Thomas Rongen Quietly Assembling a U-20 Class to Remember

Thinking back to 2007, everyone was hailing the youth being boasted by the United States U-20 side, and for good reason.  Names like Josmer Altidore, Michael Bradley, Danny Szetela, Sal Zizzo, and Freddy Adu came out of that class and those five (for better or for worse) had set up shop at European clubs, Altidore with Villarreal in Spain, Bradley with Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany, Szetela with Racing Santander in Spain, Zizzo with Hannover 96, and Adu with Aris Thessaloniki in Greece.  Those five players helped lead the US to finish 1st in their group (which included a 6-1 trouncing of Poland and a dramatic 2-1 win over Brazil), then proceeded to beat out Uruguay in the Round of 16 before falling in the quarterfinals to Austria.  It was a great run and Altidore and Bradley have established themselves as regular starters for the US National Team.

The 2009 version featured significantly less popular youngsters as the US fell out in the group stage, following embarrassing 3-0 losses to both Germany and South Korea.  The 2009 class featured players like Bryan Arguez , Mikkel Diskerud, Jared Jeffery, and Sean Johnson, but even these successful professionals weren't enough to push the US through.

Gearing up for a busy 2011, Thomas Rongen has a depth pool that many international coaches would drool over.  He's also done his fair share of digging up some some dual, and in one a case, a triple international player(s).  Names in this class include promising young stars such as GK Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town), DF Gale Aggbossoumonde (Estoril Praia) DF Greg Garza (Estoril Praia), MD Joseph Gyau (Hoffenheim), MD Sebastien Lletget (West Ham United), MD Joshua Gatt (Altach), FW Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union) and FW Conor Doyle (Derby County).

Other big names coming out of this class include the well known New York Red Bulls prodigy Juan Agudelo, Adrian Ruelas who is currently on trial at Celtic in Scotland, and cult hero Omar Salgado, who gave up his position at CD Guadalajara to play for the United States.

Two names that I am particularly excited about are dual-international Fabien Hurzeler, a 17 year old Bayern Munich academy star, who was the German U-17 captain, but no longer appears to be in the plans with them any longer.  Rongen scooped him up and has invited him to the US' training camp for the beginning of January.  The other is triple-international Alex Zahavi, currently playing professionally at Maccabi Haifa, he holds citizenship from the United States, Portugal, and Israel.  He is a right-footed, left winger who loves to cut inside and attack.  He made his US debut at the Torneo de las Americas tournament in November and scored a goal against Colombia.

This is arguably the deepest, most collectively talented class for a US youth team ever.  Where the other classes have featured popular young stars, there were significant holes.  If there is a hole in this class, I really am having a hard time finding it.  A solid collection of professional and college players have really gelled under the guidance of the Dutchman Rongen.

With 2011 holding the U-20 CONCACAF Championship in April in Guatemala, and the U-20 World Cup in July and August in Colombia, Rongen will need to nail down his final group of around 30ish players and next months training camp is part of that.

Looking forward, I expect nothing less than at least a win in the CONCACAF Championship, and a march to the quarterfinals in the World Cup.  That is where Rongen and these young players need to aim.

In 2011, the United should be expecting nothing less, with the start of a new World Cup cycle, a star could rise in the U-20s and make a name on the national side come June 2014.  This is where it starts.