VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC confirmed today that centre back Christian Dean has been called up to the United States U-23 national team for an upcoming friendly.
The U.S. U-23s, headed by men’s national team assistant coach Andi Herzog, continue their preparation towards qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with their first domestic training camp of 2015. US U-23 play Mexico’s U-23 at the StubHub Centre on Wednesday April 22 with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m. PT.
The team will train on April 20 and 21, and then face Mexico’s U-23 National Team on Wednesday, April 22, at StubHub Center in Carson. The match will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. PT on UniMás and Univision Deportes Network. Fans can also follow along on Twitter @ussoccer_ynt and @ussoccer_esp.
In March, Dean travelled to Europe for a nine-day training camp that included a 5-2 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina and a 1-0 loss to Denmark. Prior to the start of Vancouver’s preseason, Dean spent two weeks in Carson, California as part of the United States January national team camp.
Dean, who was selected third overall in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, made four MLS regular season appearances for Whitecaps FC, including one start at FC Dallas on September 13, in his rookie season. This season, the 6-foot-3 defender has made two appearance for WFC2.
Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Cody Cropper (Southampton; Maple Grove, Minn.), Jon Kempin (San Antonio Scorpions; Leawood, Kan.)
DEFENDERS (8):Christian Dean (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; East Palo Alto, Calif.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Alebrijes de Oaxaca; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (Real Salt Lake; Edmund, Okla.), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif), Sam Strong (UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.), Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas; Lawrenceville, Ga.)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes; Northville, Mich.), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Alejandro Guido (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Daniel Metzger (New York Red Bulls II; Holmdel, N.J.)
FORWARDS (5): Alonso Hernandez (C.F. Monterrey; El Paso, Texas), Alfred Koroma Shams (Unattached; Southlake Carol, Texas), Jordan Morris (Stanford; Mercer Island, Wash.), Mario Rodriguez (Borussia Mönchengladbach; North Hollywood, Calif.), Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)
Roster Notes:
- Nine players were a part of the USA’s 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup team: Cody Cropper, Luis Gil, Alonso Hernandez, Benji Joya, Juan Pablo Ocegueda, Shane O’Neill, Mario Rodriguez, Oscar Sorto and Jose Villarreal.
- Jordan Morris made his first start and scored his first international goal with the senior MNT during the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 2-0 win against Mexico on April 15.
- Eleven players from this roster were on the squad that defeated Bosnia’s U-23 team 5-2 on March 27, including all five U.S. goal scorers from that game: Fatai Alashe, Morris, Rodriguez, Joya and Hernandez. Other players returning from that roster are Christian Dean, Ocegueda, O’Neill, Sorto, Gil, and Alfred Koroma Shams.
- In addition to Gil captaining the USA during the win against Bosnia, he also assisted on three of the five tallies.
- Cropper, Dean, Gil, Kempin, Morris, O’Neill, Serna and Sorto have all been part of a USMNT senior camp this year.
- Gil and Morris are the only two players from the roster to have earned a cap with the senior team in 2015.
- MLS has sent nine players for this roster with two players each from the Colorado Rapids, LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake.
- Four players on the roster play for Mexican-based clubs (Three from Liga MX and one from Ascenso MX).
- The 2015 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying championship will be played in the United States from Oct.1-13
- ussoccer.com -
