BACOLET, Tobago (March 10, 2009) – The U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team secured a place at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup with a 2-0 win against El Salvador on Tuesday evening in their final Group A match of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Bacolet, Tobago. The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be held from Sept.

Crowds have apparently been steadily growing this week at UCLA as word of Inter Milan's presence on campus gets around.

Nice story here from the Daily Bruin about a Thursday scrimmage against a travel team that included the likes of U.S. Under-20 international and Bruins goalkeeper Brian Perk (as well as Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates).

GOALKEEPERS Sean Johnson (Central Florida), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas), Brian Perk (UCLA)
DEFENDERS Gale Agbossoumonde (Miami FC Blues), Kyle Davies (FC Dallas), Aaron Maund (Notre Dame), Ike Opara (Wake Forest), Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas), Sheanon Williams (No Club)
MIDFIELDERS Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabaek), Dilly Duka (No Club), Jorge Flores (Chivas USA), Jared Jeffrey (Club Brugge), Brian Ownby (Virginia), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame), Michael Stephens (UCLA)
FORWARDS Sam Garza (Denver), Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Tony Taylor (Jacksonville)

The United States Under-20 National Team will join Germany, Cameroon, and Korea in Group C play as part of the 2009 Under-20 World Cup. The tournament kicks off in Egypt on September 24th. "It's going to be a challenge for sure, but we had the same mentality heading into the 2007 U-20 World Cup," US goalkeeper Brian Perk said.

Men's Games
San Diego State 2 UCLA 2
Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa scored one and created the other for the Bruins (6-1-2) Sunday. It was Nakazawa's team-leading eighth of the season and his fifth consecutive game with a goal. UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk was taken to hospital with an eye injury.

Under a setting Florida sun and a packed sideline, the U-20 Men's National Team defeated Costa Rica 2-1 this afternoon at the Sarasota Polo Grounds.
With the match decidely in Costa Rica's favor early on, it seemed likely that they would strike first. But a strong defensive presence kept the sheet clean for the U.

UCLA opens their season Sept. 4 against national champions Maryland.

The Bruins return eight starters from last season's Pac-10 Championship squad including 2008 Pac-10 Player of the Year and U.S. Under-20 National Team player Michael Stephens, U.S. Under-20 National Team starting goalkeeper Brian Perk and 2007 MVP Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates.

While most of the news these days is about David Beckham's return to MLS, the US' performance in the Gold Cup and MLS' drop in attendance, I'd like to remind everyone that we still have the U-17 World Cup and U-20 World Cup coming up this summer/fall. As part of that, many college players are getting some extra credit training in this summer.

New names and numbers up in the Galaxy locker room this weekend. Most are just training with the team.

*#26 Mike Stevens, a UCLA product who played for the Galaxy Under-20 team, and began training with the senior squad last week.

*#31 Goalkeeper Kevin Guppy of Chino Hills, a Cal State Northridge product and former Big West Goalkeeper of the Year, who played in the PDL last year.

Apologies for interrupting the Academy Playoff coverage here on the YNT Blog, but we wanted to make sure you saw that the U-20 MNT continued its impressive 2009 with a 1-0 win against Egypt in Alexandria, one of six venues for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which will be held from Sept. 24-Oct. 16.
Thomas Rongen and his team are in the midst of an eight-day tour of Egypt that includes one more friendly against their hosts on Monday evening.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Midfielders Mikkel Diskerud and Dilly Duka and forwards Brek Shea and Tony Taylor headline the 21-man roster selected to represent the United States at the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt next month.

Unlike the senior team, Coach Rongen is announcing his roster almost a month before the first match of the U-20 World Cup. Yup, kick off for the Americans in this youth World Cup is September 25th.
GOALKEEPERS - Sean Johnson (Central Florida), Josh Lambo, Brian Perk (UCLA)
DEFENDERS - Gale Agbossoumonde, Kyle Davies, Jorge Flores, Ike Opara (Wake Forest), Anthony Wallace, Sheanon Williams
MIDFIELDERS - Daniel Cruz, Mikkel Diskerud, Dilly Duka (Rutgers), Jared Jeffrey, Aaron Maund (Notre Dame), Brian Ownby (Virginia), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame), Michael Stephens (UCLA)
FORWARDS - Sam Garza (Denver), Peri Marosevic, Brek Shea, Tony Taylor (Jacksonville)
I've highlighted the college players in the above list.

Playing a little catch-up with some non-David Beckham related news:

*Three Chivas USA players and two from UCLA were selected for a 10-day camp in Argentina that begins today that is the final tune-up for the United States Men's Under-20 National Team that plays in the FIFA World Cup for that age category in late September in Egypt.

Ta-da!G - Sean Johnson (Central Florida; Lilburn, Ga.), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas; Middleton, Wis.), Brian Perk (UCLA; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)D - 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.

While having to pick the ball out of his net three times against Germany, U-20 keeper Brian Perk still sees the team's second half performance as a silver lining for the rest of the tournament.

With J Hutcherson -- By way of a preview for this afternoon's Under-20 World Cup game, the United States can't be expected to turn into the kind of team that will put on a display of free-flowing soccer. Though there are perfectly good players in the US squad, it's simply not the group that's going to play better than the individual positions.

With the family tucked up in bed I should mention:

*U.S. Soccer has announced the finalists for its annual awards and Southern Californians are well represented including Torrance's Shannon Boxx, UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk and UCLA's Sydney LeRoux. Even Michael Bradley lists Manhattan Beach as his hometown these days, since his dad lives here.

Minnesota resident Teal Bunbury's amazing season with the Akron of Ohio Zips just keeps getting better. Just a few days before the Zips big NCAA quarterfinal game against Tulsa on Saturday, the sophomore midfielder was named Player of the Year by Goal.com.

According to online magazine: Bunbury left many fans, opponents, and scouts in awe of his agility, pace, and power during Akron's undefeated season.

I previewed Wednesday's Chivas USA-CD Guadalajara game Wednesday at the Rose Bowl. Read the column here.

BTW, two Chivas USA players - Gerson Mayen and Jorge Flores - won't play because they, along with UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk and midfielder Michael Stevens, are in Egypt preparing for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup that starts Thursday.

I know there was an AFT yesterday. And here's another while I try to think of a good Top 5 List topic...#1 - ESPN has tabbed 11 guys to watch at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. If you hadn't guessed by now, the American inclusion is a bit of a surprise: keeper Brian Perk.I was planning a similar article tomorrow at S365, but have now seen several of these around.

The United States Soccer Federation has released the finalists for their 2009 Athlete of the Year Awards: Male Athlete of the Year: Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Oguchi Onyewu Female Athlete of the Year: Shannon Boxx, Heather O'Reilly, Christie Rampone, Hope Solo, Abby Wambach Young Male Athlete of the Year: Marlon Duran, Luis Gil, Jared Jeffrey, Brian Perk, Tyler Polak Young Female Athlete of the Year: Tobin Heath, Christine Nairn, Sydney Leroux,.

You know it's tough out there when the annual Daily Breeze ball drive needs a little bounce.

I'm also noticing a dearth of donated soccer balls, BTW, hence this appeal to 100 Percent Soccer blog readers. I already have calls out to Chivas USA and the Galaxy who are peering into their equipment rooms, but yet to make any firm commitment (hint, hint, folks).

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Midfielders Mikkel Diskerud and Dilly Duka and forwards Brek Shea and Tony Taylor headline the 21-man roster selected to represent the United States at the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt next month.

• Manchester United get more injury time when they need it according to Guardian ~ http://bit.ly/BzCRV #
• RT @MissouriStBears: BEARS men's soccer headed to Dallas for This Weekend's SMU Classic http://bit.ly/xQUcm #
• Get your Champions League & EPL fix via Hulu, now streaming highlights ~ http://bit.

The U.S. Under-20 men's national team begins World Cup play today against Germany (10am, ESPN Classic) knowing that points are vital from this match in order to help qualifying out of a loaded group that includes Cameroon and South Korea.

The Americans will be looking to improve on a quarterfinal appearance for the 2007 U.

• Manchester United get more injury time when they need it according to Guardian ~ http://bit.ly/BzCRV #
• RT @MissouriStBears: BEARS men's soccer headed to Dallas for This Weekend's SMU Classic http://bit.ly/xQUcm #
• Get your Champions League & EPL fix via Hulu, now streaming highlights ~ http://bit.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey are among the five finalists for the U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year Award.

U.S. Soccer announced all the finalists for its four player awards. Michael Bradley and Oguchi Onyewu join Donovan, Howard and Dempsey on the ballot.

Goalkeeper Brian Perk also made two big second half saves in the 2-1 come from behind win Sunday at Drake Stadium.

Notable: The game was a rematch of the 2006 NCAA Championship - won by UC Santa Barbara.

Quotable:

"We have a pretty big core of seniors on our team, and it was in the back of our heads tonight," said playmaker Kyle Nakazawa.

The following players have been invited to Major League Soccer's combine in advance of the 2010 SuperDraft. GOALKEEPERS (5): Brooks Haggerty (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill); Jovan Bubonja (University of Illinois-Chicago); Frederick Hall (Quinnipiac University); Brian Perk (University of California - Los Angeles); John Moore (Stanford University) DEFENDERS (18): Kevin Tangney (University of Maryland - College Park); Olukorede Aiyegbusi (North Carolina State University); Tim Ream (Saint Louis University); Kwame Watson-Siriboe (University of Connecticut);.

The 2010 MLS draft inn Philadelphia is little more than a month away and the list of potential players is starting to come out. Today MLS released the list of seniors that were invited to the MLS combine in Fort Lauderdale this coming January. Also today, thanks to Buzz Carrick over at the great 3rd Degree blog, we have the preliminary potential Generation Adidas list.

Just finished interviewing new Chivas USA Coach Martin Vasquez and I will have more on his plans for the club in Tuesday's column.

Vasquez told me he plans to tweak the roster rather than make wholesale changes to it, but some changes (at least off the field) have already begun.

Goalkeeper Coach Leo Perkovich, who Zach Thornton credited with playing a pivotal role in resurrecting his career, will join former Chivas USA coach Preki in Toronto, the two clubs announced today.

Is Wake Forest's Ike Opara (far right) going to be the top pick?

We're about a month out of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft and the draft coverage here on WVHooligan continues to heat up. This will be the first of a few mock drafts that I will conduct over the next few weeks leading up to the draft.