster By position:

GOALKEEPERS (3):Sean Johnson (Central Florida; Lilburn, Ga.), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas; Middleton, Wis.), Brian Perk (UCLA; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (6): Gale Agbossoumonde (Miami FC; Syracuse, N.Y.), Kyle Davies (FC Dallas; Danville, Calif.), Aaron Maund (Notre Dame; Dorchester, Mass.), Ike Opara (Wake Forest; Durham, N.C.), Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Sheanon Williams (Unattached; Boston, Mass.)
MIDFIELDERS (8):Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo; Glendale, Ariz.), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabak; Oslo, Norway), Dilly Duka (Rutgers; Montville, N.J.), Jorge Flores (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.), Jared Jeffrey (Club Brugge; Richardson, Texas), Brian Ownby (Virginia; Glen Allen, Va.), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame; Plano, Texas), Michael Stephens (UCLA; Naperville, Ill.)
FORWARDS (4):Sam Garza (Denver; Highland Village, Texas), Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas; Rockford, Ill.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas; College Station, Texas), Tony Taylor (Jacksonville; Jacksonville, Fla.) 

What do you think of the U-20 Roster? DId Coach Rongen make the right decisions? What exclusions were most glaring? Share your thoughts.

Included are blogs that discuss Soccer Goals: Rongen releases 21-man roster for the U-20 World Cup

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Soccer Goals: After looking dead in the water, Chicago Fire overcame a two-goal second-half deficit in front of a home crowd at Toyota Park. Cuauhtemoc Blanco lead the way by earning a suspect penalty call which he converted with ease. Believing that they still had the game in hand, the Colorado Rapids let down their guard, conceding two goals in the final five minutes.

The featured match up, Seattle Sounders vs Houston Dynamo did not disappoint with a 1-1 scoreline which featured the debut of Houston's DP signing, Luis Landin. Struggling with the initial pressure and intensity of the game, El Escorpion settled in on his game, offering a glimpse of his talents.

Suffering from a real rough stretch of play, the New York Red Bulls finally secured their first victory, snapping their 13 game win-less streak. Juan Pablo Angel netted the game winner when Mac Kandji shot from long distance and the deflection bounced to JPA, who cleanly sent the ball into the net.

Superb goals, intense play, and late game winners embodied the happenings in MLS Week 23. Lets take a look at how the MLS Power Rankings Week 23 fared.

Team and Rank	Team	Record	Comment
1.   1	Columbus Crew	10-3-9	Taking the weekend off, the Crew travel to NYRB. What happened to the all yellow against Cruz Azul, losing 0-5? Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven had their hand in all five goals. Their CCL performances make me shamed to support all MLS teams.
2 2	Houston Dyanamo	11-6-7	The Dynamo could have secured the victory but was unable to penetrate the Sounders defense for the second goal. Luis Landin should start off slow but will be the main attraction while Ching and Holden are absent for international competition.
3.  3	Chicago Fire	10-5-8	Playing with a make shift squad devastated by injuries, the Fire's comeback conjure up miracle-esque performances. Losing Bakary Soumare to Bologne will deplete their defense which is already missing, Conde, Segares, and Ward.
4	LA Galaxy	8-4-11	The Galaxy earned a 0-0 draw on the road against DC United. Is this team for real? Will Eskandarian and Buddle return for the playoffs?
5  4	Seattle Sounders	8-6-9	Earning a 1-1 draw was crucial for the Sounders, a team that struggles away from home. If Ljungberg returns healthy and they can play well on the road, the Sounders will evoke fear in the playoffs.
69	Chivas USA	10-7-3	After hearing about how good Jesus Padilla is, Sacha Kljestan conjured up magic, scoring two goals. Losing badly midweek to RSL 0-4 does not help their cause, despite having several games on hand. Padilla has struggled with the tempo and pressure of MLS. Will he make his mark later in the season?
7 10	New England Revolution	8-6-6	With several games in hand, the 1-0 victory over Seatttle has helped their playoff chances. As injured players return, the Revolution could make the playoffs with strong play of Joseph and Ralston. Dube's hat trick was amazing as they defeated RSL 3-1.
86	Colorado Rapids	8-7-6	After conceding three second-half goals, we will see how the Rapids face adversity as they go on the road for five of their last seven games. Cummings will need to pick up the slack with Conor Casey away on national team duty.
9	DC United	6-5-11	They held their ground against the Galaxy, but their defense is proving unstable and unorganized. Conceding two late goals against Toluca in CCL play suggests that the back line is their Achilles heel.
10   8	Toronto FC	8-8-6	Just as TFC starts to build momentum, they go 2008 TFC on us. With such a strong midfield, why are they such a mediocre team? Gerba, White, and Vitti have raised their level of play, but where is the the rest of the team?
11	Real Salt Lake	7-9-6	RSL destroyed Chivas USA midweek. For all those fans that said that RSL was an automatic playoff contender, RSL will miss Robbie Findley during the weekend of Sept 6-10th due to international duty.
12  12	FC Dallas	6-11-5	Losing to the NYRB was unacceptable. Marvin Chavez could see playing time next week as the hoops have a bye week. The U-20 World Cup could deplete the squad.
13   14	San Jose Earthquakes	5-11-5	A last minute 1-0 victory over the Wizard is not convincing enough. The quakes need to build for the future. Cutting high priced commodities should be a priority for next season.
1413	Kansas City Wizards	5-9-6	With games in hand, the Wizards will not make the playoffs. In my 2009 MLS preview, I suggested that the Wizards would not make the playoffs for two reasons: Lack of team speed at forward and wings, recommending they should trade several of their young players who were not seeing action. Although Joelstradamuswasmocked in several scenarios, he has proven his prognostic worth.
15  15	NYRB	3-16-4	Letting them relish in their victory, I am not going to say anything bad. Mac Kandji is the real deal only if he can stay healthy for a whole season. A plus ten goal season awaits.

Were you impressed with Omar Cummings performance? Who will make the playoffs? Will Mac Kandji experience a break season in 2010? Share your thoughts.

Included are blogs that discuss Soccer Goals: MLS Power Rankings Week 23 - Chicago makes a triumphant comeback.

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Soccer Goals: Shep, Jason the Producer, and Greg discuss Major League Soccer this week: El Classico, the playoff race, the New York Red Bulls, and MLS defenders. Which teams will make the playoffs? What games will you watch this weekend? Share your thoughts.

These soccer videos feature highlights of Episode 27 act 1,2,3.

Included are blogs that discuss Soccer Goals and soccer videos: Catching up with Extra Time - Episode 27

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Cody Arnoux's debut goal in the 82nd minute in this soccer videos.

In his first start entering as a substitute, Cody Arnoux scored on a header in the 82nd minute from a left-sided cross, playing 20 minutes in Everton's reserve game against Burnley. Soccer Videos courtesy of No Short corners.

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Mike Grella assists in Leeds United 2-1 victory over Watford.

After earning Man-of-the-match honors several weeks ago, Mike Grella continues to impress for Leeds United, offering an assist for the English League One side. These soccer videos are courtesy of Yanks Abroad Soccer Highlights.

Soccer Goals: Announcing the USMNT 24-man squad in segments throughout the day added to the anticipation, US soccer's full roster has been released, offering several surprises in the process. Kyle Beckerman, Robbie Rogers, Clarence Goodson and Robbie Findley are several players that did not make the trip to Mexico.

Making a big splash scoring a brace against Chivas USA, bring his goal total to ten,  the RSL forward, Robbie Findley, will earn some camp time with an excellent 2009 season. Earlier today, I wrote an article, suggesting the former Beaver's inclusion to the USMNT as his speed and finishing has been excellent over the past two years. Whether or not Coach Bob Bradley read my article and decided to call him up is uncertain -- an assumption stated in a very sarcastic tone -- but his inclusion was certainly inevitable with the qualifier taking place in high altitude confines of Rio Tinto Stadium and top form.

Here is 24-man roster:

GOALKEEPERS- Tim Howard, Brad Guzan.

DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Chad Marshall, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Jonathan Bornstein, Clarence Goodson.

MIDFIELDERS- Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Kyle Beckerman, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres, Robbie Rogers.

FORWARDS-Charlie Davies, Jozy Altidore, Brian Ching, Conor Casey, Robbie Findley.

With the US struggling to hold on to possession, will Coach Bradley opt for a holding and possession midfielder or opt for a central pairing more defensive minded? Lets's take a look at several possible options.

If Bradley elects a defensive midfield, this a potential starting Xl:

-----Altidore----Davies-----

Donovan-Clark-Bradley- Dempsey

Spector-Bocanegra-Demerit-Cherundolo

----------Howard------------

If he opts for a possession-based squad, this a potential starting Xl:

-----Dempsey----Davies-----

Donovan-Feilhaber-Bradley- Holden

Spector-Bocanegra-Demerit-Cherundolo

----------Howard------------

It is possible that if Kyle Beckerman impresses in camp, he could earn the start. If Coach Bradley values the ability to play in high altitude, we could see Findley in a sub role in the second half. This a potential starting Xl:

-----Altidore----Davies-----

Donovan-Beckerman-Bradley- Dempsey

Spector-Bocanegra-Demerit-Cherundolo

----------Howard------------

Kyle Beckerman could provide both the possession and defensive tenacity that Coach Bradley would like to implement with his tactics and strategy. After experiencing a solid performance against El Tri could, Dynamo midfielder, Stuart Holden, could see additional playing time.

What do do you think of the roster? Were you surprised by Bradley's surprise inclusions? Do you believe that Findley could be a break out performer for the USMNT? Share your thoughts.

Included are blogs that discuss Soccer Goals: USMNT announced 24-Man squad for Upcoming Qualifiers

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Soccer Goals: Breaking down the new playoff scenario that guarantees the top team in each conference and leaves the rest of the teams to fight out the remaining six spots, Allen Hopkins also breaks down the playoff race and the Rookie of the Year candidates. Steve Zakuani, Omar Gonzalez, Chris Pontius, Rodney Wallace, and Steve Cronin round out the top selections to decide the Rookie of the Year award.

This soccer videos feature Kickin it with Allen Hopkins.

Who had the best offseason move by a Yank abroad? Goal.com esteemed panel will give their choices of the best move this summer. Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, and Jozy Altidore highlight several US players plying their trade abroad.

This soccer vidoe features Who made the best off-season move by an American Abroad.

What do you think of the playoff race? Who will make a late season surge? Who made the best off-season move? Share your thoughts.

Included are blogs that discuss Soccer Goals and soccer videos: Kickin it with Allen Hopkins and best off-season move by an American Abroad

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