Weah, Mendez head US roster for Under-20 World Cup in Poland
NEW YORK (AP) — Tim Weah made the U.S. roster for this month’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Poland. Josh Sargent and Tyler Adams were left off Friday, making it likely they will be with the senior national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Alex Mendez heads the 21-man roster after scoring eight goals with six assists at last year’s CONCACAF Under-20 Championship. Mendez left the LA Galaxy youth system last fall to sign with Germany’s Freiburg.
Weah, a son of Liberia President George Weah and 1995 FIFA Player of the Year George Weah, scored three goals against Paraguay in the round of 16 at the 2017 Under-17 World Cup. He has one goal on eight appearances with the senior national team. Weah has spent this season on loan from Paris Saint-Germain to Glasgow Celtic and has four goals in 17 matches.
Sargent scored five goals at the 2017 Under-17 World Cup and twice at the 2017 Under-20 World Cup. He made his debut for Werder Bremen this season and has two goals in 10 games.
Mendez is among 14 players on coach Tab Ramos’ roster who played at the CONCACAF tournament.
Goalkeeper Brady Scott is the loan holdover from the 2017 Under-20 World Cup roster.
The U.S. opens against Ukraine on May 24, plays Nigeria three days later and closes the group stage against Qatar on May 30. The Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2015 and 2017. Weah may miss the opening match to remain with Celtic, which plays in the Scottish Cup final May 25.
Ramos, who played for the U.S. at three World Cups, will be coaching the Americans at the Under-20 World Cup for the fourth straight tournament.
The roster:
Goalkeepers: C.J. Dos Santos (Benfica, Portugal), David Ochoa (Salt Lake), Brady Scott (Cologne, Germany)
Defenders: Sergino Dest (Ajax, Netherlands), Chris Gloster (Hannover, Germany), Aboubacar Keita (Richmond), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia), Matthew Real (Philadelphia), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Midfielders: Edwin Cerrillo (Dallas), Chris Durkin (D.C,), Richard Ledezma (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Alex Mendez (Freiburg, Germany), Paxton Pomykal (Dallas), Brandon Servania (Dallas)
Forwards: Ayo Akinola (Toronto). Konrad De La Fuente (Barcelona, Spain), Ulysses Llanez (Wolfsburg, Germany), Justin Rennicks (New England), Sebastian Soto (Hannover, Germany), Tim Weah (Celtic, Scotland)