CHICAGO (AP) — PSV Eindhoven youth midfielder Richie Ledezma, eligible to play for the United States and Mexico, is among 25 players picked for the American Under-23 team's training camp ahead of an Oct. 15 exhibition against El Salvador in Miami.
Ledezma, who played for the U.S. at this year's Under-20 World Cup, had not been at last month's training camp ahead of a friendly against Japan. Mason Toye of Minnesota scored in the first half and Brooks Lennon of Real Salt Lake converted a penalty kick in the second for the 2-0 U.S. win.
Fourteen of the 25 players announced Friday have been on a U.S. roster for a youth-level World Cup.
The American men failed to qualify for the past two Olympics. Qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Games will take place from March 20 to April 1 at Guadalajara, Mexico.
Men's Olympic soccer qualifying is limited to players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997.
While FIFA requires clubs to release players to senior national teams during international windows, soccer's rules leave the decision to clubs on whether to release players to youth national teams.
The U.S. team is coached by Jason Kreis. Winners of the two semifinals in the North and Central American and Caribbean region qualify for the Olympic soccer tournament, to be played from July 23 to Aug. 8. At the Olympics, each men's national teams can include up to three players over the age limit on its 20-man roster
The roster:
Goalkeepers: Matt Freese (Philadelphia), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose), David Ochoa (Salt Lake), Brady Scott (Cologne, Germany)
Defenders: Kyle Duncan (New York), Justen Glad (Salt Lake), Chris Gloster (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Aaron Herrera (Salt Lake), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich, Germany), Miles Robinson (Atlanta), Sam Vines (Colorado)
Midfielders: Christian Cappis (Hobro, Denmark), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional, Brazil), Hassani Dotson (Minnesota), Chris Durkin (Sint-Truiden, Belgum), Richard Ledezma (Eindhoven, Netherlands), Alex Mendez (Ajax, Netherlands), Djordje Mihailovic (Chicago)
Forwards: Omir Fernandez (New York), Brooks Lennon (Salt Lake), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado), Sebastian Saucedo (Salt Lake), Sebastian Soto (Hannover, Germany), Mason Toye (Minnesota)
