Philadelphia Union homegrown midfielder Derrick Jones was named to the United States Under-20 Men’s World Cup squad on Tuesday by head coach Tab Ramos. Jones was signed by the Union as a homegrown player in July 2016 and has made eight appearances in MLS play this season.
The 21-member team will leave for a training camp in Japan on May 10, with the World Cup running from May 20 to June 11. In 2015, current Chicago Fire head coach and former Union player Veljko Paunovic led Serbia to the Men’s U-20 World Cup title, defeating the US in penalties along the way.
Jones will compete for time with a deep group of American talent including New York Red Bulls midfielder Tyler Adams. Nine players from previous U-20 World Cup teams went on to represent the United States in the 2014 World Cup, a group headlined by Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley. Jones will be unavailable for the Union until he returns from international duty.
Operating solely from memory, the tourney final is about one week into June. I have no memory when the group stage is over.
June 11 is the final.
The last USA game in the knockout stage is May 28th.
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16 of the 24 teams in the group stage advance to the round of 16 which is played between May 30 and June1 inclusive.
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There are six groups, so two-thirds of the third place finishers advance.
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Quaterfinals are June 4 & 5. Semis, June 8, 3rd place and Championship are June 11.
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All according to Wikipedia.
Congrats, Derrick! Very deserved. Hopefully, he gains some great experience and doesn’t come back with the Union-USMNT curse…
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On another note…so, Alberg will start again this weekend, then?
depends on how injured he is.
Right.
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So…time for that Simpson/Sapong combo finally?
Adam Najem started at the #10 in Charleston last Saturday for the Steel, his first minutes there since the first hour of the opener. It bumped Cory Burke out to the left wing.
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I do not have insight why.
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One logical possibility among several others is that the Union had a private heads up about Jones, and asked that Najem be played at the #10 in advance of Alberg being hurt.
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No idea whether they would use him there against D.C., leaving Bedoya at the #8 to help deal with Acosta.
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As Pragmatist says below, Simpson-Sapong would also be a logical solution.
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Even were Alberg able to start he has not gone 90 playing defense effectively throughout, ever, in MLS, so an alternative has to be available. That’s part of my thinking regarding Najem.
Well deserved.
Congrats to Derrick and the Union!
well deserved and i’m really happy for him, but we are going to miss him
Great news for Jones! Bad news for Union.