FC Dallas Juniors defender London Woodberry has been named to the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team 18-man roster that will travel to Sydney, Australia for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.
The trip, which takes place from Jan. 9-19, will be the U-18's first international event under head coach Mike Matkovich, who took over the team late in 2008. The 18 players on the roster were chosen directly from a 72-player MegaCamp that was held from Dec. 28-Jan. 4 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
A McKinney, Texas native, Woodberry has scored 11 goals in 12 games this season for the FC Dallas Juniors U-18 team. He becomes the fourth FCD Juniors player to be called in to a U.S. Youth National Team camp, joining Alex Molano and Jose Perez (U-17s) and Josh Hernandez (U-20s).
In Sydney, the U.S. will face Chile on January 15, China on January 16 and round out play against the hosts on January 18. The Australian Youth Olympic Festival is a biannual event for aspiring Olympians between the ages of 13 and 19. There will be 23 countries participating in 21 different sports throughout the games.
U.S. U-18 Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2):
Alex Long (San Juan Lightning; El Macero, CA), Zac MacMatch (Univ. of Maryland)
DEFENDERS (7): Gale Agbossoumonde (IMG Soccer Academy; Syracuse, NY), Chad Barson (Univ. of Akron), Nicholas Millington (Wake Forest); Jossimar Sanchez (PDA; Patterson, NJ), Kofi Sarkodie (Univ. of Akron), Zarek Valentin (PA Classics; Lancaster, PA), London Woodberry (FC Dallas Juniors; McKinney, TX)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Jose Altamirano (Del Mar Sharks; San Diego, CA), Miles Byass (Arsenal FC; San Bernardino, CA), Scott Caldwell (Univ. of Akron), Amobi Okugo (San Juan Lightning; Sacramento, CA), Scott Prozeller (FC Greater Boston; Sudbury, MA)
FORWARDS (4): Will Bates (Richmond Strikers; Chester, VA), Adam Jahn (San Juan Lightning; El Macero, CA). Dillon Powers (Andromeda; Plano, TX), Hasani Sinclair (Schulz Academy; Coral Springs, FL).
Head Coach: Mike Matkovich