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Real Salt Lake's Danilo Acosta and Sebastian Saucedo, currently on loan at Liga MX club Veracruz, were named to the U.S. U-20 roster Monday for the upcoming 2016 Dallas Cup. U.S. coach Tab Ramos named his 22-man roster for the tournament set to take place March 20-26.
The inclusion of Salt Lake City's Acosta is no surprise, but Saucedo returning to the fold for the U.S. may turn some heads. The Park City resident, a longtime call-up to U.S. U-18 and U-20 teams, accepted a Mexican U-20 camp call last November.
Saucedo said in an interview last week that he's already decided which national team he'll choose to represent, but would not announce his choice until that day comes. His returning to the U.S. U-20 picture could lend to the idea he's leaning toward the USMNT, but it's not clear yet.
The 19-year-old forward has seen action in two Liga MX matches since joining Veracruz on a full-season loan on Jan. 12. Saucedo scored his first professional goal against Chiapas in a Copa MX tournament match on Feb. 23.
Part of Group A in the Dallas Cup. the U.S. will face LigaMX side Monterrey on March 20. The next day, the Americans take on Fulham FC before finishing the group play against Germany club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on March 23.
According to a U.S. Soccer release, The Dallas Cup is the first step of forming the roster for the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 men's championship, which four teams will earn a berth in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea.
"The Dallas Cup will provide us a great opportunity to see all of these players in meaningful international games," Ramos said in the release. "We will see which players stand out and what combination of players work well together as we build towards U-20 WC Qualifying in early 2017."
Of the 22 players called in by Ramos, four have ties to RSL. Along with Saucedo and Acosta, fellow RSL-Arizona academy products Brooks Lennon (Liverpool) and Aaron Herrera (University of New Mexico) will begin camp with the U-20s.
U.S. U-20 Dallas Cup roster by position:
Goalkeepers: Jonathan Klinsmann (University of California; Newport Beach, Calif.), JT Marcinkowski (Georgetown; Alamo, Calif.)
Defenders: Marcello Borges (Michigan; Kearny, N.J.), Auston Trusty (Philadelphia Union; Media, Pa.), Aaron Herrera (New Mexico; Casa Grande, Ariz.), Andrew Lombard (Northeastern; Montclair, N.J.), John Nelson (Internationals SC; Medina, OH), Matt Olosunde (Manchester United; Trenton, N.J.), Tommy Redding (Orlando City SC; Oviedo, Fla.), Miles Robinson (Syracuse; Arlington, Mass.)
Midfielders: Danny Acosta (Real Salt Lake; Salt Lake City, UT), Amir Bashti (Stanford; Cupertino, Calif.), Brooks Lennon (Liverpool; Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Cameron Lindley (Indiana Fire; Carmel, Ind.), Josh Perez (AFC Fiorentina; La Habra, Calif.), Eryk Williamson (Maryland; Alexandria, Va.), Jackson Yueill (UCLA, Minneapolis, Minn.)
Forwards: Jeremy Ebobisse (Duke; Bethesda, Md.), Sebastian Elney (Maryland; West Chester, Pa.), Victor Mansaray (Seattle Sounders; Des Moines, Wash.), Emmanuel Sabbi (Chicago Magic; Libertyville, Ill.), Sebastian Saucedo (Veracruz; Park City, UT)
-Chris Kamrani
Twitter: @chriskamrani