United States Under-20 Men's National Team head coach Thomas Rongen announced today that New York Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore is one of 21 players that will represent the U.S. at the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada from June 30 to July 22. Altidore will be available for selection for the Red Bulls' match tomorrow, June 16 against the Kansas City Wizards at 7:30 PM ET at Giants Stadium (TV: FSN-NY) before leaving to join the U-20s.
"It's an honor to be selected. I'm really excited to participate in an elite competition like this and it's going to be a big challenge to test myself against some of the best teams and players of my age in the world," said Altidore, who has 12 caps and two goals during his career with the U-20s. "I think we're going to do as well as we want to. I think the team is really talented and if we come together at the right time, we can go far."
At 17 years of age, Altidore is the youngest player to be selected for the team. The 6-1, 175 pound forward has featured in 10 games this season for the Red Bulls, starting in seven, while scoring three goals and three assists - a mark which is tied for the team lead. The 2006 MLS second round pick SuperDraft (19th overall) from Boca Raton, FL burst onto the MLS scene late last season when he scored four goals in his final nine games and became the youngest player in league history to find the back of the net in the playoffs.
The U.S. was drawn into Group D with Korea Republic, Poland and Brazil. This is the sixth-straight appearance for the U.S. in the world championship and their 11th overall. The U.S. opens against Korea Republic on June 30, then faces Poland on July 3 and concludes group play on July 6 against four-time U-20 world champions Brazil.
The U.S. will play Korea Republic and Poland at The Olympic Stadium in Montreal, before heading to Ottawa to face Brazil at Frank Clair Stadium. Every U.S. match at the U-20 World Cup will be broadcast live on ESPNU, and can be followed live via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker. The 24-team field is divided into six groups of four, with the top two teams from each group and the top four (of six) third-place teams advancing to the Round of 16. The 52-match tournament will take place at six venues in Canada with games in Burnaby, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Victoria. Each game will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN360.com.
